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Recent Improvementsin Materials TransferThis chapter has emphasized some of the difficultiesassociated with shipping laboratory equipment andreagents to countries in the developing world. Itis important to realize, however, that the situationhas undergone dramatic improvement in the recentpast. The biggest change is in communications,which are strikingly enhanced in Southeast Asia,North Africa, Eastern Europe, and Latin Americaas compared to the situation just ten years ago.Cell phones are now almost ubiquitous amongscientists and those who work in materialstransfer. Broadband internet connections are verygood in many regions of the world now, allowingeasy communication by email. Skype (http://www.skype.com), which routes voice conversationsover the Internet, is now available in a broad rangeof countries; its use can dramatically reduce thecost of direct international communications.These changes mean that limitations to communications—bothtechnical and financial—amongscientists, distributors, support staff, and otherkey agents generally no longer represent a bottleneckin the materials transfer process.Improved communications have also resulted inmuch greater availability of product information forscientists, with catalogs, product specifications,and sometimes prices available online. Accessto such information allows scientists to compareprices. This ability can lead to surprises or misunderstandings,because costs of equipment andother materials can be significantly higher in developingversus developed regions of the world. Onekey reason for these differences is the increasedsupport costs in the latter, as discussed above.Courier companies are familiar with the requiredinternational guidelines for packaging biohazardousmaterial and generally advise the researchersabout the correct procedures. In addition,they tend to assist us to obtain the necessaryexport licenses.”Brian Eley, South AfricaA number of international shippers are now verywell established in many locations, also leading toimprovements in materials transfer. For example,Federal Express (FedEx; www.fedex.com) andDHL (http://www.dhl.com) have local offices andcouriers in many locations, providing improvedinfrastructure for shipping. World Courier(http://www.worldcourier.com), another majorinternational courier company, is particularly goodwith cold chain preservation and clinical materials.Despite these improvements, barriers remain fortransfer of materials to and from the developingworld.RESOURCESD. Catizone, Planning for Your Cold Chain Shipment: TheForgotten Science of Clinical Research and Development.BioProcessing Journal, September/October 2005, pp. 2-4.This article is available at the Quick International Couriersite: http://www.quickintl.com/.For researchers collaborating with colleagues in theUnited States, the application for the U.S. Public HealthService permit to import or transport etiologic agents,hosts, or vectors of human disease can be found at:http://www.cdc.gov/od/eaipp/forms/Permit_to_Import_or_Transport_Etiologic_Agents_Hosts_or_Vectors_of_Human_Diseases_fillable1-17.pdf.Guidelines for the Humane Transportation of ResearchAnimals (2006), Institute for Laboratory Animal Research,is available from this site: http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?isbn=0309101107.Sources for a number of publications about internationalrequirements for shipping dangerous goods, some ofwhich are discussed above, are described on this site:http://www.phmsa.dot.gov/hazmat/regs/international#icao.The IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations Manual is availablefrom this site: http://www.iata.org/ps/publications/dgr.htm.The IATA Live Animal Regulations manual is available fromthis site: http://www.iata.org/ps/publications/lar.176 excellence everywhere