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Warning: All rights reserved. This article appeared in the issue of the National Finch and Softbill Society Bulletin. Vol. 16. No. 3. May/June 1999. (p. 16-24). Anyone wishing to reproduce this article for another bulletin, newsletter, article, journal, CD, or any other public forum needs express written consent of the NFSS and of the author michael@exoticfinches.com

In last month's issue of the National Finch and Softbill Society Bulletin I wrote an article describing an exciting trip to Japan to meet with one of the top society finch breeders and ultimately import some of his birds. The import took place this past December. I, along with two friends, imported several types of society finches. They included the Japanese "frills" (Bonten, Chiyoda, Chunagon, and Dainagon), the newest color mutation, the "Pearl," and "European" colored (albino, ino, gray, etc.) societies that were in Japanese breeding programs for years and years. This included true albinos, grays, red grays, and inos. To see images of these types go to www.exoticfinches.com. Since then, I have had several inquiries asking me to discuss the procedure for a legal importation into the US and the costs that might be involved. I thought I would share some of my experiences with other finch lovers.

Importing birds seems like an exciting idea, especially when the birds you want are not available in the United States (make sure they are unavailable or you are wasting lots of money). However, as you will see, it is a costly cumbersome procedure that has a risk factor. Simply put, there is no guarantee of live delivery from abroad or that the birds will live through quarantine. Yet most costs must be paid even if your gift at the end is a box of feathers. In addition, there seems to be lots of unnecessary paperwork and many people to pay. You will feel as if you are fueling a bureaucracy. Do not think you will get rich doing this. Believe me you will not. Yet, being the first to bring in new birds is a major contribution to aviculture here in America and it is worth doing if you feel it is important to increase the diversity of available finches in the USA.

If you are not a professional animal importer (i.e. someone who imports animals for a living), there are only 4 import quarantine stations you can use for "commercial imports" (i.e. not a pet bird). They are in Newburgh, New York (phone 914-564-2950), Miami, Florida (phone 305-526-2926), Inglewood, California (phone 310-215-2352), and Honolulu, Hawaii (phone 808-861-8560). You must determine which one is best for you before you begin the process. You need to pick the airport nearest the station. It is best to try to get a direct flight or one that continues on without a change of planes. I am not sure, but it may be difficult or impossible to have the birds moved from one flight to another in route. Check with the USDA if this is necessary. We got a direct flight from Tokyo to NYC so we had no airline problems.

The reason you want to pick your quarantine station carefully is that you will save money if you can pick up the birds after quarantine is over and not have a broker pick them up and ship them (for the second time!). If you live somewhere far from a quarantine facility (e.g. Wyoming), you will probably need to have the birds reshipped to you after quarantine unless you intend to drive all the way to a quarantine station. Picking them up yourself and flying them in cargo would require arrangements with a commercial airline. This is possible since the birds are past the quarantine part of the procedure. You could also hire your broker to ship them to you after getting them at quarantine (not a cheap option). Since we picked up our own birds after quarantine and we used commercial import permit, this procedure is what I will concentrate on below.

The first thing to remember is to start very early and get as much of the paperwork out of the way. Although it is possible to ask a professional animal importer to get the birds you want and quarantine them at his/her approved facility, you probably will not be able to pick the breeder of the birds and may get "pet shop" quality or captive birds. Personally, I feel it is best to get the best specimens if you are going to go through the hassle of importation. So, the first thing to do is find a foreign breeder willing to ship birds and put up with some paperwork (although most of the paperwork is done in the country of import). Make an agreement with the breeder on the exact type and number of birds he/she will provide. Get a price quote and try to see if the breeder will agree to fix the price in US dollars at the time of agreement, so that later the price will not to fluctuate if the value of the dollar against foreign currency changes dramatically.

Next find an airline that accepts live shipments of commercial size. Pay to reserve space for one #11A shipping container (for each 50 finches) and get an "Airway Bill". This has the number the shipment will go by for the rest of its trip and is critical information for your broker and for you to track the shipment. It is like a tracking number and is used by all parties involved.

