Re: [OM] Customs: A Tale of Two Cities

[Arnab Kumar Banerjee]

Hi !
I would have thought that the custom guy would have offered you a fourth 
choice viz. note down the serial nos. of all the cameras and lenses in your 
passport so that they can check to see that you still have all your 
equipment when you leave the country (meaning that you haven't sold anything 
for commercial gain).
I would think that this is the standard practice followed in customs all 
over the world.
Arnab.

> From: CANTABENE@xxxxxxx
> Reply-To: olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> To: olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [OM] Customs: A Tale of Two Cities
> Date: Thu, 6 May 1999 17:07:51 EDT
>
> I had two interesting experiences with customs some years ago when I was a
> fulltime professional photog.  One was in Canada, the other in  Franco 
> Spain.
> I had crossed into Canada on an  assignment for an American firm with an
> operation there.  When  the customs man saw my four Nikon F2s and lenses, 
> he
> requested import duties of over $2000. Taken aback I made a mild protest.  
> He
>  told me I had three options. 1. Turn around and go home.
> 2. Pay the $2000.  3,  enter without paying anything but leave the cameras
> with him.  I left the cameras there  there and went on to see my client.
>
>  Ultimately, my client found a  wrinkle in the law that permitted the 
> payment
> of 1/60th the duty in certain circumstances.  We managed to meet the
> circumstances, paid the duty, and I went on to complete my assignment.
>
> The other was the time I landed in Barcelona, when Spain was still a 
> fascist
> dictatorship.  When I opened the same case of equipment, the customs guy
> whistled softely and called for his jefe.  The jefe looked, and when I told
> him I was a pro he asked me for some kind of identification.  All I had was 
> a
> membership card in my city's local professional photo group.   But it 
> looked
> official.  The jefe glanced at the card, then smiled broadly  and said
> "Welcome to Spain." And into fascist Spain I went, with all my gear.
>
> At the time I found it striking that a photographer and all his cameras 
> would
> gain entrance more easily to a police state than to the great democracy to
> our north.
> I still wonder about it.
> Harry
>
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