Exempt Human or Animal Specimen

The exemption rests on a judgement about the source, taken on the known medical history and symptoms, the individual circumstances, and endemic conditions where the source was located. It is not a category that can be elected for convenience, and it is the exemption most often claimed without a basis, so record who made the judgement and on what grounds.

Exempt specimens still require three layers of packaging that will not leak, with absorbent material between the primary receptacle and the secondary packaging for liquids, and the outer package marked as an exempt human or exempt animal specimen.

The exemption covers the infectious hazard only. Dry ice used to keep the specimen cold is still UN1845, with its own venting and marking requirements, and human tissue consent, CITES and export control can each apply independently. The infectious substance classifier asks the limbs of the judgement in the order the regulation sets them out.