Is anyone else having to complete the customs forms? I was told I had to do one today on a package to Canada. I have never been told anything about this before by the Postal Service people. Now I am wondering if any of the DVDs or CDs that I mailed without Customs forms have reached their destinations. I suppose I should fill them out regardless just to be on

Don, I have been completing customs forms for most of my overseas mailings. The difficulty lies in the definition of "potentially dutiable contents" which, I guess, varies from country to country. By putting the forms on the mailing, you identify the contents for the inspectors. I had one helpful mail clerk tell me, "Just write CD on the outside of the package and that is sufficient." I had another one tell me, "CDs are merchandise and must be declared as such on a customs form." I was also informed that Canada was cracking down on incorrectly addressed mail. This was around Christmas and, as I understand it, the US was dealing with extremely great volumes of mail returned from Canada. Mailings to Canada were rejected if they lacked the full name of the recipient or the sender (security concerns with all the terrorism, don't you know) and if the address was not in all capital letters. At my Post Office, one of the window clerks with whom I have developed some rapport due to my regular visits and number of transactions asked me why I thought Canada was being so hard nosed. I replied, "If I were a cynic, I would think that maybe the Canada Post employees were feeling overworked and were looking for any excuse not to do their jobs." I have been checking the box declaring the contents as a gift, identifying the contents as "1 CD-ROM data disc" and "1 DVD data disc" or as appropriate, and declaring the value of the shipment to be $2. I have an address stamp for my address, so I just need to write the destination address and sign and date it twice. I'm printing mailing labels for the destination and return addresses. I am identifying the shipper as "Project Gutenberg Media Fulfillment," c/o my name and PO Box address. I would presume that your packages were either delivered or they are en route on their way back to you. I guess it's possible that some might be confiscated somewhere, but I don't think that is happening. On a related, but more general note, my personal productivity has fallen markedly in the past two weeks or so. I have become engrossed in a programming project at work, which, I hope (knock on wood) is nearing successful completion. It should provide a big productivity win for my department. John -----Original Message----- From: dvdvol-bounces@lists.pglaf.org [mailto:dvdvol-bounces@lists.pglaf.org] On Behalf Of Brandon Galbraith Sent: Monday, May 09, 2005 8:03 PM To: CD and DVD Volunteers Subject: Re: [dvdvol] Customs declaration Don, There was a previous email about this on the list several months ago. Let me go dig it up. Short answer: You don't need the customs forms. -brandon Donald Arnold wrote: the

safe side. Any thoughts or ideas from the group?

Don Arnold

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I've never filled out a single customs form and I've never had a problem. Your experience may vary. Of course, I don't take the packages to the clerks at the post office. I buy the postage and apply it my self. Then, all the packages go into the drop box around the corner. The postal employees are all over the place with their opinions. However, I've done the research, and feel confident that what we are mailing is not of significant monetary value to warrant being classified as dutiable. A supervisor at the 1-800-ask-usps agreed with that assessment. Good luck. Sincerely Aaron Cannon At 09:14 PM 5/9/2005, you wrote:

Don,

I have been completing customs forms for most of my overseas mailings.

The difficulty lies in the definition of "potentially dutiable contents" which, I guess, varies from country to country. By putting the forms on the mailing, you identify the contents for the inspectors. I had one helpful mail clerk tell me, "Just write CD on the outside of the package and that is sufficient." I had another one tell me, "CDs are merchandise and must be declared as such on a customs form." I was also informed that Canada was cracking down on incorrectly addressed mail. This was around Christmas and, as I understand it, the US was dealing with extremely great volumes of mail returned from Canada. Mailings to Canada were rejected if they lacked the full name of the recipient or the sender (security concerns with all the terrorism, don't you know) and if the address was not in all capital letters. At my Post Office, one of the window clerks with whom I have developed some rapport due to my regular visits and number of transactions asked me why I thought Canada was being so hard nosed. I replied, "If I were a cynic, I would think that maybe the Canada Post employees were feeling overworked and were looking for any excuse not to do their jobs."

I have been checking the box declaring the contents as a gift, identifying the contents as "1 CD-ROM data disc" and "1 DVD data disc" or as appropriate, and declaring the value of the shipment to be $2. I have an address stamp for my address, so I just need to write the destination address and sign and date it twice. I'm printing mailing labels for the destination and return addresses. I am identifying the shipper as "Project Gutenberg Media Fulfillment," c/o my name and PO Box address.

I would presume that your packages were either delivered or they are en route on their way back to you. I guess it's possible that some might be confiscated somewhere, but I don't think that is happening.

On a related, but more general note, my personal productivity has fallen markedly in the past two weeks or so. I have become engrossed in a programming project at work, which, I hope (knock on wood) is nearing successful completion. It should provide a big productivity win for my department.

John

-----Original Message----- From: dvdvol-bounces@lists.pglaf.org [mailto:dvdvol-bounces@lists.pglaf.org] On Behalf Of Brandon Galbraith Sent: Monday, May 09, 2005 8:03 PM To: CD and DVD Volunteers Subject: Re: [dvdvol] Customs declaration

Don,

There was a previous email about this on the list several months ago. Let me go dig it up. Short answer: You don't need the customs forms.

-brandon

Donald Arnold wrote:

...

Is anyone else having to complete the customs forms? I was told I had to do one today on a package to Canada. I have never been told anything about this before by the Postal Service people. Now I am wondering if any of the DVDs or CDs that I mailed without Customs forms have reached their destinations. I suppose I should fill them out regardless just to be on the safe side. Any thoughts or ideas from the group?

Don Arnold

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