Hi all,

Im trying to desperatley form a contingency plan here. I purchased my vehicle on 8/02/2012. I began my journey from the UK heading for Australia on the 1st of May. My Carnet is due to expire on the 21st of May 2013.

I am an Australian citizen and the vehicle is here in Australia under a carnet (currently in my driveway, where it hasnt been used since i arrived)

I want to import the car permanently as I have now decided to get married and live here in Australia again

I have got permission from Customs Australia to import permanently, based on me getting my Vehicle Importation Approval from Dept. Transport & Infrastructure Australia

Here is where the complications lie.

I have been advised by Dept Trans. & Infrastructure that a VIA will be given if I have owned and had the Vehicle available for my use for a period of 12 months PRIOR to entering Australia. SO my vehicle entered Australia on 26/10/2012 under a Carnet. As of tomorrow 08/02/12, I have owned the vehicle according to my registration for a period of 12 months. BUT being that it was here under a carnet prior to this, I may not be given approval. I have been advised to submit my application anyway with cover letter explaining my circumstances and it maybe reviewed and decision maybe reached taking into consideration these awkward circumstances.

Secondly whilst on the road, unable to get my MOT renewed. I submitted a SORN decleration, making it offroad in the UK. So ofcourse the loophole I couldnt get it re-taxed on the road, without the MOT. I can forsee this being a problem importing it permantley.


Here is what I am thinking.
I will make my VIA application costing only $50 and hope for some considersation and leneancy, pay stamp duty and GST and everything is great. Get my Carnet cleared. Great result

Or

Ship back to the UK (maybe have to fly myself aswell) clear customs there. Get car fixed, and sell car and return to Australia (Really cant afford this)

Or

another option I was toying with. The Carnet Ts&Cs stipulate that "The Vehicle temporarily imported under cover of a carnet must not be loaned, abandoned, hired, sold or otherwise disposed of without the prior agreement of the customs administration of the country visited and of the issuing association"

Considering that I paid £4000 for the vehicle, does this mean my last option could be to get approval from customs here in Australia and with The royal automobile club, London and get the car destroyed (crushed). Get it certified that its been crushed and bringing the matter to an end?

Would love anybodys advice as what to do or recommendations?

Thanks all

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"That's another fine pickle you've got into, Ollie".

Is the vehicle capable of being made to meet Australian Design Rules, the vehicle has to comply with the ADRs as at the date of build on the VIN plate. Sometimes the cost of compliance is so great that its just not worth it and the crushing option becomes a good one. You can download the ADRs from Dept of Infrastructure website, there are quite a few editions so make sure you get the ones applicable for the age of your vehicle.

A few other problems come to mind.

Lets go through the Carnet - how will you get that expunged and get your bond back? Without the vehicle leaving the country if the RAC has to dip into its wallet you will pick up the bill. How did you finance the bond? Bank security or insurance? You probably need to find out what the RAC's view is if they hold your money. Duty on a car is 10%, then 10% GST on top of the duty and the car value, plus 10% GST on the shipping costs to get the vehicle in the country - works out at about 24% is taxes. So your 4000 pound car is now worth 5000 pounds. I'm pretty sure that you pay the taxes even if the vehicle is destroyed, but double check that with customs.

Dealing with the plonkers in Canberra will be the most frustrating time you have ever had. Where customs will try to make things happen for you, the idiots in Dept of Infrastructure seem to take a great deal of pleasure in going out of their way to frustrate any other department's dispensations. Stay cool calm and collected when dealing with them - if you as much as raise your voice to them they will put the phone down on you.

The Act which allows private importation is very prescriptive and does not leave a lot of room for a public servant to use their discretion. VSB10 (weblookup) gives all the details you need. You can download a copy of the Act from the Federal Attorney General's website. Read the definitions first and then the body of the Act that deals with private imports.

You maybe able to use a loophole in the customs procedures - if the vehicle goes back into a bonded area and you can get customs to sign off the carnet, then have a VIA issued and then re-enter the vehicle using the VIA.

I do not envy you at all.

Personal imports don't need to be complianced. The thing is getting the approval to do a personal import. That said if it cant done as personal import, then the RAWS path might be the best other option.

