International Shipping - Outbound

Shipping items out of the U.S. from the UCSF requires additional review and consideration. Federal Export Control Regulation governs the transfer of certain physical objects (e.g., equipment, compounds, materials, prototypes, specimens, or components) outside of the United States, and the transfer of certain types of information to foreign persons inside or outside of the U.S (e.g., data transfer; data on laptop or mobile devices). Each department must determine the best practice and method related to the logistics in moving items, freight and cargo to the desired end-use location.

Visit Supply Chain Management’s Guidance on Exporting Goods to a Foreign Country.

International Shipping – Importing

When buying imported goods from a foreign supplier, there are certain steps that you will need to take to comply with import regulations, duty waivers, customs clearance and, occasionally, payment to the supplier in a foreign currency.

If the UC must pay for shipping and customs, AND is the Importer on Record, then then you may need to engage AmericanCargo, UC’s contract supplier for Freight Forwarding and Customs Brokerage. If the vendor is paying for the entire shipment, including customs, AND the vendor is the Importer on Record, then the vendor's freight forwarder and customs broker is acceptable and you will not be invoiced from UC’s customs broker.

While UC has master contracts with both UPS and FedEx for international shipping, neither company has been granted Power of Attorney for the UC system. Packages valued over $5,000 (and some heavier/bulkier items) must go through UC-contracted Customs broker AmericanCargo to handle customs, duties, and import taxes to ensure that only fees required by applicable treaties will be applied. 

Visit Supply Chain Management’s Guidance on Importing Goods from a Foreign Supplier.

Shipping Biological Materials

If you plan to ship biological or hazardous materials to or from a foreign location, please contact UCSF’s Office of Environmental Health & Safety and follow their procedures for shipping.

Export Control

University activities that involve the transfer of project information, equipment, materials, or technology out of the U.S. by whatever means may be subject to export controls and may require export license(s) depending on the item, destination, recipient, and end-use. Shipping or transferring materials without obtaining the appropriate license or other government approval, or failing to file accurate export or shipping documentation, may result in the confiscation of the shipped items, fines and/or jail time. The Office of Ethics and Compliance is charged with determining whether an export license is required for the shipment of items, software, technology, and information outside of the United States. Please contact UCSF’s Export Control Office at [email protected] for assistance in evaluating if any potential activity is in compliance with export control laws and regulations, and if the export and shipping documentation has been correctly prepared and filed.