Canada To Australia?
 

G'day all

I will be doing some touring in the USA and Canada then onto Australia in May. Need any advise for shipping from the West coast of Canada to East coast of Oz. I was thinking Vancouver to Sydney but am very flexible. Have tried looking up old posts but they seem to be 4/5 years old.

Any tips and company advise would be cool

Thanks

Hi

i am a customs broker based in Melb and work for freight forwarder

Happy to assist you if you ship to Melbourne where i can arrange the customs clearance/quarantine inspection for you

I would recommend shipping the bike in a crate with the front wheel off to reduce the size of crate and thereby reduce shipping costs

You will also need to disconnect battery and drain tank (1 litre in reserve is fine) due the flammable/corrosive risk of shipping bikes

You will also need to consider how you intend to import the bike ie..carnet or temporary import with security deposit

Happy to give you freight rates once i establish if you intend to ship ex Vancouver or Los Angeles for instance where there are direct sailings to Melbourne (21 day transit)

Anyway, just send me a email on ismoljko@y7mail.com if you need any help

Cheers
Ivan

Thanks Ivans,

Im not sure about the carnet etc. I have a permanent residents visa so i may be staying from a couple of years to permanently. Would this make any difference?
Vancouver to Melbourne would be fine. Whats your company name?

Thanks again

You need to download and read VSB10 which gives the criteria for bringing a vehicle into Australia.

Generally if you are a permanent resident then you must own the vehicle for one year or more overseas, obtain an import approval, provide proof etc.

If you arrive on your permanent residents visa then a carnet is not of any use to you - VSB10 has all the details.

Next up check the Customs website for duty and GST payable on a self import - duty at 10% on the value of the bike, GST on the bike + duty, then GST on shipping costs, usually ends up about an additional 23%.

Next read the AQIS (quarantine) website about how clean the bike has to be "as new" is the standard.

You need to download a copy of the Australian Design Rules and make sure the bike can comply - LHD headlamp lense, indicators, noise, etc etc.

You can easily self clear through customs and AQIS, just need about a day to wander around the various departments and companies involved. There's been quite a few threads about this topic in the Aus/NZ forum. Rules were changed about May 2009 so info pre that date needs to be checked.

Great info there Rogerm

I have owned the bike for over a year and its UK spec,would that be the same for OZ spec?

Where do i get the VSB10 form from?

All seems a bit bloody complicated (isnt it always).

Thanks again

Weblookup VSB10 and usually the Department of Infrastructure and Rural Affairs will come up as the source website.

UK spec if the bike was constructed to UNECE standards then it "should" meet ADRs.

Yes it is complicated, unusually so if you ask me. Its all intended to provide industry protection by using non tariff barriers and administrative barriers. Just wait until you have to deal with the koalas who issue import approvals!!

yep i agree i have an oz registered and plated bike and have been trying to get my re import permit sorted for "if and when" i wanna come home.seems to be the hardest part of the whole trip.
i flew my bike plus me in march 2010 into the usa with qantas dealt direct with them in mascot.brilliant and easy.
i flew myself and bike with air transat(plus club upgrade) via motorcycle express from tornto to london.brilliant and easy.(oct 2010).
flying out of usa is a no no.....land of the free etc etc

The koalas at VIMPORTs think that travellers only go overseas from Australia with a vehicle plus a carnet - its easy to return with a carnet issued in Aus. The fact that the majority of the world has moved on from carnets has seemed to fallen between the cracks. Write to the Hon Albanese who is nominally in charge of the dept of Infrastructure, you never get a reply from him but from a civil servant who's job relies upon making private vehicle imports as difficult as possible without breaching world trade agreements.