Next find a commercial brokerage firm that deals with animal and plant imports. Get one nearest to the port of entry (US airport closest to quarantine station). It is necessary to have a broker, as will be described below. The broker will bill you later but will pay airport fees, USDA airport veterinarian fees, Fisheries and Wildlife crate inspection fees, etc. and drive the birds in a special van to the quarantine station. The import station you choose will suggest brokers with whom they have had positive experiences. Your broker will ask for a deposit and make you get a "Power of Attorney" form to them, which allows them to act on your behalf and accept your birds at the airport without you being present. Make sure your broker gets copies of every single form, transaction, and communication with the USDA and Fisheries and Wildlife. Keep copies of everything just in case someone challenges you later. Then decide if you want to choose the "pet" or "commercial" import route. If you want to consider your imported birds as pets, the procedure is very different and costs much much more per bird. Quarantine for a pet finch is $30.00 per day as opposed to $1.00 per day for a commercial shipment. The other costs of a pet import are a bit lower since some fees are omitted for pet birds, but the cost per bird is still astronomical if you choose the pet route. This is because each pet is assumed to be from a different source and must be quarantined separately. Your one or two birds receive the same isolated aviary as a group of commercial birds would receive. It is wise, therefore, to go the commercial route unless you are bringing in one or two high priced parrots. This is what we chose so I cannot give advice on "pet" importation procedures.

With the exception of the housing and health tests at quarantine, much of the cost of importing is in the procedure itself and is not paid on a per bird basis. The best deal per bird is when 50 birds are imported since this is the limit of finches that are permitted in a #11A internationally approved shipping container and going to a second container would be more expensive (although much less than twice as much). You can get plans for building this #11A shipping container from the airline that you will use or from your broker (or you can rent the one I built!). The USDA may also have copies of the building plans they can send you. If you use any other type of container or overcrowd the birds, you risk seizure of shipment with Fisheries and Wildlife at the airport. If your breeder can not supply the 50 birds, you can ask him to gather birds from his club members. If the breeder has gathered all the birds before the shipment, it makes the inspection by the foreign veterinarian easy. You can try to arrange for two breeders to ship to you using a foreign broker as an intermediary but this would be a logistics nightmare and wind up costing more.

Assuming you decide to import a commercial shipment, you will next need to obtain a commercial (not a pet) import permit from the USDA. Some of the quarantine stations will send you this form directly. If not, call the USDA and tell them you want to import finches commercially and need the import permit form for the USDA (VS 17-129). Fill it out and PREPAY 100% of the fees for the application, housing and disease testing. The original copy (after your receive it approved) must be sent to the breeder to accompany the shipment in the envelope attached to the shipping crate. On your import application form state that the purpose of import is "to obtain show birds" (if you say "breeding stock" as we did, you open up another can or worms as you will see below). Then the USDA requirements for the shipment will be as follows:

1 - an original import permit issued in advance of the shipment must accompany it

2 - it must be accompanied by an original health certificate issue by a salaried government veterinarian in the country of export

3 - it must be offered for inspection by Veterinarian Services veterinarian at the port of entry listed on the import permit (this is the airport's veterinarian hired by our government)

4 - be quarantined for a minimum of 30 days for commercial birds

Any club or group (even represented by you as an individual) can import as a commercial importer. Most species are not considered domestic, so you must contact the US Fish and Wildlife Service (i.e. Fisheries and Wildlife or F&W), and obtain the paperwork to import wildlife (you should send F&W a copy of your approved USDA import permit which will arrive not to long after your check clears). However, you most likely will need obtain a F &W Importation/License Permit (Form OMB No. 1018-0093). Unfortunately, the F&W Service has policies that are confusing at best. I had talked to a Wildlife biologist for the F&W Service. She informed me of the location on the web site (http://www.fws.gov/r9dia/global/wbcaacbs.html) where I could see that the species is exempt from the wild bird conservation act. Yet, even though we imported only Lonchura domestica (Society finches), a bird which was not a wild bird and was at par with chickens (in that it was a man-made complex hybrid or synthetic species of which no feral populations exit), the F&W inspector at the airport maintained it was a commercial breeding venture of wild birds and threatened the shipment with seizure unless I decided to pay my license fee and the associated inspection fee which follows. I argued a bit, reminded myself of the seizure of shipment potential, took two antacids, and paid for the permit. I am now a licensed importer of wildlife for those of you interested in importing tigers and lemurs.

