Bringing gear into the country! (through customs)
20 January 2009 - 2:43am
Last time I came I didn't bother declaring my climbing stuff as a lot of it was new and not soilded. They didn't ask, but I've since heard that you are meant to declare any camping/outdoor sport equipt. at customs or you face a fine. I'm returning to NZ soon, so wondering if anyone knows if this applies to Climbing stuff? And if so how do i go about cleaning a rope?
thanks!!!
20 January 2009 - 8:51am
#3
Just came back through on thursday with my whole kit (rope, draws, harness, other bits of gear)... didnt even declear it (altho had no camping equip)... straight through and out the other side..
Good thing they didnt look at the rope as managed to drop it in cow shit and still looking little brown after nurmous cleans :lol:
however I did get pulled up on my water bottle......... :roll:
20 January 2009 - 7:01pm
#5
Hi Timahi,
I have found customs are very fussy about tents and hiking footwear and it is wise to declare anything you think they might be interested in....because you can get a massive fine (thousands of $$$$) if you say you have nothing to declare and then they ask you to open your bag and they find something that you should have declared.
I have had my tent taken off me twice. Both times, they took it away to a little room, inspected it and gave it back to me 10 or so minutes later. They are just over cautious about everything (because we are a paranoid agricultural nation!) and the more open you are with them, the more chilled they'll be with you.
The worst case scenario with outdoor gear is, you declare something, they have reason to worry about it so they take it off you, then they spray it with poison and post it back to you at your expense.
Enjoy NZ!
20 January 2009 - 9:00pm
#6
They are just over cautious about everything (because we are a paranoid agricultural nation!)...
Pity this paranoia wasn't around when the first possums, rats and stoats were brought in...
Did I hear someone say 'didymo'?
The worst case scenario with outdoor gear is, you declare something, they have reason to worry about it so they take it off you, then they spray it with poison and post it back to you at your expense.
'ey? "post it back to you at your expense" ???
I have been thru customs/MAF/whatever it is called at least ten times, every time declaring my tent and/or tramping boots and/or climbing shoes, and have never had anything had to be posted to me at my expense.
When they take it out back (they take the tent almost every time), they inspect and possibly even treat it - I have even on occasion asked if they found anything and received an affirmative (the odd grass seed, an insect).
Never cost me anything though, certainly never held over and posted to me and that's the whole point - it isn't a big deal to comply with their 'paranoia' so just declare everything that might be an issue.
20 January 2009 - 9:26pm
#7
'ey? "post it back to you at your expense" ???
I haven't heard of anything taken at the airport being "posted", but they can most certainly charge you for the treatment!
Someone I knew at Lincoln had a bunch of flies (for fishing) sent over via post. MAF detained them, and sent him a letter giving him the option of having them treated for a couple hundred bucks (I think it was something like 300...?), or destroyed.
They were mostly, if not all, hand tied by him, and worth way more than that, so he paid up and had them treated. But what a rip-off to spray a bit of poison on some feathers!! :evil:
21 January 2009 - 6:50am
#8
Pity this paranoia wasn't around when the first possums, rats and stoats were brought in...
Possums were imported by the government for the fur trade...
stoats and ferrits were introduced to try and control rabbit numbers...
go figure. :roll:
declare everything, that way they can't bitch and moan when they find what you delcare...
21 January 2009 - 8:30am
#9
Couldn't help but put my two cents in.
You are right that MAF is the Government organisation tasked with New Zealand's biosecurity.
When coming through the airport if in doubt declare anything that may be a biosecurity risk item - this may be food, outdoor equpment or something bought on your travels.
You risk a $200 instant fine if you are found to have not declared a risk item (even if you just forgot) - so fairly simple if you declare you can't be fined. The fines that are mentioned earlier are if you are willingly trying to smuggle into the county some kind of biosecurity risk.
Tents, rope bags etc.. are generally taken off to a little room to ensure that no insects or dirt has managed to sneak back in with them so they get an inspection and if required any dirt washed off.
It might be worth considering next time that this is not just about being another paronoid agricultural nation. Biosecurity in NZ is fairly important for tourism, protecting our native plants and animals, and the kiwi way of life. Wandering bare foot in summer, not worrying about posinous spiders and snakes and having a bbq in the back yard without being overun by red imported fire ants.
21 January 2009 - 11:53am
#10
Thanks for clarifying the fine system Andrew.
As I said, having gear taken from you, treated and then returned by post a few days later is a 'worst case' scenario. This happened to me once, back in 2000. The gear in question had been used in the rainforest and that's what seemed to worry them, even though it was not soiled.
Obviously, you don't always live in the city you have flown into when returning from overseas, so if the above happens to you, the postal system is the simplest way for MAF to get your gear back to you after it's been sprayed.
Bit shocked to hear about the guy being charged $300 for the spraying of his flies. Ouch! I was charged about $7 for the spraying of my gear, plus postage.
21 January 2009 - 12:10pm
#11
Just so ya guys know... Im not a bio risk... My gear didn't even leave my bag unfortunitly :cry: :cry: :cry:
21 January 2009 - 1:42pm
#12
at a guess i'd say that the flies were heat treated rather than sprayed - given that they'd have almost certainly been made from animal materials (feathers, fur etc) maf would need to ensure that no bacteria or viruses were still alive in that material. spraying would be cheap as chips but i reckon heat treatment, which is basically baking stuff until it's good and dead, would be considerably more.
i'm just picturing someone climbing in the uk, getting soil on their rope, and leaving foot and mouth at wharepapa, or climbing at arapiles and dropping some evil bastard spikeweed seeds at whanganui bay. be good boys and girls and let maf fondle yer gear!
steve
21 January 2009 - 7:07pm
#13
Just to repeat, declare it. The MAF people are great they clean your boots for you, hand them over all dirty and they get a nice steam clean! As for stuff that comes through the post I think that they zap it with microwaves....which is funny as my mum tried to send me a wheat bag, obviously it was intercepted and I got the letter asking me what I wanted doing with it. I did not go for the microwaving treatment which would have cost me $30......ironic I thought, as it would have only been put in the microwave anyway and no, I wasn't going to go out and split it open and spread it everywhere :wink:
Interesting way of cleaning ropes. what about the spin cycle?
21 January 2009 - 8:46pm
#14
what about the spin cycle?
Spin away! It'll dry quicker afterwards, and won't drip on the floor if you dry indoors. :wink:
23 January 2009 - 5:53pm
#15
also remember when comming through customs the big line to your right is the one with the people who never declared, sometimes it is a hell of a lot quicker through the declared line than the other way.
save time and shinny clean gear at the end, everyone's a winner!
It's not actually customs who will care about the gear, but rather MAF, hence the cleaning requirement.
"Cleaning" simply means removal of any visible dirt and/or plant material. I doubt your rope will require any sort of cleaning for MAF, but if you happen to have been climbing in the mud recently, you might want to clean it anyway, for them and yourself :wink:
In which case.....just throw it in the washing machine, cold or warm program, no soap. Some people use a wee bit of soap, but I never found it necessary.
What I did find helpful though, was loosly daisychaining the rope before throwing it in. That way it won't tangle as badly.
I have been in and out of the country a few times, and always check the "outdoor equipment" box, if for no other reason than I pretty much always have light hiking boots with me. Never had any proplems. They mostly just ask if the gear/boots have been cleaned, and rarely even bother having a look.