Omas Briarwood Fed Ex Shipping

[jkingrph]

Ordered an Omas Briarwood fountain pen via ebay from Italy. It made it as far as Memphis and got held up requiring a TSCA certification of "toxicity" . When I first saw this by checking tracking it said certification had to be completed by seller. I e mailed him and he did not know anything but somehow managed to get the form and suggested that he send to me. I had no idea where to send it, but luckily got a phone call from a nice young lady at fed ex, who emailed me a form and helped me to fill it out saying that as an individual buyer I could certify it, which I did by completing the form and e mailing it back to her. About 30 minutes later I see it has been cleared from customs.

 

This was a new one on me, never had it happen before.

[zaddick]

Was ink included? I have had several ink shipment from Europe stopped by FedEx and hado to fill out the toxic chemicals form.

[jar]

Yes, ink shown on a custom form is very often a small problem but usually all that is needed is someone to say it isn't toxic and not for resale.

[jkingrph]

Nope, no ink included. I have orderd ink in the past from Germany and Holland with no such requirement.

[Barkingpig]

I had the same last year with a pen from Italy, that included a bottle of ink, included in the Delta package. The lady @ Fed EX, said she could speak to a contact @ Customs & would make them release it for travel. She did & it did!

 

It was a first for me, despite receiving more than one shipment including same; I suppose it is really just the manner in which the declaration is written on the form, whether it becomes an issue. The Fed Ex employee indicated it was subject to WHICH Customs agent was handling the package; she seemed to believe some agents were more "tolerant" than others & had developed relationships among others, who would understand the situation. It does seem strange that boxes containing multiple bottles of ink seem to travel, unrestricted, yet a"lone" bottle, include in a special edition package, triggers the alarm.

[Tinjapan]

It really seems to be hit and miss with the added spice of occasional security restrictions. A couple of years ago I when I was buying Sailor inks for friends outside Japan there were sudden unannounced changes to shipping policy. Could no longer ship liquids to Singapore followed by the requirement for HAZMAT docmentation. Some of these restriction have been lifted, some haven't.

 

These were with bottled ink but I am not surprised that issues arise from other items too.