Ian:
What you need is a licenced customs broker who can do the paperwork on your behalf.
You have a relatively complex transaction (temporary importation of a spare part that will be re-exported, along with abandonment of the component that the spare is replacing).
I think it is likely that the average customs official will not know, off the top of their head, how to deal with this to your best advantage. This is why you should get a customs broker.
Let me put it in context: If I was in my home country (Canada), where I speak the language and generally know the rules, and I had to do something similar (temporarily import an object, hopefully without duty & tax, and then re-export the object), I would contact a customs broker in Canada to handle this on my behalf... I would not try to do it myself.
I think that any horror stories that you may have heard about items getting hung up in customs for weeks probably arise because individuals who are unfamiliar with the process try to do the paperwork themselves.
For what it's worth...
Michael
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