I am seeing some guys who would be a great match for a couple of my mares, but have never used semen out of the US before. How much more does it cost? Does it get held up in customs? What else do I need to know?
It is actually much easier to get semen down into the U.S. than trying to get semen brought up to Canada. Canada restricts semen coming from the U.S. due to the CEM outbreak. But because the U.S. already has it, there are no problems sending semen down to the U.S.
There is absolutely no extra paperwork or costs with shipping semen to the U.S. We’ve been shipping semen down to the U.S. for 7 years and have only had one or two shipments get caught up in customs over all of those years. Normally, customs knows to make sure the Equitainers get to their destinations ASAP!
If it were me, I would make sure the Stallion Owner you are interested in dealing with has shipped semen before, as well as being familiar with shipping semen to the U.S., as there is paperwork we need to fill out for you.
Good luck!
I have bred to Canadian based stallions the last two years, and getting semen has been completely uneventful; it is easy as getting it from a SO in the US.
[QUOTE=everafterfarm;5900879]
I am seeing some guys who would be a great match for a couple of my mares, but have never used semen out of the US before. How much more does it cost? Does it get held up in customs? What else do I need to know?[/QUOTE]
Wellll…it’s not difficult, but it does require some additional steps. First and foremost, make sure the stallion/facility you are interested in using can get the job done. It requires that a zoosanitary certificate be completed and endorsed by a vet. That zoosanitary certificate must then be certified by USDA (current cost for the endorsement from USDA is $76.00. For many facilities, it can be difficult to impossible to get to a USDA facility for that endorsement in a timely fashion as the certificate must accompany the shipment. We ship to Canada regularly and have yet to have one held up in customs. The biggest issue is getting the collection done and the endorsement by USDA in time. Our USDA office is 80 miles away and closes at 1:30 p.m. for certificate endorsements <rolling eyes>. So, we have to have all stallions being shipped out collected and ready to ship by 10 a.m. in order to have adequate time to get to OKC. Other than the USDA endorsement fee and the courier fee to get the endorsement, our costs are all the same to ship to Canada. It’s NOT difficult, but as I said earlier, make absolutely sure the facility CAN get that endorsement!
Good luck!
Ah Kathy - I think you misunderstood! 
She asked about semen from Canada TO the USA - not the other way around!
We dont need any certificates signed by anyone to send semen to the States. The only extra paperwork we need to do is a Commercial Invoice stating the origin and value of the goods, the volume, shipper / consignee, waybill number and thats it.
Ive never had anything get held or delayed in customs - ever - over about 7-8 years of shipping to the US. As long as the paperwork is complete which is always is, it goes through without a hitch …
It shouldnt cost any more - maybe $10.00 - $20.00 - $30.00 more in shipping depending on where it is coming from and going to but thats about it
Hope that helps!
[QUOTE=everafterfarm;5900879]
I am seeing some guys who would be a great match for a couple of my mares, but have never used semen out of the US before[/QUOTE]
Tell me about shipping semen from Canada to US
Which is it?? 
[QUOTE=Equine Reproduction;5901427]
Which is it?? :)[/QUOTE]
I think she means she’s never used semen outSIDE of the US before
yes, I DO mean semen coming from Canada to me here in the States. Have only used semen here in the States so far, but am looking at several stallions based in Canada.
I ship to the US quite a bit and as others have said it is quite simple. No extra paperwork or fee’s involved. Good luck.
[QUOTE=everafterfarm;5901661]
yes, I DO mean semen coming from Canada to me here in the States. Have only used semen here in the States so far, but am looking at several stallions based in Canada.[/QUOTE]
Yup, then as others have noted, easy peasy :D! Hopefully my post helped others understand how it works the OTHER way around :P. Definitely not so easy! Used to be! But until we get our negative CEM status back, it’ll be tough…
[QUOTE=Faiths CremelloWB;5901803]
I ship to the US quite a bit and as others have said it is quite simple. No extra paperwork or fee’s involved. Good luck.[/QUOTE]
I ship to the US a lot and it is very simple and straightforward, as others have said.
Thanks everyone! I’m glad to learn it’s as easy as using semen here. Now I have some decisions to make!
Not true - you’ve just been lucky. Not saying this happens frequently by any means, but sometimes the Equitainers do get held up by Customs. We’ve also always had all of our paperwork correct, dotted all of our i’s and crossed all of our t’s and have had one or two Equitainers get held up over the years…and U.S. Customs has randomly decided to stop that particular Equitainer. Sometimes it does happen.
Thanks all! You guys convinced me to give it a try. I am booking one of my girls to a stallion in Canada!
