When research meets customs
Handle international shipments in a legally compliant manner with the shipping center
Would you like to send a biological sample to your research partner in Brazil but don't know which customs regulations to follow? Or would you like to send an important component of your state-of-the-art measuring device to Japan for repair but don't know what to consider for temporary export? And how do you ship hazardous goods such as chemicals for analysis to a cooperating testing laboratory in New Zealand in a legally compliant manner?
Doreen Küster (l.) and Cornelia Ribbentrop (r.) from the shipping center (Photo: Jana Dünnhaupt)
In research and science, the shipment of materials, equipment, or samples is subject to complex legal requirements, according to Katrin Bombitzki, the university's export control officer. Regardless of whether the shipment is going to EU countries or third countries, international parcel shipping is subject to numerous regulations—from customs regulations and country-specific regulations to export control requirements. The colleagues at the OVGU's shipping center—perhaps better known to you as the mailroom—have the necessary expertise to ship dangerous goods, sensitive samples, or technical prototypes in a legally compliant, efficient, and reliable manner. The name change took effect at the beginning of the year.
Why change the name?
“The volume of shipments has changed significantly in recent years,” explains Cornelia Ribbentrop, head of the shipping center. “While traditional letter mail is becoming increasingly less important, the number of parcel shipments has remained constant for years and has even increased.” In 2025, 15,000 parcels were imported, and more than 100 parcels were exported to third countries. Both imports and exports require customs procedures, involving a lot of paperwork, information, and documentation. “We took this development as an opportunity to realign our mailroom and operate it as a shipping center in the future. Mail has been associated with letter mail for too long. Shipping represents the tasks that will be the focus in the future. The shipping center will play a central role in the area of goods-related export control,” adds Katrin Bombitzki. “The employees at the shipping center provide a great service—from compiling the necessary information and ensuring proper packaging to handling customs procedures. Everything can be handled centrally via the shipping center, including for employees and students at the Faculty of Medicine.”
Export Control Officer Katrin Bombitzki (Photo: Jana Dünnhaupt)
Contact point for shipping abroad
In the future, the shipping center will be the single point of contact for international shipping. The employees have the necessary expertise and know the appropriate processes to handle even demanding shipping requirements reliably. Export and customs regulations are as diverse as the countries themselves and are constantly changing. Cornelia Ribbentrop researches the applicable import and export regulations and determines what information and documents are required for smooth shipping. The shipments are as diverse as our university itself; nothing is standardized—from the dimensions to the weight of the package, from the reason for export to the time window in which the shipment must arrive at the recipient—each one is a unique case. "Communication with the senders is often quite complex, because how, for example, do you determine the value of bacteria or fungal cultures for insurance purposes? And which chemicals can be sent in one package and which require separate packaging? Then I sometimes have to read through 14-page safety data sheets. That takes time, of course. Sometimes I wish I could perform magic,“ says Cornelia Ribbentrop, ”but unfortunately that doesn't work. That's why it's important to contact us well in advance of shipping. It's best to inquire at least 14 days in advance so we can discuss everything that needs to be done and set a timeline. To speed up the process, I have put together a kind of checklist for essential information. If it is filled out in detail, a very important step has already been taken." Then the employees at the shipping center can ensure that everyone receives reliable support when shipping items to other European and international countries – from preparation to the secure handover of the shipment to the transport service provider.
AUTHOR: Ines Perl