My shipment of parts are held up by customs
 

I've a shipment of parts for my Mog held up by customs / UPS. Has anyone managed to get spare parts sent into Argentina in the last year or so? Any magic spells or stories that I need to know?

:-(

Could you tell a bit more wich parts are we talking about?And what do you mean with held?
Shipped with with UPS? or USPS?
Karl

It's a complete 2nd hand wheel hub (including the portal lower gear and bearings). The hub is 2nd hand, the bearings are new.

It was being shipped with UPS, and got stopped in BA.

This is the email I got from UPS:

Por medio de la presente informamos el arribo de un envío amparado en la guía de referencia proveniente de WORLDWIDE PARCEL SERVICES LTD. El mismo vino consignado a HOSTEL- CAMPING LA COLINA a la dirección DARWIN 1400 ESQUEL, CHUBUT pero no hemos podido concretar la entrega porque el envío quedo retenido del servicio puerta a puerta y debe realizar un despacho formal para poder liberarlo de aduana. Le pedimos que se comunique con nosotros al 0800 2222 877 para que le digamos que opciones tiene para poder realizar el despacho foraml

My spanish is pretty bad, so my campsite owner has been responding to the emails, but it's now down to looking for dimensions of the balls in the ball bearings, and the sizes and materials they are made from. I thought that was getting more than a little odd, so thought I'd ask here what the story was.

Merv.

The only reason I see for keeping your order, is that is U$S999 or more.

I bought a lot of stuff from the US and never had a problem. Usually you have to pay 50% of the total value.

Shipping spare parts to Argentina
 

We are in Buenos Aires, if we can help you Mervifwdc just private message, sorry you are having difficulties.

Over the years I have heard of second hand motorcycle parts being
delayed or confiscated by customs. There have been several reasons
given. - Payment of import tariff, storage and handling fees to customs,
and/or a possible general prohibition of the importation of second hand parts.

Prohibition was supposed to effect marketing of stolen bike parts.

I do not know if there really is a law forbidding the import of second hand parts or not, but I know others who have had parts confiscated - but unsure if the reason was failure to pay customs or import prohibition???

This situation comes up frequently so if anyone can shed some light with the facts it would be most helpful.

xfiltrate

PM sent!

The order value on the documentation is £250 stg.....

Hi,it looks like they decide your shipment needs to be inspected with you to determine tax value.
By reading your tracking on UPS it is here in BA!Now you say it is consignated to the owner of the camping??????Not on your name?
If this is on your name would be much better and less complicated.
As said on PM if necesary come to BA to clear it from customs.But if this is on your name only.

Manolito
AFIP allways keeps in ADUANA all pakages that need to pay taxes.The minimum ammount of value is 25 dollars.Not 999......
In order to inform in a propper way.If there is an invoice inside customs determine the tax on it.its 21% VAT and 30% of shipping.Many times just by talking to the custom agent you get the parcell for free.

In the emails with them, we've made it as clear as e could the parts are for a tourist (Me!)

This is the latest response.

Luis, te comento que la única descripción que tiene UPS es la declarada en la factura pro forma, y declararon Unimog spare used parts

Por lo que necesitamos que por favor nos envíen bien detallado que son estos repuestos, si son cojinetes con o sin rodamientos incorporados, para que son los cojinetes, que función cumplen, el diámetro y el material, sin nos pueden enviar un folleto o un catalogo del los mismos a fin de poder clasificarlos correctamente y anali z ar si requieren de alguna intervención

También les informo que para proceder a la liberación se va a necesitar tramitar un despacho formal ante la aduana, y se necesita de licencia de importador, y dicha licencia queda sujeta a que el propietario de la licencia apruebe la operación dado el tipo de mercadería, por esto es importante que nos envíen bien una descripción amplia de la mercadería


And I think it means they need detailed descriptions of each bearing, including what kind of metal its made from? or my translation sucks :-)

And to make things better, The fees UPS are quoting are:

Importer license USD250 + VAT
Fees Đại USD100 + VAT
Fees Office USD150 + VAT
Duties and taxes 50% of the customs value of the goods
Storage TCA USD12.40 per day, from the date of arrival 12/11 until the date of the release
Documentation Management USD74.90

Hmmm.. taking me for a ride?

