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Morocco customs puzzle-question Morocco customs puzzle-question
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Photo by Andy Miller, UK, Taking a rest, Jokulsarlon, Iceland

I haven't been everywhere...
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Photo by Andy Miller, UK,
Taking a rest,
Jokulsarlon, Iceland



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  #1  
Old 27 Nov 2006
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Morocco customs puzzle-question
Hallo!
This is my first post here: I need some help about what i’m going to try to explain.

I will leave at the end of December from Italy to go to Morocco (exactly to Dakhla, Western Sahara via France and Spain) with a van and 3 motorbikes on it. I’ll drive alone.

Some days later two friends of mine will reach me (and the bikes) by plane in Dakhla. Then they’ll have a trip in Mauritania (but this doesn’t matter at the moment). Meanwhile I’ll slowly come back (having a little going around in Morocco) with my bike to Casablanca where I’ll leave my bike in some place (garage, hotel?) and then I’ll take the plane to Italy. Why? Because I’ve not so many holidays as my friends and due to other logistic reasons (doesn’t matter again).

After about two weeks from my departure, my friends will be back in Dakhla, pick up the van (with their bikes on) and drive north to Casablanca to pick up the bike of mine and then back to Italy through the same way.

Now the question is: what are the right customs papers and procedures to enter Morocco with 1 van + 3 bikes and leave it without them??? (and viceversa for my friends...)

Thanks a lot to everybody sharing some ideas about this!
Andrea
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  #2  
Old 28 Nov 2006
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Think you might have a bit of trouble with this plan as you will not be able to leave morocco without your vehicle, you could take your van to spain then have your friends pick it up there but i`m not sure if he will even get in to morocco with the van as it will not be his details on the registration documents. Why dont you leave the van in the south of spain, there are many campsites near ageciras that you could leave the van whilst you tour moroc etc on the bikes, and malaga airport is not too far away for your flights ! Just a thought
regards...........marty
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  #3  
Old 28 Nov 2006
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Location: Williams Lake, BC,CANADA
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problems
this plan will give you some problems, may not even be possible
I met a man one time in <mauritania that had driven down from germany with a van and a motorbike inside. He told me that they specifically had to have the paperwork for the bike as well and it had to be brought in to the country the same way as the truck. So three bikes with different titles....I dont think this will be possible unless the registered owners are with you, or they are all i n your name.
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  #4  
Old 28 Nov 2006
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Bureaucratic nightmare!
I went to Morocco this summer and I don't think that they'd let me bring the bike in if I wasn't the registered owner.. I'm not certain of this though.

I am pretty certain that you can't leave the country without the vehicles that you entered with. They put a stamp in your passport (and into their computers) and they check that you have the corresponding vehicle when you leave.. This is apparently true even if the vehicle is a smoking, wrecked writeoff!

The great Dutch owner of www.bikershome.net said that it's possible to leave the vehicles in the country if you have a guarantor, but I suppose that it would have to still be you that came back and took it out of the country later on..

It was a fair bit of hassle getting my bike in and out of Morocco doing it the "normal way" so I wouldn't want to imagine what you'd face if you tried to follow your original plan! And of course you could find on the border that your whole holiday could prove impossible!

Consider the "Spain" option mentionned above!
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  #5  
Old 30 Nov 2006
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thanks for your answers.
I know it will be a-not-so-easy-thing to do, but I can't believe it's not possible.
for example I think that for little offroad tour-organizers (often going to and back from africa with other's people bikes) something like this MUST be achievable. ...ehm... I hope!
other ideas?
andrea
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  #6  
Old 30 Nov 2006
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You can import a vehicle that doesn't belong to you if you have a proxy issued by the owner and legally authorised in the country in which the owner lives (source: Abby Aron).

I have had discussions with Peter Buitelaar at BikesHome about various import scenarios and he seems to be extremely knowledgeable.

The problem with your scenario is that somebody else is taking the vehicle back, and the original import is tied to you. This can't normally happen, though death of the rider might be an exception.

Tim
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  #7  
Old 1 Dec 2006
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tim Cullis
The problem with your scenario is that somebody else is taking the vehicle back, and the original import is tied to you. This can't normally happen, though death of the rider might be an exception.
This part of the problem can be solved by picking up your friends in Dakhla, drive together (with your van and bikes) to Mauritania. You leave Morocco with your car, one of your friends import the car into Mauri. Find a place to park your van in Nouadhibou (one of the campingsites). Then you can go back into Morocco as planned and your friends wander off into Mauri.
This will cost you only a visa for Mauri (at the border), maybe a import fee for bike in Mauri, possibly some hassle at the borders (leaving Morocco with car and returning next day with bike can raise some eyebrowsers) and a long solo trip back from border to Dakhla but gives you probably one or two extra days to spend with your friends.
On their return your friends will import the van into Morocco, pickup your bike and leave as planned.

good luck
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  #8  
Old 2 Dec 2006
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Paperwork nightmare
Hi,
they have a huge problem with the thought of you not leaving with what you entered with. You will in their eyes imported a couple of bikes.
No problem taking in someone elses bike if they are with you, I rode in on a friends borrowed bike last year but he was their with me.

I would be tempted to call the Moroccan embassy and run it past them but no matter what you will receive a shed load of grief from the little man you encounter at the port when you try to leave.
Easier to meet outside Maroc and ride in together!

Alec, UK
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