A lot of people who are these days "importing" are simply picking up from Hamm, bypassing all of the UK side paperwork and fees.

If you want to get an animal straight to the UK then you must complete the import paperwork, get an import permit (this can be a 1 import deal, it's not necessarily a permanent license), then you pay vets fees, and 17.5% VAT to collect the shipment in the UK. There are no hidden fees really, everything that comes in from the states except a few exceptions, is liable to import duties.

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