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Exhibitor Shipping and Customs Services

Introduction

Interaction is keen to ensure that dealers, artists and other exhibitors find it as easy as possible to participate in the convention. One important element of this, especially for those exhibitors coming from overseas, is shipping and customs clearance.

To help exhibitors to get their materials to and from the convention smoothly, we have selected the Kuehne + Nagel group (KN) as our logistics partner. KN can provide a full service international shipping service from anywhere in the World, to and from the SECC, including customs processing, warehousing and on-site support. Full information on this service is provided below.

For those who wish to make their own arrangements, we would recommend you start with the UK Customs and Excise website. This will also give you some idea of what items are banned from coming into the country. You can also have individual enquiries answered at Glasgow.enquiries_sco@hmce.gsi.gov.uk. Please note that there is an underscore between "enquiries" and "sco" in this email address.

The Kuehne + Nagel Shipping Service

Kuehne + Nagel are a major international logistics and shipping company with branches throughout the world. We have selected them as our partner through a competitive tender process which has ensured that they understand our needs and can provide a high quality of service and competitive pricing. The following Q&A is designed to help exhibitors to understand and utilise the service.


Q: How Does the Service Work?

A: KN will provide a full shipping service from the collection point to the floor of the SECC and back again, including all transportation and customs elements. They will also assist with the preparation of the relevant paperwork, including for the return journey, for which they will have people on-site in Glasgow during the Convention.

As exhibitors will appreciate, Interaction is a volunteer-run organisation, and we are not experts in shipping or in customs clearance. As a result, we request that exhibitors contract directly with KN for such services as they need, rather than going through the convention. Exhibitors will however benefit from the extensive work we have done in selecting KN as our partner. This includes, for instance, the appointment of specific points of contact at KN who will coordinate all Interaction shipments, and the presence of KN on-site in August.

We will also provide two further services to help exhibitors.

• We will be available to assist with any queries or problems that exhibitors have and which cannot be resolved directly by KN.

• We will assist KN in identifying opportunities for consolidation (combining shipments from different exhibitors into a single consignment for the bulk of the journey to and from Glasgow).

Both of these services will be provided by our international logistics team, led by Glenn Glazer. This team can be contacted at logistics@interaction.worldcon.org.uk


Q: What is Included in the Service?

A: The KN service includes the following elements:

• Pick up service at origin points regardless of location.
• Export customs formalities.
• Air and ocean services.
• Import customs formalities in Scotland.
• Clearances under temporary import bonds.
• Inland handling from port / airport of arrival to Glasgow SECC.
• Delivery of exhibits / product directly to booth / exhibition floor.
• Pick up, storage and re-delivery of empty boxes / crates for the duration of the Convention.
• Pick up from booth at close of Convention.
• Inland transfer to port / airport of export.
• Air and ocean services.
• Import customs formalities into country of destination.
• Final delivery to designated destination address.
• Assistance in documentation process to and from the Convention.

A: KN offer insurance as an optional item on top of the core service scope detailed above. Exhibits may choose whether to ask KN to obtain an insurance quotation or to make alternative arrangements with their own provider. Exhibitors should typically assume that insurance costs may run to 1.0% - 1.5% of the value of the shipment.

It should be noted that insurers may be unwilling to offer cover for high value items unless they have been professionally packed.


Q: What Support will be Available On-site?

A: The KN service includes the following elements relating to support on-site at the SECC:

• Timely delivery to booth as per specified deadlines set by customers.
• Pick up, storage and re-delivery of empty boxes, crates etc.
• Timely pick up from booth once shipments have been re-packed.
• Marking / Labeling of all freight.
• On site assistance to all exhibiting parties with regards to rate requests and Proposals for shipments that are expected to be re-exported at close of the Convention.
• Sit with exhibitors who shipped using our services to the Convention to discuss all export formalities and revise documentation.

A: You can download a copy of the KN terms and conditions here (123 KB download).


Q: What About Shipping within the UK?

