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I realise bringing a bbq TO Australia might be the most extreme example of shipping coals to Newcastle of all time, but I've a much loved Big Green Egg bbq that I would be reluctant to leave behind when we move from Dublin- Australia later this year. I am a bit nervous about it making it through customs/agri inspection though. Has anyone managed to get anything similar in successfully? I suppose the answer is just to scrub it as clean as can get it and keep fingers crossed, but any tips would be very welcome.

Hi all, Our boxes have arrived! i need to clear them through customs first before i can pick them up at the warehouse in the port, but i cant get through to customs (or anyone really!) to ask where customs are in the port of Brisbane?? Just wondered if any one knows?? Thanks Kris xx:smile:

Hi All I am not sure if people are aware of the charges by customs in the UK for gifts sent to family and friends. I have lived here for 6 years and posted (as you may imagine) many presents over this time. The last few i have been late sending so used Express Courier International. This is a 'quick' service which has proved to be a joke! They are suppised to take around 3 working days, each one i have sent has taken at least 2 weeks! They get held up at the sorting office, then when tracking it states 'delivery attempted' NO CARD IS LEFT, then when they do deliver they take to to any neighbour who happens to be in and get them to sign for it! Very secure NOT!!!! Anyway, i paid $80 to send my sisters 50th birthday presents on 1 October, they got held in customs and she has had to pay VAT and clearance fees on her present. Apparently these fees have always been there (even though there have never been charges before), so i have checked into this, after speakng with a 'stroppy Essex Girl' at Romford ( and i am from Essex so this is not a dig), who told me to call customs and then calling customs 10 times (from Brisbane at 11.41pm so i am tired and feeling stroppy) only to be constantly cut off as soon as the call goes through - i can hear them talking to each other!!!!! :arghh: I have found the following: 2.3 What are the limits for customs duty and import VAT? Commercial consignments of £18 or less are free from customs duty and import VAT. For example, goods purchased over the internet with an intrinsic value not exceeding £18, will not be charged any duty or VAT but this does not include alcohol, tobacco products, perfume or toilet waters, see paragraph 2.5, 2.6 and section 3. If you are sent a gift with a value of £36 or less, and which complies ,with the rules shown in paragraph 2.4. it will be free from customs duty and import VAT, but this does not include alcohol, tobacco, perfumes and toilet waters. Customs duty becomes payable if the value of the goods is over £120 but duty is waived if the amount of duty calculated is less than £7. There are a number of other circumstances where relief from some or all customs charges may be available. If you think your goods may be eligible for a relief you should contact the Helpline for further information. top ^ 2.4 Gifts Goods sent as a gift that are over £36 in value are liable to import VAT. Customs duty also becomes payable if the value of the goods is over £120 but is waived if the amount of duty calculated is less than £7. To qualify as a gift: the customs declaration must be completed correctly the gift must be sent from a private person outside the EU to a private person(s) in this country there is no commercial or trade element and the gift has not been paid for either directly or indirectly the gift is of an occasional nature only, for example, for a birthday or anniversary. Please note if you purchase goods from outside the EU to give as a gift to a relative or friend, whether or not addressed to that person, is treated as a ‘commercial consignment’ for which the import VAT relief threshold is £18 (paragraph 2.3 refers). top ^ 2.5 Do gifts of alcohol and tobacco products qualify for relief from import duties and import VAT? NO. Excise duty is payable on all alcohol and tobacco products regardless of whether they are a gift. Oh, and to top it all, she arrives here on Monday for a 3 week holiday so i should have just held them till she arrived! So, in future i will be sending several small parcels, all under 18 pounds in value or otherwise just lie about the value!! Rant over Cheryl

Hi We have been in Sydney for 8 weeks now and our ship docked yesterday, I wondered how long it took for the containers to arrive at the door??? I am desperate to have all our things around us, and my son needs to have all his toys etc....... We are really hoping to be in our house for Christmas as we are staying in a serviced apartments and its driving us mad!!!:goofy: would be great to hear of others experiances with this :biggrin:

Has anyone tried to take sea shells into Australia, either in the shipping container or in hand luggage? Did customs let them through & did they need fumigating? If so, how much did it cost? We have a small collection that we would like to take with us but we're getting different stories from the removals companies - one said no, one said yes, another said we'd have to varnish them and another said take in hand luggage on the plane. As far as I can tell, hand luggage is subject to the same DAFF restrictions as shipping by sea so I'm not sure how this helps.... Thanks!

Hi guys! So I've decided to travel to the Gold Coast to stay with family, it's been a very quick decision... I'm coming alone and I am sooo excited! Although I won't know anyone around my age to do all of the travelling part with, and I plan to stay 2 years.. So gunna do my 3 months in farming.. Anyone else got the same plans or fancy trading advice?! I also have a question for you people that have already travelled. I won't have the standard $5000 dollars due to my quick decision making and my family have agreed to be 'financially responsible' for me. Will this be okay? How many of you were questioned at customs about your financial stability? I'm worried!