Thanks guys,
I funded the carnet paying the 10% premium and my carnet value of the vehicle was £2500 (Customs said stamp duty and gst is based on the carnet value of the car). So I paid £1,250.00 with 50% to be refunded upon carnet clearance.

I checked with the crusher people and they do issue some sort of document legalising that the vehicle has been destroyed. Roger!, do you think I may still have to pay stamp duties and taxes on the car anyway, even though I wouldnt be importing?

As in keeping both sides happy (RAC Carnet in UK and Aussie Customs), I hope the document highlighting that the car has been officially destroyed would meet both needs that a car hasnt been illegally importated... But as it says in the Carnet, I would need permission first.

If RAC (RL Davidson) didnt accept that crushing the car meets the carnet criteria, would I be liable for incuring costs above and beyond the loss of my deposit? As in would they take my deposit and ask for further costs?

As you said, customs are happy to play ball as long as i can get the VIA, but Im forseeing this to be one giant beauracratic mountain to overcome, and im not confident that ill get past it. Ill apply for VIA and hope for the best, but I really think that failing that I would attempt to get permission to destroy the car?

Thanks again and advance for your help

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The vehicle has to be on the register of vehicles approved for import by a RAWS, I'm not sure if the register is open for "new" vehicles any longer - I read something a while ago about it being closed. Its not cheap to get a vehicle onto the register either.

I'm not sure that a RAWS can "convert" a carnet to a VIA without the vehicle leaving the country. Practically all of the low volume import scheme and personal import scheme is all about getting approvals before arrival in Australia.

I think you need to go through the conditions of the carnet and if necessary ask the RAC what they will do, usually the carnet has to surrendered to get your deposit back by customs stamping the carnet that the vehicle has left the country.

Check with the RAC as to what they will do, usually the carnet is called upon to pay the taxes in just such a situation as you are in - unless you pay them yourself.

You'll need to check with customs about the taxes applicable even if the vehicle is destroyed, get it in writing so no nasty surprises down the track. Gut feel says that they would charge you, but I dont know for sure.

Have you costed sending the vehicle back to the UK and getting someone there to take it on? Giving it away may end up being cheaper in the long run.

A couple of options,

You should be able to keep it as an offroad vehicle, surrender the compliance plate only.

Sell it in parts, or buy a cheap wreck of similar model and transfer the parts, easier still just the compliance plate!

I honestly understand your frustration in trying to import a vehicle!

The bastard theory!

IMHO the vehicle dealers in this country, the scheming bastards have lobbied the Ozi Govt. the spineless bastards, to a point and in collusion with the manufactures the complete bastards! Where by they change the absolute minimum on given vehicle therefore said product will not meet ADR's. This is why Ozi cars are some of the most expensive on the planet! I put the bastard theory to some dork at DOTARS, his reply was Errrr Ohhh we have to keep the vehicles safe on our roads! To that, you cant be serious, how many states in this country are there where you don't have to take your car over the pits every year ? QLD & SA for starters, you got Fred Nerk scooting round in his FB ute which probably hasn't been over the pits since day 1. Didn't go over well at all but there you have it in a nutshell, worse still my bike is still overseas!

The cartel is alive and thriving friend!

Only personal imports built before the advent of ADRs dont need a vehicle engineer's certification. You cant get a roadworthy inspection completed without the personal import plate being fitted that certifies compliance with the ADRs at time of build. The ADRs dictate what has to be on the vehicle and the roadworthy inspection is to make sure they are working.

Any road vehicle wont pass the test for "it's only for offroad use", generally offroad use vehicles have to be constructed in such a way that they can never be registered for road use - eg no provision for lights/indicators, no windscreen, over width (2.5m or wider), over height (4.3m or higher), left hand drive, etc. As a general rule its mining equipment that passes the offroad test, farming machinery like harvesters even get caught up as a road vehicle.

Cant sell it in parts as it cant enter the country legally - there used to be a thriving trade of bringing half a vehicle into the country and then welding it to a half vehicle that had been wrecked. That loophole was closed off about 8 years ago.

The hardest part is the carnet - vehicle is already here and there are not too many ways to past the carnet conditions.

