Ups.. Rant

[fifefish]

okay whats the purpose of the license?

 

[bronzecat]

Its a bit confusing, but the legislation is here in section3 http/www.defra.gov.uk/marine/pdf/farm-health/giftext.pdf

If love4aquatic did send them and marked the package as live tropical fish they must come with a health check record from a vet.

Unfortunately, with out some kind of confirmation from ups you may never know whether they were sent or not

 

[bronzecat]

okay whats the purpose of the license?

Every live animal, beit fish, dogs, rabbits etc need import licenses. It to safe guard our animal population from disease etc. In the USA, the Asian snakehead fish has caused havoc following its release into the wild; And Rabbits caused mayhem in Australia following their importation.

 

[rdd1952]

Personally, and just in case they had been sent, i would call ups and explain the situation. You have love4aquatics address, so they should be able to cross reference the address to establish if anything had been sent.

i already called UPS they said i needed a tracking number..

I know from experience that UPS does not need or require a tracking number to check on a package. All they need is the shipper's or receiver's address and possibly a ship date range and they can search their system for it. At the last 2 companies I worked for, I had to call them too many times myself for this sort of thing. The only way I could see that being a problem is because this is an international shipment.

As far as the import laws, I certainly don't know them but would certainly suspect that you would need some type license of clearance to import livestock, especially because of diseases and invasive species. I know I have read that if you ship your dogs or cats internationally, such in moving house, that it is quite normal for customs to quarantine them for a period of time to make sure they are safe and disease free. It's quite possible that if it did get shipped, that it will never make it to you alive because of this. When you first started the thread, I was thinking this was a same country shipment. That's a whole lot different from international shipping.

And the fact that the shipper is saying they never received your shipment could be because of the same reason: customs. Obviously, invasive plants are just as bad as livestock.

 

[Tolak]

I'm not sure about the UK, as I'm not up on their laws & regulations.

In the US, you have to be a licensed importer. Paperwork has to be filled out for Fish & Wildlife documenting the species being imported. There is a charge for this paperwork, as well as inspection. If anything is out of line, the shipment is destroyed.

Much of it is "old boy" network. If you are a regular importer, and they know you, they pop open a box, it looks like fish, sign off & away it goes. Inspectors can make shipping miserable, inspecting every item, checking to be sure it is a species legal for import, and so on. This can be a lengthy, stressful experience for the receiving party as well as the fish. One styro is a short delay, 20 boxes, which is often a minimum shipped by a transshipper, can make for a long day.

In the end, it is on the shipper if you did not receive your shipment. Tracking numbers must be saved, it is up to the shipper to make a claim. This number will tell where the shipment went when, and its final destination.

 

[bronzecat]

What ever happened to the fish?

 

[fifefish]

What ever happened to the fish?

no mention or clarification from seller either
nothing, ive gave up

 

[rdd1952]

From what reading I have done on shipping livestock and plants since this started, I think both of you shipped your products but neither ever made it through customs or inspections. As Tolak mentioned, unless you are an importer and have the proper licenses or use some type transhipper, it seems unlikely that it would ever go through. Shipping outside the country is a totally different situation compared to shipping inside.