Lee Love on wed 6 apr 05
Wally wrote:
>Any thoughts or information very wellcome.....
>Should have some stuff in Georgia within 10 days, so things are
>getting urgent.
>Might consider to take everything in luggage and handluggage as well,
>some 15-20 small pieces in total... Anyone had any problems lately
>with customs when bags with ceramics had to be opened ?
>Would above quantity be acceptable as "private gifts" ?
>Never had any problems before, my luggage was never opened, but
>safety regulations and other burocratic mania seem to get stronger
>year after year......
>Wally.
>
Wally, I am particularly involved with shipping pottery back and
forth from Japan to America. Sometimes very expensive work. If the
work is labeled as art (I use: "art pottery"), there is not a tarrif
on art. I have nor has anybody I have shipped to been charged a
tarrif on these packages. I learned about this when packing and
shipping my teacher's work during my appenticeship, with some individual
pieces approaching $30,000.00 There was only one time while at my
teacher's work shop did I hear of any problems with customs and
eventually it was treated as art.
If something is "only" dinnerware, or is in sets it might be
more questionable. Of course, I am only speaking in refrence to
shipping work internationally, and not making a value judgment on the
work itself.. ;-)
--
in Mashiko, Japan http://mashiko.org
http://hankos.blogspot.com/ Visual Bookmarks
http://potters.blogspot.com/ WEB LOG
Kruzewski on thu 7 apr 05
Dear Wally,
I can't answer all your questions but I send the occasional pot to
friends in USA by post and I've recently returned from NCECA - I took
pots over as gifts, and for the exchange and for the odd fundraiser.
I don't know about duties into USA. I know only about duty into UK,
which is pretty irritating as you can import very little before having
to pay duty. It's about £147 that you can actually bring in with you on
the plane, but I've paid duty on £30 worth of pottery tools sent from
Chinese Clayart! It's something that's easy to forget.
I always label ceramics that I send as exchange items as gifts with no
value because I don't want the recipient to be paying duty on an
exchange mug. When I took 6 pieces in for NCECA I put down that they
were all gifts (they were) and they had no value as I'd made them
myself. This was accepted without question. I bought other gifts in as
well and I wrote down the value of everything I'd paid for - including
the chocolate! The customs person seemed a little surprised at my
honesty. Whether they'd accept that 15 - 20 pieces are gifts with no
value is debatable. There must be someone who takes pots to USA with
them for workshops etc - Phil Rogers for instance. His change of email
address was posted not long ago - couple of weeks maybe (archives) -
perhaps he would advise you.
I wouldn't be tempted to pack any pots in your suitcase. The state mine
was in when I got back home - as well as having been opened and
inspected it was well battered and looked like someone in stillettoes
had tap danced on it. I took - and brought back - everything precious to
me and fragile in a backpack that was my carry on luggage. I packed each
pot in thick bubblewrap envelopes - the sort you mail - so that they
could be easily inspected but were protected. Inside each pot I packed
other small items in bubble wrap. I have always found that it's worth
packing the inside of ceramic items as tight as possible so there is
more resistance. No one inspected my hand luggage - I take it because I
didn't put anything in there that would upset the scanners.
A friend of mine married an American (who promptly left him with big
debts as soon as she had British citizenship - but that's another story)
and he found they could, in addition to ordinary luggage, bring one fair
sized (about 2 foot square) box each with them too. If that's the case
from USA to UK it may be so the other way round. The weight allowance
seemed quite generous -you'd need to check with your airline. If you
pack so that the contents can be inspected reasonably easily then at
least you have all your bases covered - separate easily opened box for
each pot with-in the larger carton, with packing in between boxes.
By the way, before anyone jumps - I don't mind having my case inspected,
going through the scanners, security checks - as long as they are polite
- and they were. If it weren't for the missing lock on my case
(carefully packaged inside the case!) and a note from the authorities,
I'd never have known they'd been in there. I didn't particularly want to
be blown up at 30,000 feet, and if you look at it that way, it's worth it.
Jacqui
North Wales
>Here's another topic on shipping ceramics...
>Question for European Members.....
>What is the actual situation for sending ceramics out of Europe to
>the States by courrier services ?
>Is there any minimal charge, under which ceramics are still regarded
>as tax-free "gifts", and when do charges begin, and how much ?
>
>Might consider to take everything in luggage and handluggage as well,
>some 15-20 small pieces in total... Anyone had any problems lately
>with customs when bags with ceramics had to be opened ?
>
>
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