transporting snakes abroad

[gaz]

just back from Houten,HM customs pulled me at Harwhich,full inspection of snakes and their paperwork,then demand for transport licence,which was taken away and copied,followed by me being quizzed on maintainance of snakes whilst in transit,seems at least some customs people are taking notice and excercising their powers in our direction.
this was just a heads up for Euro show goers
regards gaz

[ratboy]

Have to say good really. It's good to know that they are being transported in adequate conditions and respected breeders can prove they know what they are doing.

Fair play to you Gaz !!!

[gaz]

aye, but sooner or later someones going to be pulled apart and made an example of,and that someone may well simply be ignorant of the law,so best people doing shows abroad etc sharpen up,no need for any bad publicity for us innit
regards gaz
ps:the guy doing the questioning was not up on snakes in any way,but did mention that there were interested parties amongst customs who have snakes of their own,so some of them at least may know whats what.They were very friendly customs officers anyway.

[madaboutreptiles]

so did you have a transport license then or did they confiscate them?

[sami]

Originally Posted by gaz

then demand for transport licence,which was taken away and copied,

He already said..

Mason

[gaz]

i have everything,so no problems for me,others may not be so fortunate, maybe you dont need the transport licence to bring purchases home from shows,but buyers abroad may find themselves being pulled up for not providing the right(as customs see it) conditions for transport. for instance while in actual transit i dont provide water as it spills on every roundabout,this had to be explained,along with the fact that a boa constrictor isnt going to suffer any problems going 12 hours without a drink,as and if customs sharpen up on this some sort of code of practice for snakes in transit is likely to be required,maybe. I got the feeling that it was paperwork they were most interested in,as it was plain to see my snakes were in tip top condition as they were inspected, although for once they behaved and no one got bitten
regards gaz

[Athravan]

I got through fine and wasn't checked, although we did see them pull quite a few people over, and they asked more questions than going over about my OH's USA visa... but had transportation license and answers ready in case.

However.. I should add, only half of the sellers at the show gave me any sort of receipt, and next time I will definitely be more vigilant in asking for receipts. May have to learn that phrase in dutch/german

[madaboutreptiles]

Originally Posted by quixotic_axolotl

He already said..

Mason

dohhhhhh..............

[ratboy]

Originally Posted by gaz

aye, but sooner or later someones going to be pulled apart and made an example of,and that someone may well simply be ignorant of the law,so best people doing shows abroad etc sharpen up,no need for any bad publicity for us innit
regards gaz
ps:the guy doing the questioning was not up on snakes in any way,but did mention that there were interested parties amongst customs who have snakes of their own,so some of them at least may know whats what.They were very friendly customs officers anyway.

Indeed. I bought a load of Russian rat snakes and a couple of corns over from Holland about 4 years ago and declared them to UK Customs in France as I knew they were legal and above board but did not want to get stopped with a car full of snakes.

Four or Five of the Customs people kept their own snakes and were very interested in what mine were as they had never seen them before.

I did have receipts for everything I had though although nobody at the time asked to see them. Thankfully, the dutch breeder spoke very good English so getting a receipt was not a problem. He even included photographs of them hatching and a declaration that they were captive bred.

[gaz]

Originally Posted by Athravan

I got through fine and wasn't checked, although we did see them pull quite a few people over, and they asked more questions than going over about my OH's USA visa... but had transportation license and answers ready in case.

However.. I should add, only half of the sellers at the show gave me any sort of receipt, and next time I will definitely be more vigilant in asking for receipts. May have to learn that phrase in dutch/german

that would be "OI matey wheres the fr***en receipt"!!!!!
works every time,then they know your British too
regards gaz