carnet expiry while on the road
what happens if you let your carnet expire while travelling?
specifically - if you leave australia with a carnet, then get stamped out of egypt & travel for a while through africa where carnets are NOT required, and the carnet then expires... can the bike be sent back to australia and clear customs again?
i asked RACQ australia, who contacted customs, and apparently customs seem to think the carnet must be valid. this seems a bit silly, and would be costly too - $400 application fee etc. for a new carnet, or about the same to extend in south africa because the original valuation on my bike was too high...
also the carnet can only be extended once, for a maximum of 12 months. this means i could only have the bike outside australia for 2 years... my rtw plans are a bit longer than this..
once expired, i wouldn't want / need it again other than to re-enter australia.
anyone come across this before?
thanks
dave
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