The cost of the birds must be stated on a bill of sale written in the language of the country of origin (if the breeder can not speak English) and a translated version must be attached. The purpose of the receipt is to allow your broker to pay taxes (2.5% of total receipt) when going through customs at the airport. The receipt should be itemized, and state what kinds of birds you have (e.g. six albino society finches - Lonchura domestica), so that if the USDA or Wildlife and Fisheries want to check out the shipment to make sure no endangered species are being smuggled they will not question your shipment and confiscate the birds. A faxed copy of the breeder's receipt should be sent to you for you to give to your broker. The original must be attached to the shipping carton. I had attached a large manila clasp envelope to the top of my shipping box with duct tape so that all of the necessary forms would be secure. On it, I listed the contents in the envelope to make things go faster at the airport.

The only paperwork that must wait until a day or two before the birds are put on the airplane is the Health Certificate from the foreign veterinarian. The quarantine station will provide this form but don't forget to ask them early in the process since you have to send this to the exporter. This form must be filled out by the foreign veterinarian just before shipping and included attached to the shipping box. Its purpose is to assure that the country of export has determined that serious disease (Newcastle e.g.) is not obvious in the flock of the exporter' birds. A copy should be immediately faxed to you and your broker so that they can start the paperwork earlier and make their trip to the airport shorter. The cost is up to the veterinarian in the country of origin.

It is sometimes possible for your breeder to place the birds on the plane as cargo. Yet, in many countries (including Japan), commercial shipments are not accepted by airlines unless a commercial company is doing the shipping. These companies can be called brokers in some countries, but more likely are called "freight forwarders". Your airline can tell you whom to use or perhaps your breeder can call around. This can be inexpensive or very expensive depending on the country and the distance between the breeder and his airport. Nevertheless do not forget this step. If the birds are not accepted on the flight, you will be stuck with all the quarantine fees and no birds!

Now to top it all off we have the problem of overtime. I call it the "overtime scam" although those reaping the reward will deny this if you challenge them. It is virtually impossible to get away without paying significant amounts of overtime. We had our shipment arrive at 10AM at JFK figuring this is the best time to get the broker though the procedure before overtime kicked in. Guess again. It took them until 4:30 to clear airport cargo system, vet inspection, USDA, F&W, etc. There isn't even a F&W office near the airport so they had to drive to another town outside NY. To make a long story short, the broker charges somewhere around $ 35.00 per hour for every hour past 5PM including the trip back from the Quarantine Station. The USDA airport employee's overtime costs about the same if the forms are not complete by 4PM. Then the Quarantine Station gets overtime if the birds don't arrive by 4:30 PM. So, plan on paying overtime and lots of it. If you can't help but get your birds into the airport in the middle of the night it will all be overtime. Of course, my broker said it is much faster getting things done at night so the procedure takes less time. If you believe that then they will sell you some land on the runway. And trust me - you'll get no where arguing that things took too long. By the way, if I had to pay myself overtime for all the paperwork, I'd be living in a cardboard box by now.

So, in summary here are the steps:

1 - make arrangements with breeder, prepay him/her and get a receipt in both languages, ship him/her the shipping box.

2 - pick port of entry and airline nearest to the quarantine station of choice

3 - pay the airline and get a copy of the 'Airway Bill'

3 - pick the broker, pay the deposit, and give them Power of Attorney

4 - get the USDA import permit and reserve space at the quarantine station

5 - get the F&W import permit

6 - arrange for a freight forwarder in the country of export

7 - call the airport vet a few days before shipment to tell him what's coming - give him 'Airway Bill number, airline, time of arrival, etc.

