Importing

[capester]

Hi guys, I have put this on the Snake forum but as I know a lot of you lizard guys don't visit often I thought I'd put it here too. I am looking at importing some reps. possibly from Africa or the States. I have been on the web for hours trying to find out what I need to do it legally, with hugely conflicting information! I am not looking for CITES stuff just things that are hard to get over here. Anyone have any advice and/or names of trustworthy exporters? Cheers

[sam12345]

Firstly you'll need to find out the laws on the species you are looking at importing, its best to contact defra about this.
Next you will need to get yourself and agent to cover all the paper work and legal sides of things, you can cut the majority of the costs out if you know how to do and submit the relevant paperwork.

If you find a decent agent you may find they will give you a price to include airline handling, defra checks, customs checks and the animal reception centre charges otherwise you will have to pay each of these.

And then finally you will have to pay VAT on top of everything even the flight. You also have to make sure the invoice is crystal clear with everything clearly stated ie species, quantity and price, otherwise customs will try and hold your shipment and charge you extra... any excuse!

Also alot of this has to be submitted 2-4 working days before the shipment is due to land.

Hope it helps.

[capester]

yes it does thanks, I have done importing before but not of livestock. I'll get onto DEFRA and see. Thanks again

[sam12345]

Originally Posted by capester

yes it does thanks, I have done importing before but not of livestock. I'll get onto DEFRA and see. Thanks again

Yeah its a completely different kettle of fish.
You'll also have to convince customs that they are for personal use only and not going to be sold on or bred from otherwise you will have to provide a turn number or Vat registration number.
If its only a few reptiles they usually wont even ask.

If you decide you do want to go ahead drop us a pm and ill put you in touch with some reliable agents.
You will be looking at £350-400 minimum in fees though.

[capester]

Thanks for that, it's about what I expected. I got a right kicking for even suggesting importing on the snake forum, because obviously all the reps we keep are UK native and no-one ever had to import in the past! I'll have a think and decide which species I'm after and I'll be in touch. Thanks again