PhilinYuma
Well-known member
I just read Angel's account of his latest deal with Frey. Obviously they both planned it right and had a good outcome. One of the problems in these international transactions is that American buyers have very little knowledge of what is involved in such a deal. This post is intended to fill in some of the gaps.
The shipment of live mantids or ootheca through across an international border is against the regulations of most countries including the US. The US F&G is much less concerned about introducing an invasive mantis species -- contrary to popular belief -- than the introduction of invasive parasites. These would be mostly from WC mantids, but the law is for all mantids and since it is Federal, applies to every state in the union.
If a breech of Customs regulations is detected in the shed, the package will be opened in the presence of USPS and Customs officers and the mantids/ooths killed with lethal (to them!) gas. The package is then resealed in a plastic bag and after being detained for a month or two (yep, they're being mean) either returned to the sender if that option was marked on the CD or destroyed. Note that this is a Federal matter and the police will not come to your door. The odds are, unless the shipment is massive, that you will not hear from F&G but if you do, you will not be imprisoned or even fined -- so far as I know, though APHIS will sometimes fine and warn a registered business -- but you are likely to have all of yr exotic mantids confiscated. I have never known of an actual case of this happening to a none licensed person. Are you feeling lucky?
Customs agents detect contraband by eyeballing the packages -- anything giving off a ticking noise or labelled "Handle with Care Live Mantids!" is likely to get a second look, sniffing dogs, mostly for drugs and explosives, though F&G used to have some that could sniff reptiles (the old trick was to bring them in in person after the dogs had gone home!) but not insects! Finally, they use scanners like those used on the property of airline passengers at check in, but the majority of the mail does not go through this very slow process. The most likely reason for your package to get stopped by USC is if it is ripped and little creepy crawlies are climbing out! Fortunately, that's a rare occurrence.
But your mantids don't have to go through Customs in either direction. Envelopes in Europe, anyway, and flat rate mailing envelopes (priority) in the US do not require a customs declaration and are not checked unless they break open.
Sending live mantids to Eastern Asia is pretty much a waste of time. The package won't go through. Ooths can be sent in a small box containing a little gift like a souvenir key chain (!). Use packing that looks like the ooth, either peanuts or your own made from twisted tissue.
If you buy mantids or ooths in the winter from Northern Europe or England, and have them sent by Priority, the odds are that the ooth and certainly nymphs will be DOA, killed by the cold, even if the container has foam insulation. There is a very big difference in the transit time between one town or country and another. Frey mails from Drodz. The airport is international but doesn't go further west than England, so the package goes east to Warsaw before being sent on to NY. Small towns (like that of a former MF Polish dealer) do not have an airport and the package may well go to the nearest one by train.making the trip closer to two weeks than the six days or so from Drozd by priority. A heat pack may get the package out of the country of origin, but it will be no good after 72 hours.
If money is no object (!) an Express package sent from most big cities in Poland and
Germany will arrive in four days. I recently heard of a case that took seven, though this is rare, but if it happens, don't complain!. This method will also give you tracking and you can draw a map showing its progress to while away the time. Expect to pay about $60 or more for this service, though.
Finally, to avoid a lot of bad feeling, work out your spheres of responsibility with the other party. If you feel that the sender is responsible for a package getting through customs, or that a WC, or any ooth for that matter, is guaranteed to hatch, get it in writing and spell out how compensation, if any, will be made. Very few Europeans will trade with the US any more for these very reasons, though I think that there is something a bit off center about their advertising on a free American forum and excluding Americans!
That's it!
The shipment of live mantids or ootheca through across an international border is against the regulations of most countries including the US. The US F&G is much less concerned about introducing an invasive mantis species -- contrary to popular belief -- than the introduction of invasive parasites. These would be mostly from WC mantids, but the law is for all mantids and since it is Federal, applies to every state in the union.
If a breech of Customs regulations is detected in the shed, the package will be opened in the presence of USPS and Customs officers and the mantids/ooths killed with lethal (to them!) gas. The package is then resealed in a plastic bag and after being detained for a month or two (yep, they're being mean) either returned to the sender if that option was marked on the CD or destroyed. Note that this is a Federal matter and the police will not come to your door. The odds are, unless the shipment is massive, that you will not hear from F&G but if you do, you will not be imprisoned or even fined -- so far as I know, though APHIS will sometimes fine and warn a registered business -- but you are likely to have all of yr exotic mantids confiscated. I have never known of an actual case of this happening to a none licensed person. Are you feeling lucky?
Customs agents detect contraband by eyeballing the packages -- anything giving off a ticking noise or labelled "Handle with Care Live Mantids!" is likely to get a second look, sniffing dogs, mostly for drugs and explosives, though F&G used to have some that could sniff reptiles (the old trick was to bring them in in person after the dogs had gone home!) but not insects! Finally, they use scanners like those used on the property of airline passengers at check in, but the majority of the mail does not go through this very slow process. The most likely reason for your package to get stopped by USC is if it is ripped and little creepy crawlies are climbing out! Fortunately, that's a rare occurrence.
But your mantids don't have to go through Customs in either direction. Envelopes in Europe, anyway, and flat rate mailing envelopes (priority) in the US do not require a customs declaration and are not checked unless they break open.
Sending live mantids to Eastern Asia is pretty much a waste of time. The package won't go through. Ooths can be sent in a small box containing a little gift like a souvenir key chain (!). Use packing that looks like the ooth, either peanuts or your own made from twisted tissue.
If you buy mantids or ooths in the winter from Northern Europe or England, and have them sent by Priority, the odds are that the ooth and certainly nymphs will be DOA, killed by the cold, even if the container has foam insulation. There is a very big difference in the transit time between one town or country and another. Frey mails from Drodz. The airport is international but doesn't go further west than England, so the package goes east to Warsaw before being sent on to NY. Small towns (like that of a former MF Polish dealer) do not have an airport and the package may well go to the nearest one by train.making the trip closer to two weeks than the six days or so from Drozd by priority. A heat pack may get the package out of the country of origin, but it will be no good after 72 hours.
If money is no object (!) an Express package sent from most big cities in Poland and
Germany will arrive in four days. I recently heard of a case that took seven, though this is rare, but if it happens, don't complain!. This method will also give you tracking and you can draw a map showing its progress to while away the time. Expect to pay about $60 or more for this service, though.
Finally, to avoid a lot of bad feeling, work out your spheres of responsibility with the other party. If you feel that the sender is responsible for a package getting through customs, or that a WC, or any ooth for that matter, is guaranteed to hatch, get it in writing and spell out how compensation, if any, will be made. Very few Europeans will trade with the US any more for these very reasons, though I think that there is something a bit off center about their advertising on a free American forum and excluding Americans!
That's it!
