Badger from USA to UK

Buying badger brushes from the USA to UK.

I see some businesses not exporting from USA and other that do. Is it all down to where the brushes are manufactured?


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No, it relates moreso to the hassle involved.  Many manufacturers, foreign in particular, have restrictions on dealers selling within a proscribed geographical area to protect their international distribution network.  However, many US artisans, in particular, find the hassle of shipping internationally not worth the effort - especially if domestic demand is high.  This applies to shaving and nonshaving products

There may be some export restrictions of badger as well. I know that Ken at Paladin wrote extensively about this early on in his business. It may or may not be paid attention to by everyone.

Would export restrictions apply to badger hair of Chinese origin?

I believe that china is the only place they can harvest badger. Also Bob is right about Paladin and others they won't ship outside USA

I believe that china is the only place they can harvest badger. Also Bob is right about Paladin and others they won't ship outside USA

Interesting.

I would assume they probably eat badger in China and it’s a by product.


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True, some of us artisans, like Paladin and myself, have permits from US Fish and Wildlife service to be able to import badger hair knots. The fee is I think $93 per shipment, and it is applied if it is only 1 knot or 100. The same fee would be applied if I send a brush outside the US. So far, I have not found a customer outside the US that would be willing to pay this fee additionally to the cost of brush plus the much higher international shipping rates. I know, I do lose some business with this, but the fine one would have to pay is way too high for me as a small artisan business. Ken wrote about this on B&B some time ago, and I just wrote this the other day on B&B:

"No, not when you follow the laws....I, as well as some other of the artisan makers, have a permit from US Fish and Game to import badger hair knots from outside the USA (like from Shavemac, they are in Germany...). We could, however, sell and ship outside, but there is a fee involved, and so far no-one wanted to pay this.....I believe the fee is $93 per shipment.
There was some discussions here a few years back.
In principle, I can only ship to an address in the USA. I think Sears, Paladin and some others also do not ship outside the USA, but I could be wrong.
I am citing here an excerpt from a post made by Chiefbroom (I think he is a lawyer by trade, so he would know better than I do) some time ago:

"U.S. Federal Law provides that any person or entity engaged in either commercial import and/or export of wildlife or a wildlife product (which a shaving brush containing badger hair qualifies as) must 1) have a permit issued by the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and 2) comply with all applicable inspection, reporting, and record-keeping laws and regulations.

I've been given to understand by a law enforcement officer of the FWS that individuals who fail to declare commercial import or export of wildlife products may be subject to penalties of up to $60,000 per violation. That's probably not a likely result in the context under discussion; the law as it applies to import/export of badger-hair shaving brushes is largely observed in the breach. But the risk is still there. And then there's the risk of having our license revoked, which would would be ruinous.

The biggest problem here isn't declaration (of an import or export) per se; it's that declaration triggers inspection, which carries a fee of $93 (or thereabouts) per shipped container. That’s not such a big deal when the $93 is being spread across 100 or 200 brushes. But it's a deal killer as applied to a single brush."

So it would appear a commercial pursuit restriction.

This is the UK GOV information.
In short for personal and private use no permit is required, USA badger is on the list of permitted countries and species.

I would of hoped that UK & USA policies would a-line.






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Thought so

Anybody needing a brush abroad, reach out. I will assist you free of charge