Merv.

spare parts saga continued
 

O K, received your PM and will speak with my broker on your behalf.

Sounds like BCK_973 is experienced in importation - hopefully he is an import broker or knows one he can consult on your behalf.

The issue is whether you yourself must present yourself at customs (aduana) or can someone else fill out the paperwork and pay the fees on your behalf???

Aduana does have your shipment

This is a loose translation, perhaps BCK_973 can provide more detail...
regarding technical translation of description of parts. (omitted here)

"What the "aduana" needs is a detailed description of your shipment. A promotional flier or catalogue describing the parts in detail would be helpful
so that the aduana can correctly identify the shipment and determine the extent of their intervention."

The second paragraph says: you need to present a "despacho formal", which means to fill out import paperwork, at the aduana in Buenos Aires , and for the "despacho" you need to have an import license that permits the importation of the kind of shipment you are receiving.

Will PM you with any additional info I might discover. Good luck , I hope this all works out and let me know if I can do anything specific.

xfiltrate

Ah! That's better. I've just sent off a better / more detailed description including part numbers, and a diagram of the hub showing all the parts. I dont think there are any brochures for these kinds of thing anywhere!

Also, I wonder could I complete that form with the customs office here in Esquel?

Merv.

You can import what you wan't, but it can be higer than U$S999. The 25 dollars is the value you can import per year, without paying taxes. If you continue buying after those 25 dollars, you will always have to pay taxes (50% of the total value).

Mervifwdc, you'll need a "Despachante de Aduana" (according to the translator, customs broker). It's going to take time and money.

Merv
Sorry, but look that you were trying all the “What not to do” for shipping things to Argentina.
Karl (BCK_973) is nearly right in all what he is telling you, but your parcel isn’t held at normal post at Aduanas in downtown, is at the cargo area in the Airport and this is usually what happen with this kind of shipments if are send by UPS, Fedex, DHL, etc, if the box is big and heavy and with a big value and the currier doesn’t want to deal with that for the same money they charge you in advance… they dropped there….
What usually not Argentineans (and other not Latin-Americans) doesn’t understand is that here not all is black and white… not even grey… all can be multicolor but in the way that others see not you…

Well now the important is how we manage to help you to come back to the road and get to Viedma HU Metting..

If you need “yes or yes” that parts I personally thinks that the best solution is that you don’t waste more time and catch a bus to BA ASAP as in person is the best way to resolve this, don’t forget to bring all the papers from your Mog, title or registration and “Admision Temporaria” and all what can prove that you have your vehicle here just for tourism purposes and that you will need that parts for can accomplish the law and cancel that TVIP before expire…

All the rest about the descriptions of the goods plus the necessity or not of a former importer is negotiable here. Exist others solutions but can´t describe it here without lost all day and all my English writing skills (not many). Please feel free to call us (Sandra is better than me) by phone or skype in order to give you more advises without any compromise, all out contact information are on our website under “contact us” button.

Hope can help you and see your truck in Viedma
Saludos

Manolito
You can´t import what you like!Weapons drogs,batterties etc etc the list is long.
Some parts are recognise as for personal free use.Others need the propper use of an custom agent to import them.
Every time a private courier is used it ends up in a BIG MESS!!!!!!
UPS,DHL,etc they go by the book.Now country postal services are more easier to get the stuff.
I have contact my brother in law he is an custom courier(despachante) in Ushuaia.Lets see what he can say about this.
From what i can read of your mail they need more accurate description of the item.It could be something you could import or not.As they cannot acomodate your good it could go for a petrol rig,aircraft part etc disguised as "unimog" bearing.
Will update info from Ushuaia ASAP