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We always ship our crystals a week or so ahead by Fedex to the United States (from Canada). Fedex has always been great. We haven't had any crystal damage yet. But more often now, there are delays at US customs in the Fedex sorting facility in Memphis.
So, we now include an *explicit* letter describing the canes and cryovials (dimensions, number, materials, ...) and including a sample of a cryovial, describing what a dry shipper is, how it should be handled and why it is not subject to IATA regulations, describing how the protein crystals are not hazardous, describing what will happen if the crystals warm up, how it doesn't contravene any EPA or Agricultural or NAFTA importation rules, and stating that the shipment cannot be delayed and must meet a deadline ... Your experience indicates we also need to include a statement about how to properly close the dewar lid. If shipping pucks, maybe a photo of one should be included as well.
I don't know whether this (increasingly longer) letter has helped or not, but the more information the customs officials have, and the more we educate them, I presume the less problems there will be.
Yvonne Leduc University of Saskatchewan Leslie A. wrote:
*** For details on how to be removed from this list visit the *** *** CCP4 home page http://www.ccp4.ac.uk *** We recently sent two dewars of crystals by DHL to ESRF for data collection. On opening the dewars at the ESRF, it was obvious that the dewars (or at least one of them) had been opened during transit. The "groove" in the top to the dewar that accommodates the handle for the basket had been ignored when the top was replaced, and the top had clearly been forced back into the dewar, gouging out a new "groove". The result was a significant accumulation of ice on the pucks, which subsequently caused serious problems with the automatic sample changer, which got jammed by the ice. In addition, and most importantly, the diffraction from the crystals, which had been carefully screened prior to the trip, was so poor that no useful data could be collected. Has anyone else had a similar experience ? We used to secure the tops to the dewars with cable ties, but did not do so on this trip. Following this experience we are tempted to use a padlock, but this may provoke the use of greater force in opening the dewar. One worrying thought is that this is the first time that we have transported the crystals in pucks rather than in canes. Is it possible that the customs people are unaccustomed (excuse the pun) to seeing pucks rather than canes, and that is why they wanted to investigate ? Are customs officials the only people who would open a dewar in transit ? Is there any way that this can be avoided in the future ? Any information/thoughts are greatly welcome Matt Bowler and Andrew Leslie