A: In the event that your freight originates in the UK, shipping can be arranged through TNT Showfreight UK who are are KN's partner in the UK. Dean Wale of TNT Showfreight will act as our primary contact, and will liaise with the KN representatives as appropriate.

TNT Showfreight will be able to offer assistance from UK premises up to the SECC Glasgow with appropriate on site handling and support as outlined under the International shipment services.


Q: What Does it Cost?

A: Unfortunately it is not possible to provide a simple schedule of rates for international shipping and customs clearance. This is because the costs will vary according to the shipment type and value, origin and destination, warehousing required, and so on. In addition, KN will seek to identify consolidation options which will reduce the price to exhibitors of moving material to and from Glasgow.

Exhibitors should contact KN to obtain a specific quote for their specific requirement. Exhibitors should reference the World Science Fiction Convention when talking to KN to ensure that they get the preferential rates that we have secured. This will be facilitated by going through our specific points of contact (see next point).

Requests for quotations should normally be made by email or fax.


Q: Who are the KN Contacts?

A: KN have appointed lead representatives who will coordinate all of KN's Interaction-related shipping and custom activities. Having a clear point of contact this way will ensure good service and make it easy to resolve and queries or problems that may arise.

The lead KN contacts are Mattias Becker and Adriaan Lengkeek, who operate from KN's Atlanta office in the USA. They will coordinate shipping for all countries of origin other than the UK. They can be contacted as follows:

    Mattias Becker
    Direct Telephone Line: (+1) 404 675 2936
    Email: mattias.becker@kuehne-nagel.com

    Adriaan Lengkeek
    Direct Telephone Line: (+1) 404 675 2828
    Email: adriaan.lengkeek@kuehne-nagel.com

    Fax: (+1) 404 675 2925

Note on phone/fax number: the (+1) means that you need to dial the US country code (normally this will be 001) first when calling from outside the US. In the US, the number is simply 404-675-2925.

For shipping within the UK, exhibitors should directly contact Dean Wale at TNT Showfreight, who are KN's UK partner. Dean can be contacted as follows:

    Dean Wale
    TNT Showfreight
    Tel: 0121 782 8888
    Fax: 0121 782 2875
    E-mail: dean.wale@tnt.co.uk


Q: What are the Shipping Deadlines?

A: The shipping deadlines depend on the mode of transport. KN have advised the following as realistic dates for shipping from the US:

• For Ocean Full Container Loads (FCL), pick up from the point of origin by 20 June 2005.

• For Ocean Less Container Loads (LCL), loading at the point of origin by 15 June 2005.

• For Airfreight, pick up from the point of origin by 13 July 2005.

Equivalent deadlines for shipping from other countries can be obtained from KN.

KN will attempt to consolidate consignments within countries (especially the US) before starting the international part of the shipping process to reduce cost. Achieving full container loads (FCL) shipment will achieve the maximum reduction and also provide for a later shipping date; however it should be noted that a full container is a large shipment and may not be achievable.

Air freight will of course offer the latest loading dates, but will be significantly more expensive than ocean freight.

In all cases, exhibitors can achieve the best cost by contacting KN at an early stage and confirming their interest and requirements. This will maximise the potential for KN to find consolidation options for that exhibitor.


Q: Who looks after this for the Convention?

Although exhibitors will be contracting directly with KN, Interaction will of course be pleased to answer queries and to try to solve any issues that may arise. This role will be undertaken by our international logistics team, which is led by Glenn Glazer. Glenn can be contacted at logistics@interaction.worldcon.org.uk

As noted in the service overview description at the top of the page, we will also work with KN to maximise the potential for consolidation of shipments to save cost. If you are interested in consolidation, please make this known to KN and also to our logistics team, and they will look for other exhibitors with compatible locations and shipping dates to see what can be achieved.

© UK 2005 Ltd, 2002-2005. All rights to content reserved to UK 2005 Ltd, unless otherwise indicated. This page maintained by webmaster@interaction.worldcon.org.uk.

Page last updated 20^th April 2005