This page makes no mention of getting a compliance cert.
Personal Imports Scheme

No the Feds dont have anything to do with it, the state authorities require a vehicle engineer to inspect the vehicle for ADR compliance prior to a roadworthy inspection. Without the ADR compliance inspection you'd get all sorts of weird and wonderful problems - red indicators on some US imports, headlamp lenses with left hand drive focus, non conforming seat belts, etc etc. Some vehicles are impossible to get past ADR inspections - things like side intrusion bars in doors have to be built in, emmission controls and the like. The newer the vehicle the more hassles are involved, thats why the RAWS are very selective about the vehicles they import as they dont want to rebuild a vehicle, just do the minimum required to get them to ADR standard.

You have to remember that Australia is a federation of States and whilst the Feds may give the green light, you end up facing a red light at State level.

IMO the hardest part is getting the VIA. Customs already acknowledged that if i can get this they would allow the importation to go through (paying stamp duty + taxes based on carnet value)

Dont forsee a problem regarding the vehicle compliance. Mitsubishi Delica, from Japan originally. Everything seems to Aussie standards... But the 1 year continual ownership thing looks like it will be my problem.. Sigh, ill keep you posted.

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You may be able to find a RAWS who could help you out with the Delicia as its on the list of enthuiast vehicles.

Read up on what the RAWS has to do to a vehicle to get it passed, its not cheap I know that. All the info on the web.

Hi Guys, Wanted to let you know the outcome of this saga.

Last time I was running out on my carnet and was skeptical I would get my vehicle import approval. My carnet expired but was told there was a three week buffer zone on overstayed carnets. I was going about getting an extension for 3 months on my carnet but told I would need a whole new security deposit. (think this was covered previously in other topics).. I had applied for my VIA but thought it was a lost cause because it wasnt taxed any longer in the UK and because the vehicle was already in aus.. It said that VIA can only be approved for cars not on aussie soil. I applied with a cover letter asking for an exemption based on discretionary approval. I sighted

“the vehicle does not qualify under one of the defined importation schemes (the defined schemes). The defined schemes are established by various provisions of the Act and the Regulations. Each scheme covers a specific class of vehicle or applicant. These schemes exist to cover circumstances where vehicle certification is not a viable or practical option.”

“to cover circumstances where vehicle certification is not a viable or practical option”.

i also got approval from customs via email and included that email in my application. They quoted


“As your residency circumstances have changed, the Australian*Customs and Border Protection have no objections to you applying for a VIA”

All in all this seemed to work (I have the full letter if anybody wants it). They gave me the VIA much to my surprise. Next step was to get my carnet cleared from customs. So I had to put in an application with OzoneRedlines@environment.gov.au for my exemption of pre-charged equipment licence. I had to give all docs including the bill of lading from my shipment. I had to pay stamp duty etc based on the carnet value of £2500. Also they asked for a customs deceleration but I was liaising with a customs person over email and she advised that I was exempt from this as i entered under a carnet...

BTW I was initially given a contact called Peppina in the AAA here in Australia, this was provided by Paul Gowan of the RAC. Peppina from there had appropriate contacts in customs so Basically I used some email declarations from my customs contact to get these exemptions. I took them to the customs office in Adelaide and she signed off my carnet. So that part was over, i sent my carnet back and got it refunded in full..

The next phase was getting through complience etc. And since then I have been waiting for cashflow to get up to scratch. I was advised to put it through inspection, they will fail it and I would have to address the list. So that's exactly what happened. The sighted a few things such as, they didn't like the seats and i needed Original seats. I needed original wheels as mine stuck out a few MM past the guards. Some engine stuff which needed doing anyway, new seat belt and a few other ticky tacky things. I got all that done, got tyre placards got new VIN numbers put on. Took it back they spent about 5 minutes loosely checking over my mods and were satisfied with the work. A Seat & ID label was fitted by the inspectors, it was cleared and Im now registered and on the road, looking forward to tackling some of aus now.

It was dicey there early and thought i would have to crush my beloved Delica. But im glad they saw reason in the end and used some common sense. The system works. But if anybody has any questions specific to this process im happy to detail my process.


thanks all, happy trails.

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