UK temporary import for Aussie bikes

[mojo]

We've recently brought our Aussie bikes into the UK and been given a temporary import for only 6 months, and that is supposed to apply to the whole of the EU! Well, we plan on being here longer than that, as it's time for us to stop and work for a bit before hitting the road again. Does anyone know a way aroung this 6 month temporary import biz? Or do we physically have to leave the EU and re-enter to get another six months...

[RichLees]

well, if our customs boys are as tight as yours, you're poked. sorry. I know that's no help, but nor are half the ozzie regs :-( I just bought indicators, mirrors, extra baffle ... for temporary import to Oz on a carnet. how come you didn't need one?

[Brett Dean]

Don’t known if this helps

We had only a three-month permit (Feb 2003) Two Qld plated Triumph Tigers. Did our clearance by ourselves at Tilbury. At that stage we only planned to stay in the EU for three months.
However after getting the paper work from HM Customs on one ever check it again. We where told that we had to have the form stamped and signed at the last point of departure from the EU (for us that was Finland) and that that countries customs will return the form to the UK for processing. The Fins where happy to stamp the form for us (with some laughter) but did not want to know anything more about it. (Still have it in the records at home in case they (UK customs) ever write and demand a bond or penalty one day).
We where about five months in the EU (went in and out a few times, first to Morocco and then Iceland), but at no stage where we ever asked about the UK forms again.

In fact nobody asked to see the UK customs stuff at all. I think that having the AUS plate was just too confusing for them and they all decided it was just too hard and waved us through)

If our experience is any guide once you’re on the road and out the UK you should have no worries.

If you are heading for Russia, make sure you have the receipt section of your State Rego. We had big problems convincing them (Russians, Kazks, Uzebek’s and Tadijak’s) that the sticker was an “official document” caused us no end of grief and I think if we had the original recept (Qld one anyway) would have saved heaps of hassles (but boarder crossing would have been less fun). In the end we took the stickers off and presented them as “Original Australian Documentation” which seemed to work.

For the other bloke who asked about CDP. The EU does not recognise CDP's (same as Russia), which makes doing the paper work to get the bike into the EU a real big pain in the A……