Hello frank2-ga,
Here are some of the things you should know, and some recommendations
to get the wine shipped into the US.
First of all, from my own personal experience, I recommend having the
wine shipped yourself, and not using the suppliers' shipper. This way,
you are in control of the shipment and anything that may arise. It
gives you the ability to track the shipment, and deal with any "goings
on" that may occur. In addition, in case of any problems, it will be
you that is notified, and not the supplier that shipped the wine.
I've personally used Fed Ex to get wines shipped to me before, and to
have wine shipped to people as gifts from other countries. They have a
very easy and helpful process that will expedite and help you
determine what you would need to do. I recommend them personally,
because I?ve never had an issue with them so far with any
international shipments, they?re always more than willing to help.
Let's talk a little about shipping wine into the US with FedEx.
You mentioned this was a gift. Now, some gifts are duty free, but,
since this is alcohol, it is NOT.
"The U.S. allows exemption from duty and tax for gift shipments
providing that they meet certain criteria. ***(Alcoholic beverages,
perfumes containing alcohol, cigars, and cigarettes are not
eligible.)***"
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Marking and Labeling
"Marking / Labeling
All goods of foreign origin must be legibly, indelibly, and
permanently marked with the English name of the country of origin
unless they meet the exception requirements in the regulations. (The
requirement generally applies to individual units.) When marking is
not feasible, such as when the article is too small or marking would
in some way damage the merchandise, then the packaging or container
that will reach the ultimate consumer must be marked. Specific
requirements on country or origin marking methods and requirements are
available in Title 19, Part 134 of the Code of Federal Regulation
(19CFR134) (available at www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr).
Certain goods (partial list below) have special packing or marking
requirements set by US Customs or by an agency with regulatory control
of the goods. For more information, please review 19 CFR 11 and other
agency regulations such as 27CFR (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and
Firearms) and 16CFR (Federal Trade Commission) that are applicable.
* Distilled spirits, wine and other alcoholic beverages
(I shortened this list to the one that applied to you)
You can find 27 CFR here:
http://www.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/cfrassemble.cgi?title=200327
And 16 CFR here:
http://cfr.law.cornell.edu/cfr/cfr.php?title=16&type=chapter&value=1
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Now, I'm sure this is getting confusing. All of these regulations and
all you want to do is ship some wine to your friends or family back
home.
FedEx tries to simplify all of this for you
"Clearance Process
Working with Customs officials throughout the world, FedEx has
developed innovative technology to eliminate many paperwork-handling
steps and expedite the movement of international shipments. This is
the FedEx Expressclear electronic Customs clearance system. Starting
at the origin, state-of-the-art technology allows the processing of
shipment paperwork and electronic transmission of documents to the
designated FedEx hub and destination clearance location. The
Expressclear system also keeps a database of regulatory information,
which includes importers numbers, broker designation, corporate
contact names, and telephone numbers. At a FedEx hub, international
shipments are sorted, scanned, and loaded onto an international
flight. Vital shipment information is keyed into a worldwide manifest
database that is linked to computer systems operated by brokers and
Customs officials in many countries. Even before the plane has taken
off, or while it is in the air, Customs agents and brokers at the
destination airport of entry can begin examining shipping manifests,
querying air waybill data if they need more details, assessing duties
and taxes and selecting which shipments they wish to examine. By the
time the plane arrives at his destination, many packages have already
been cleared by Customs. As the plane is unloaded, the Expressclear
system identifies packages to be examined and prints "cleared" Customs
labels for all others. Cleared shipments can be transferred to trucks
for immediate delivery. International shipments are scanned at all key
points throughout the process and allows for up-to-date status reports
including when Customs clearance is obtained."
https://gtm.fedex.com/cgi-bin/doc_det/irc_us_profile.html?gtmcc=us#D03
So, as you can see from that excerpt, they're working hard at making
this as easy as possible.
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Now, the easiest way to go about this.
First of all, let me give you an overview of how Fed Ex?s
international shipping works.
1. You complete necessary shipping documentation.
2. A FedEx courier picks up your package, or you drop it off at a
FedEx World Service Center®, a FedEx Authorized ShipCenter®, or a
self-service drop box.
3. FedEx moves your package to a domestic export center for clearance.
4. At the export center, customs officers check documentation,
packaging, and other vital information, and clear your package for
international shipping. FedEx ships your package to the foreign
country you've indicated, where it lands at an import center for
clearance.
5. At the import location, foreign customs officers check shipment
paperwork, and shipment contents when necessary. They assess duties
and taxes, and then clear your package for import.
As far as the paperwork that is required to ship internationally, they
have a website where you can get those documents pertaining to your
shipment.
https://gtm.fedex.com/cgi-bin/doc_det?action=a_00Index
You select the country you're shipping from and where it?s going. For
example Italy to the US.
You then search a keyword to find the shipping code, for example, when
I entered wine; it gave me 19 results for different types of wine.
You then select the country where the product was manufactured.
You then enter the total quantity of the product being shipped, for
example, 2 liters, or gallons, whatever the unit of measurement is.
You then enter the total value of the shipment in the currency of your
choice. For example: $60.00 USD.
They then recommend the correct shipping documents needed to ship your product.
You can review the documents, and then continue to the next screen
where you can print off the documents needed
It then takes you to an ?Estimate Duties and Taxes? Screen.
Continue on, filling the information needed, some of it is very
similar to the previous document information. It then estimates your
duty and tax information once it reaches its destination/US.
https://gtm.fedex.com/cgi-bin/doc_det?action=a_00Index
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Here is a shipping checklist:
https://gtm.fedex.com/cgi-bin/doc_det/irc_shipping_checklist.tpl?gtmcc=us
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The international resource center for FedEx
https://gtm.fedex.com/cgi-bin/doc_det?action=a_IrcTools>mcc=us
https://gtm.fedex.com/cgi-bin/doc_det?action=a_IrcLibrary>mcc=us
https://gtm.fedex.com/us/international/shipguide/?link=4
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I?d love to be more specific, but there are so many factors involved
with importing alcohol into the US, and depending on price, country,
type of alcohol, and amount. This is why I recommend this service;
they?re very efficient on getting you just the right forms, and
numbers you need to ensure your wine reaches its destination. Wouldn?t
it be nice if there was one price and one catch all form for
importing? Here is to hoping!
If this answer requires further explanation, please request
clarification before rating it, and I'll be happy to look into this
further.
Nenna-GA
Google Answers Researcher |
