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Importing anything from OS can be a pain in backside.
It gets to Australia, and more often than not, customs picks it up,
whacks all sorts of charges on it, and wont let u pick it up till you
pay them.
This is space for us to fill in the rules as we learn them.
* Basic Procedure
FOR GOODS UNDER $1000 AU
1. make sure you have an invoice.
2. make sure you have proof of payment (ie; receipt).
3. for goods _under_ $1000 this, with the 'first notice' you receive
in the mail, should be all you need.
You will get a notice (mine was ExpressMail [1]) from the Airmail
transit center. Take it and all you're other 'evidence' along, might
get a bit of a wait, but shouldnt be that painful.
You will pay GST on the total value of the Invoice. You may also be
charged 'Duty' depending on the item. GST will also be exempt on some
items.
(will update when i get details-20020522tm)
FOR GOODS OVER $1000 AU
1. Follow same points as above.
2. Call a Customs Broker. Find one near you at
http://melbourne.citysearch.com.au
A Customs broker will charge you anywhere between $70-$???. Its worth
the cost if the items are even just over $1000.
By all means check out the customs clearance forms, If you have the
right information at hand, you may be able to complete it yourself.
The form I was pointed to (not sure if its 'general') was:
http://www.customs.gov.au/cusforms/pdfs/b616gst.pdf
Other forms are available at
http://www.customs.gov.au/cusforms/index.htm
Reading through the http://www.customs.gov.au/ site can be pretty
helpful too.
NOTES
* Correctly identify your gear on parcel documentation. They DO open
all packages to check it matches.
* Be aware of _all_ the costs before publishing prices or making
sales. This one was learned easily on us due to negligible cost, dont
let it happen to you.
* 'use your common sense' doing silly things in the post is obviously
bad.
* customs fraud is really bad. jail bad.
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More to come..
Please feel free to add your experiences, thoughts or comments. tm
[2]
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CONTRIBUTORS:
James Healy (hmm... dunno if I'd call what i wrote 'contributing'
troy...)
Troy Mitchell
Links:
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[1] http://melbournewireless.org.au/?ExpressMail
[2] http://melbournewireless.org.au/?tm
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