Shipping a wooden box
from Haida Gwaii to England requires more paperwork than you would expect!—and
it is remarkably difficult, but we managed in the end.
In Oxford, Laura
contacted UK customs to find the right forms to import the box. The first
hurdle was that the box is made of Western red cedar, thuja plicata, which is a
controlled import into the UK and normally requires a phytosanitary
certificate: UK Forestry is worried about insect infestations and fungal
infections which might spread through the import of wood and trees from outside
the country.
Happily, Forestry UK
was pleased to advise us that items manufactured of wood were exempt from these
restrictions if they fell into certain Customs categories, and we decided that
category 4421, which includes ‘coffins and other manufactured items,’ would
work for the box.
Then Gwaai and Jaalen
had to crate the box to ensure its safety during the journey. You have all seen
what baggage handlers do to your luggage at airports, and commercial cargo is also
moved by forklift, which can mean a lot of bumps and sudden jarring. Airplanes
are very dry, and the box had been steamed recently, so a tightly sealed crate
would help the box to maintain some moisture and not dry out too fast, which
might cause splitting.
The box was too large
to fit through the Air Canada security scanner on Haida Gwaii, but with the
help of Pacific Coastal Airlines we found a way to ship securely. The crate
arrived safely at Heathrow and Laura and PRM technician Jon Eccles went to pick
it up. After only 5 hours waiting for Customs to approve the paperwork, we were
away!
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| we're outta here! |
There was one last
step in the process: everything coming into the Pitt Rivers Museum is frozen
for several days at -30 degrees Celsius to kill all insects and insect eggs and
larvae that might be lurking in things. Even the Museum’s gift shop stock is
frozen. So on arrival at the Museum, the crate was carefully opened and then
the new box had a little Arctic vacation in a walk-in freezer for four days.
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| safely arrived at PRM |