8 - a day or two before shipping have foreign vet inspect and then fax you the health certificate

9 - the day before shipping confirm the schedule with the broker, the cargo manager at the airport, warn the port veterinarian that your shipment is coming, etc. You should be near a phone the day of shipping just in case a problem arises. Remember to send copies of everything you get to your broker and keep the chain of communications open! If someone makes a mistake you are ultimately responsible.

Things to have the breeder and/or freight forwarder put in the envelope (attached to the shipping box) when it leaves export country:

1 - Foreign veterinarian's original signature on your original health certificate

2 - Bill of sale in both languages

3 - Copy of F&W Import Permit

4 - Original of USDA Import Permit

5 - Large laminated sheet of paper, taped to the box with duct tape saying the following:

SHIP TO: your name c/o broker's company name, address, and phone plus

URGENT: AIRLINE EMPLOYEES WHEN SHIPMENT ARRIVES AT JFK (or another port of entry) PLEASE CALL:

1) USDA PORT VETERINARIAN (PUT PHONE NUMBER OF PORT VET HERE)|

2) BROKER: PUT BROKER'S PERSONAL NAME, COMPANY NAME AND PHONE NO.)

So, what does this all cost? For us it costs $79.00 per bird for the process without the cost of the birds! It could run more if you hire people to do things you can do yourself. Costs are broken down below. It varies greatly, but our costs were as follows (rounded to nearest US dollar) and I've included some others you might have if you don't do some of the work yourself:

1) Cost of birds (this is between you and the breeder)

2) Hand-built International Shipping Box #11A (Materials $60.00)

Labor to build the box - 12 hours (did it myself)

3) Shipping of #11A container to breeder (depends, bring it yourself when you visit)

4) USDA Import Permit (VS 17-129) with associated fees

Quarantine Fees Rates for finches (effective 6/6/96 to present but may change)

1.00 per day per bird for 30 days (= $1,500.00 for 50 birds)

Newcastle disease testing done at quarantine station ($29.75 per 5 birds = $297. 50 for 50 birds)

Salmonella testing done at quarantine station ($15.00) per entire shipment

Grand Total for Quarantine for 50 finches = $1,812.50

5) Broker's Fees (All items below are paid by the broker who will bill you)

First Time Account Processing Fee ($15.00)

Broker's Fee - Customs Entry ($150.00)

Delivery of Birds from Airport to Quarantine Station ($250.00)

Pick-up Birds and Ship to us ($0.00 We did it ourselves and saved $250.00)

US Customs Fees (2.5% of your receipt value of the birds)

Bonds ($50.00)

Carrier's Certificate ($10.00)

Reforwarding Release Services ($15.00)

USDA User's Fees ($33.00)

Fisheries and Wildlife Inspection at Airport ($55.00)

6) Fisheries and Wildlife Import Permit ($50.00)

7) Foreign veterinarian's inspection - and NECESSARY health certificate processing in foreign country ($174.00) - price very variable and depends on currency exchange rate and the particular veterinarian's fees.

8) Foreign Freight Forwarder ($987.00) - includes the airline fee for cargo (very variable) plus transportation from breeder's house to airport (3hr) and paperwork with foreign government and airline.

9) Overtime Fees (this is our total with an arrival time of 10AM at the airport)

USDA at port of entry - airport ($ 28.00)

Broker's overtime going to Quarantine Station and back ($105.00)

USDA Quarantine Station overtime ($113.00)

10) Seed plus shipping (We sent Vita-Finch to Quarantine Station) ($47.00)

We also had the cost of the interpreters, meals for them, etc. and other costs that may not apply to your shipment

As you can see this is not a procedure to start if you are not dedicated to the project from start to finish. It is my hope that the importation of the Japanese finches will bring lots of happiness to many generations of finch breeders. It is unlikely that anyone will ever again need to import society finches from Japan (until, of course, some new mutations are discovered that we all MUST have).

the end

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