Import Fees

[slick4591]

I'm wanting to obtain some semen from England on a particular bull and have no idea where to start. It has already been cleared once as it's been shipped before by someone else. They are no longer available to speak with, so if anyone knows where to start I'd appreciate information.

 

[Lucky_P]

Have your veterinarian contact the USDA-APHIS office for your state... they are in charge of import/export stuff.

 

[slick4591]

Thank you! Would have never thought to have started there.

 

[cow pollinater]

I looked into it for another member here via the guy that handles exports for one of the big studs and was told that the big sticking point is usually the extender as a lot of the older produce is extended with egg whites and stuff like that that don't meet current export standards. He wasn't real up to date as he only handles stuff that is packaged according to current standards but that was his answer.

 

[slick4591]

What I'm after has already been shipped over here once. In my breed there's only one company that handles the semen for the entire US. Apparently, this guy has sold lots of semen and disappeared without sending out orders. The owner of this bull was also stung as he sent semen and didn't get paid. He wants the customers that paid for semen to get their product and is offering a really low rate to anyone else wanting it. At the price he's asking I want some, maybe a lot. I'd like to get a group together to split costs, but not many want to talk about it unless they know what it's going to take.

 

[Willow Springs]

I am in Canada, but when I have brought semen in from France or England we have always dealt with our local AI stud.

They know what paper work needs to be done, and know the process for getting cleared when entering the country.

Another option is to find out where it is stored in England and see if they have any other product being shipped to the US. Then the whole shipment can be shipped and cleared together and probably save time. Once in the US it is easy enough to have it shipped anywhere in the country.

 

[WalnutCrest]

I know from importing from France that the rules change all the time.

What's ok one year isn't the next. So, just because it's been imported before doesn't mean you can get it now (even if it's collected and sitting in a liquid nitrogen tank at Heathrow).

 

[slick4591]

Sorry I didn't report back, but it looks like around $1200 just to get thru the government's red tape. I didn't check on shipping costs after that.

 

[cbcr]

Another place that you might check with is Hawkeye Breedered in Iowa http://hawkeyebreeders.com/ They know the ins and out in importing and exporting semen. Give them a call, they may be able to help.

We have a member in the UK that has been looking into shipping semen here to the US. Hawkeye also can process orders and store semen whether they collected it or not.