Just ran into a situation that may have larger implications.

Had some shells sent from the Philippines and my source decided to send UPS.
They came through Anchorage Alaska and to make a long story short I got hit
with a $95 inspections fee from F&WL (Fish & Wild Life) and $20 from UPS for
preparing the paper work. Now they are telling me that I must also get my
F&WL import license. They claim that there regulations (I asked to see copies
of them) say if there are more than 7 items in one parcel you need an import
license. That is you sell any shell (even to a friend, club member or over
the Internet) that the "No commercial value" does not apply. Now these are
just the local officials in Alaska that are saying this. They say that since
Alaska has not been designated a major port by Congress the fee is $95, but
if it had been designated a major port the fee would only be $55. They (the
people in Alaska) claim that F&WL has taken the Post Office to court for not
following the laws that require these inspections. Obtaining the import
license does not cover the inspection fee and is only good for a year at a
time. Without an import license they will confiscare the contents, and there
is no recourse. I am currently fighting this under a technicality. Seems UPS
was aware of these charges and failed to notify my agent in the Philippines.
This unduly influenced his decision to use UPS. Have since used other
carriers who do not use Alaska as the port and there were no problems or fees
(so far). Like many of you, I have been trading shells for over twenty years
and never had any problems with the postal service. On two occasions I had
packages that had tape on them that stated "Opened by US Customs" Never heard
another thing about either package.

It is only since becoming disabled and unable to do any other work that I
started to sell shells, along with the trading I have always done. This has a
potential for a major impact and these people in Alaska sound like they want
to make major waves. Guess they're getting ready for cabin fever a bit early.
Any thoughts ideas or suggestions would be most welcome. I intend to go as
far as I have to with this. The fellow from F&WL told me he felt is was
unfair, but that's the laws as passed by Congress. He suggested I contact my
congressman to see what he'll do. You can imagine how much clout I had as one
person when I called. We'll look into it Mr. Walker. Never heard back. One
vote doesn't bother them I guess.

Frank

Gems From The Sea
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