I emigrated in 2008 on a partner visa and only just getting around to shipping personal possessions which I have left with my dad. It is only 2 boxes containing, crockery, cutlery , records and a guitar ive completed the relevant forms, posted them to my dad and he and he is obtaining quotes but one potential shipper is claiming I need to pay for customs inspection fees of around $120. I have contacted customs and they never mentioned this, I just need the paperwork. Who is correct? can anyone who has imported personal goods explain the process as Customs are not very helpful thanks

ok so ill be leaving uk on 24th december flying with etihad airways, im flying from dub - abu dhabi - sydney - brisbane, all made in one booking, however im wondering as to whether i go through customs and immigration at sydney or brisbane or even at both ? the entirety of the trip was booked with sta , and its all on one flight ticket

Moving to Oz and I am looking at the U.P. Affects statement I need to complete for the packers info. and one must declare any items owned by you for less than 12 months. This is a very ambiguous question on the form as they have not indicated anything above a certain value. I personally think this probably refers to items of high value ie.TVs, sofas etc. but do I need to include the small stuff like my kitchen items (ie new boxes of plastic bags, silver foil that I usually buy in bulk although I only have one new box of each), what about personal apparel likes clothes and shoes I have bought in the past few months. (Only ordinary brands so not expensive designer stuff). Surely they don't expect one to declare all the bitty bits. I think this is a bit silly however I am worried if I don't put something on the form they will think I am being untruthful and give me a hard time. Has anyone had any experience of not declaring small items and having problems with clearance? Does anyone knows of a weblink or email to customs queries where I can ask them? This seems very trivial I know but Customs are Customs and can be quite difficult even if you have nothing to hide. Surely there must be a guide somewhere otherwise the forms would be pages long with stupid declarations. I bought a new toothbrush last week??? :twitcy: Hope someone can help. Any customs members out there please? :unsure: Thanks a bunch. http://www.customs.gov.au/webdata/resources/files/effects2.pdf

Hello! Hoping someone can help me... I have made the very traumatic decision to go back to the UK after 5 happy years in Aus (sob). I don't really have that much stuff that i need to keep, so I was thinking maybe just send it air freight/unaccompanied baggage. Prices seem quite reasonable, but I'm thinking there must be some sneaky import customs taxes, duties type things for when my stuff arrives at Heathrow - does anyone know anything about this? I can't find the info online. Basically, if there are lots of sneaky costs, I'll just buy the more expensive BA flight and get extra luggage. I did think about shipping, but the man at the freight company seemed to think that was a rubbish idea - talk about needing professional packers, and having to pick up the stuff from Dover myself. It sounded too hard and pretty expensive. Would really appreciate any advice xxx

We are currently packing boxes to send with the post office in Spain, We have decided on the slower option of sea rather then air. They have given us a simple form CP72/pem to fill out with 3 lines for contents and said to generalize whats in the box (clothes/kitchenware/shoes etc) Does anybody know if this is sufficient for Australia? should we be contacting the Customs dept or anything like that , we are sending to our sisters house , would it be better to use her name or ours? thanks

Chaps General consensus is that it is about 7-10 days before they release it although it does depend, I know, on other circumstances. when I shipped items before it was about 7 days, but Kent Moving, over here, advised that with our ship docking in Melbourne on the 17 Feb, we would not see our stuff until 7 or 8 March. That seems a very long time, so can anyone advise the length of time they have waited, recently, for their container to be released and thus delivered? Thanks Sip

Unless you want to spend a few days in jail and a $50k legal battle :wideeyed: http://www.terminalu.com/travel-destinations/australia-pacific/australia/100000-payout-for-man-wrongly-accused-of-smuggling-drugs-in-pantene-shampoo/19898/

hi i have had a quote for my volvo v70 for shipping but what am i likely to pay at other end for tax... its prob worth less than 5k bought for 12k 5 years ago i hear it is 10% is this 10% of its value or original cost ...any info pls alan:confused:shipping uk to perth

Hi all we are about 8 months from the off and have decided to start packing. can we just bung everything in boxes with a general discription of the contents; or will we need a full detailed inventory of each box. also can we take things like oil based room smellies etc. ideally a link to the rules would be fab, i'm not having a lot of joy finding anything detailed on the tinterweb. :arghh:

I'm not sure if this is in the right forum so feel free to move if not. Am due to head out to Adelaide at the end of this year on a 309 spouse via with my OH who is originally from down under. Over the past few years in the UK we have built up quite a shared collection of DVDs (100 or so) and CDs. My plan is to buy a massive capacity external hard drive and spend a good few hours (or even days) copying all of our music and films over. I would then take this over in hand luggage instead of either having to part with all of our media, or pay to have it shipped over. The originals would not be sold - they'll go into storage with my parents. My understanding is, although I may well be wrong, that it is OK under UK law to make backups of media I own for personal use (although circumventing the DVD copy protection is a bit of a grey area). Can anyone advise if this is likely to cause any problems with Customs? I understand how this might look like I am taking a load of films into the country to sell - but that is not the case. As ripping these DVDs is likely to take many many hours I really don't want to risk having the drive confiscated, or get into any trouble :policeman: Any advice gratefully received :err: .

