Carnet: fees and security deposit - list of countries
 

Just a quick heads up for all of you considering obtaining a Carnet in Australia. Which is easier than expected.
I’m just through the process to get one for my motorbike for an Africa Trip. Carnets here are available at your local automobile club in your state or territory. The non refundable fee charged for the carnet is AU$400 for all vehicles.

You also need to provide a security for the ‘indemnity amount’ of your vehicle. I was sent a list covering pretty much all countries (which is typed in below) of how high this indemnity amount is. The indemnity amount is a percentage of the combined market value of the vehicle, spare parts and tools at the time of departure from Australia. The exact percentage is dependent on which countries the trip goes through:

Australia: cars 100%; motorcycles 30%
Egypt: cars 200%; motorcycles 150%
Europe: cars 100%; motorcycles 50%
India: cars 400%; motorcycles 400%
Pakistan: cars 400%; motorcycles 400%
Sri Lanka: cars 400%; motorcycles 400%
Iran: cars 470%; motorcycles 470%
Japan: cars 100%; motorcycles 100%
Middle East: cars 150%; motorcycles 100%
New Zealand: cars 50%; motorcycles 25%
Singapore: cars 200%; motorcycles 150%
Malaysia: cars 200%; motorcycles 150%
Indonesia: cars 200%; motorcycles 150%
South America: cars 300%; motorcycles 200%
South Africa: cars 150%; motorcycles 100%
Syria: cars 400%; motorcycles 400%
Trans Africa: cars 200%; motorcycles 150%

E.g. if you plan to go through Africa (=Trans Africa, covering all countries) with a motorbike/spares/tools of a $5000 combined market value you need to provide a security deposit of $7500 (=150% of $5000).

There are three ways of providing this security deposit and you can choose either of them:

1. Cash deposit at your automobile club (=bank cheque)
2. Bank guarantee
3. Insurance indemnity (premium is 2% of the indemnity amount but at least $300. It enables you to get around freezing a large amount of money for the security but you will still have to pay the duty if you permanently leave your vehicle in one of the countries covered by your Carnet). They also ask for $250 refundable deposit for the insurance.

According to the Australian Carnet issuer a Carnet is only required in:

Africa: Benin, Bophuthatswana, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, CAR, Chad, Ciskei, Comores, Congo, Egypt, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Lesotho, Libya, Malawi, Mauritania, Namibia, Niger, Senegal, Somalia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zimbabwe. (it adds: in certain African countries the Carnet is not officially required but is often used to facilitate temporary importation)

America: Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dutch Antilles, Ecuador, Jamaica, Paraguay, Peru, Surinam, Trinidad&Tobago, Uruguay, Venezuela (in Brazil the Carnet is not required when entering by land routes, it is only required for vehicles entering Brazil by boat)

Asia/Middle East: Bahrain, Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Malaysia, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Syria, UAE, Yemen

Europe: Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Turkey (in Europe a Carnet is only required for non-private cars)

Oceania: Australia, New Zealand

A Carnet is not required for Canada, USA and for private cars in Europe.

All this information is current as of August 2010. I hope it helps.

Erm, there's no Carnet required for South, Central or North America and you won't get a vehicle into Myanmar

Hi,



Its not allways easy like that. The ADAC wants 3000 Euro für a Motorbike downt matter the value. Even my bike is worth 700 Euro. I Met people from Poland who made a 150 US$ Deposit for there 5000 US$ car...live is crazy, Tobi

Sorry to say this, seeing you went to a lot of trouble posting this, but you have been bullshitted by the AA. See the carnet page on where carnets are really required.

Agree with all of the above responses. You need a reliable source of information, and you sure haven't found it yet. Keep looking.

All this Carnet stuff is pretty complex.

I believe it might also be a different story depending on the country where you get the Carnet from. But above information is definitely the Australian way to go. Everything written above I got in writing from the NRMA who is the only association issueing Carnets in NSW. It is in their information brochure and comes with all the paperwork to be filled in and to be signed so I have no doubt it is the official data for getting a Carnet in Australia.

That's fine....but it doesn't alter the fact that much of the information you got from them, no matter how convincingly presented, is absolutely without any factual basis. Whether you call it "the official data" or "a pack of outrageous lies" won't alter that simple truth.

It may be that you need a carnet (based on your travel plans), and that this is the place you need to buy it. The point is, you can't conclude so based on the information you've quoted here. For example, if heading to South, Central and/or North America you don't need a carnet. Buying one won't interfere in any way--it'll just waste your time and money.

Hope that helps.

The percentages are almost without a doubt what your auto club will charge you.
What you need to do is figure out what countries actually require the carnet. Some of the ones on the list accept the carnet, but don't require it.
doh
Some auto clubs have different charges.
What you need to do is figure out what countries you actually need the carnet for so you don't have to leave more of a deposit than necessary.
That is the real challenge!

FYI - I entered both Syria and Jordan with an Australian registerd vehicle WITHOUT a carnet. You get temp papers at the border

Just a reminder, the definitive page on where carnets are required is here.

Oh-so true. In fact, I've queried this vexed inconsistency with more than one auto club in more than one country over the last 12 months (e.g. UK's RAC - NZ's NZAA - and Australia's AAA).

My question: "Why the, sometimes vastly, differing bond or indemnity percentage rates for the same countries between foreign motoring organisations .. what's the reason for the anomalies? Surely the host countries in question must require the same amount of security, regardless of the vehicle's home registration?"

Typical Answer: "That's just the way we interpret matters. Hopefully our calculations are all up-to-speed and correct .. and we've construed everything properly .. and .. but .."

UNBELIEVABLE! .. yet true nevertheless.

:confused1:


.

At the usual risk of re-stating the obvious, there are two major issues here: the list of countries for which a carnet is required, and the percentages required by different carnet-issuers.

With regards to the first issue, the OP has posted a ridiculously inaccurate list of countries for which a carnet is required. It should surprise no one that this list came directly from his issuing authority, but that doesn't alter the fact that the list is nonsense.

With respect to the second, yes it's true that percentages vary according to the arbitrary whims of the issuer. If you need a carnet, you might be stuck with whatever they deem necessary. However, first see #1.

Mark