I was happily surfing away when I came across this article in the age, and just in case nobody else was aware have posted the link. In short - there might be some delays in customs/quarantine processing at all Australian international airports on Tuesday. I also saw this rather interesting opinion piece in the Age online - well I think it was interesting anyway It's nice to see someone stand up and say 'you've got it good!' Link to an article in the Age Cheers

Hey All, We are moving out to Sydney from the UK at the end of October and are going to be shipping a box over as well. We have allot of clothes and electronics but no furniture so it's just the one box over our flight luggage. Basically I'm wondering how customs and Import tax works out in Australia. I've decided to take my desktop computer out with me mainly as it's relatively new ( a few months ) and 2nd hand values for it here aren't great. It's not an expensive system (£400) + a large 23 inch screen. If I take this in as hand luggage rather than boxed am I less likely to get taxed on it's import? If I am going to get charged to bring in 2nd hand Electronics, How much would it be for something like this? I'm thinking if it's allot it's not going to be worth the hassle. Other 2nd hand electronics include an Xbox and laptops. Also if the tax is dependent on the value am I worth bringing the receipt so I can prove it's not worth 1000's? How would they work out a desktop as they would likely look the same as a very expensive system? Thanks for any advice Boab88

Afternoon all... Just realised that my car will be arriving on the 19th Sept and I will need to secure a customs broker to see it through the arrivals procedure. I was thinking of doing this myself but just don't have the time. Has anyone got any idea as to the likely cost of this and also, recommendations of a good broker would also be great. Thanks in advance

Hi, I've been told to expect at least a 1-2 hrs wait to get through Customs at the airport as they check the actual contents of your luggage. Anyone had any recent experiences of going through Customs in Melbourne? My flight gets in at 910pm so trying to estimate how long my friend will be waiting for me. Thanks :wink:

Hi all, We're half way through packing all of our stuff ready for the move to Aus and because our cargo guy speaks very lite English, it's difficult to get an answer for anything so I was hoping you guys could help? We have about 250kgs of stuff all packed into two metal chests and two Wooden boxes (just TVs in the wooden boxes) and the value is probably near $20k. About 4 items are less then 12m old (so I know we'll be charged GST on the $2k value for those. What charges are we going to incur when the cargo arrives in Melbourne? Gov website is confusing and hard to read on an iPhone (no other internet access!). I understand we'll need a Customs Clearance which costs and unclear amount. The shipper says he pays nothing other than the cost to GET the stuff to Aus - nothing else. Will we need an inspection or is that based on what our inventory looks like? There's no untreated wood or things of dubious origin. Any other costs? I don't want the stuff to rock up and we get asked to fork out $1000+. The shipping company we use is being imposed upon us for various reasons so changing shipper isn't an option :-( Any help would be really appreciated! Thanks, Stuart

Hi, I am in the process of getting quotes from shipping companies, I was speaking to one today and he told me that in 90% of cases the shipment is fumigated for which you are charged, however he couldnt give me a rough price for this. Has anyone experienced this and what sort of price is it?? Thanks Valerie :chatterbox:

Hi All I know iron chef has an extensive thread but I thought I would ask. My car is being shipped over in a 20ft container on its own and it has a few personal items in the boot. I have all my paperwork from the shipper and my import approval cert from Australia. Question: Can I clear it through customs myself or do I need a customs agent? As for registering, the mechanic who does all the work cars has offered to do the rego and pink slips. Thanks in advance Rob Mona Vale, Sydney

OH is currently completeing the form B534 and has got stuck on section 8 'soil or earth or goods containing soil or earth, rock or mineral samples' I have a small collection of semi precious rocks such as amethyst, smokey and rose quartz, diopside etc. All brought from shops many years ago so have no receipts. We also have varnished leopard shell. I do have a small piece of coral which was gievn to me as a child so I presume I can't take that. Are these OK to bring?

Hi all, Prob a stupid question, but first time to Oz to validate visa's. Will soon be flying into Sydney & get connecting flight to Brisbane. Will customs check us out at Sydney or at Brisbane? Only ask because if delayed at Sydney, might miss connecting flight to Brisbane. I'm sure that I am just trying to find things to fret over, because everything else seems to have gone so well. My own feeling is our bags get transferred and we only go through customs when we leave airport. Can anyone confirm either way. Funny how I've not really travelled much before outside the odd holiday, and now moving to Brisbane in about 12 months, really excited though!!:arghh: