Package at customs No AUSFTA form...what do I do?

[AVCadmirer]

So my ring has arrived in Australia but they have just informed me I need to pay the 5% duty that is normally exempt, but there is No form attached to my package. Customs sent through a form but it appears that it needs to be filled out by the company BGD not me. I cant contact them atm because of time difference. Is anybody familiar with this...
Thanks

(COMPANY LETTERHEAD)

Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement (AUSFTA)

Statement of United States origin


I ____________________ of (company name) hereby state that the nominated goods below, meet the requirements of the legislation of the AUSFTA. I wish to claim the preferential duty rate using the rule type as marked.

___ 1) Section 153YB rule type W.O. -goods wholly obtained- relates to goods mined, grown, bred, fished etc

___ 2) Section 153YC rule type P.O.M. -goods produced entirely in the US from originating materials- relates to goods made in the US from US materials

___ 3) Section 153YE rule type P.S. -goods (except clothing and textiles) produced entirely in the US from non-originating materials- relates to goods made in the US from US materials and materials from other countries

___ 4) Section 153YF rule type P.S. –goods that are chemicals, plastics or rubber produced entirely in the US from non-originating materials

___ 5) Section 153YH rule type P.S. –goods that are clothing or textiles produced entirely in the US or the US and Australia from non-originating materials or a combination of originating materials and non-originating materials.

I agree to maintain and present on request, documentation necessary to support this statement.

Shippers name:


Product name/description:


Name:

Date:

Signature:

 

[Gypsy]

Call BGD.

 

[AVCadmirer]

Doesn't matter, next person explained more. I will just have to wait and speak to Lesley tomorrow morning...damn customs

 

[AVCadmirer]

Thanks Gypsy...I didn't see your post before mine reply. I will be in contact with them soon....just so impatient and want to see my ring

 

[arkieb1]

I have been through that before myself. You have two choices, get all the paperwork in order be prepared to fill in the paperwork - they might send it to you several times and if you are really lucky they will accept it. If not they will charge you the taxes and duties anyway and you will then have to attempt to claim them back again from them after you get your item.

For the record you will still have to pay their processing and handling fees it's not free, you just get out of the main component of it which is the GST because we have a free trade agreement with the US.

In my case I filled in the forms 6 times, called them 10 times had the people in the US fill in more forms and they still charged me the full amount and said badluck if it didn't arrive with the proper paperwork that is what they can do. It may also be faster and easier to get yourself a customs broker which you will also pay a fee for but the bonus is they know specifically how to worth within the system.

Try getting all the correct forms to them first, you might need to get the codes from them for diamonds or they can reject the paperwork, if that doesn't work then you either need a customs broker or you will have to pay the full amount.

 

[melave]

Hi all

This might be a bit late for you but i had to go through this recently. Vendor posted goods via USPS and i didn't know

I used a custom broker and he sent me that same form and suggested to select the 153YE option. Whatever the custom broker did, i got exempt from the 5% duty fee

from his email

Please don’t forget to tick one of the options on the left, most US manufactured goods fall under the third option (Section 153YE), not the first option as that section relates to raw products such as minerals, plants, fossils etc.



Hope this helps

 

[susimoo]

Hi

Despite my last three packages having all the correct paperwork and having forwarded additional copies to Fedex, I was still told to pay GST and the 5% duty. This hadn't happened with any of my previous purchases.

I paid it and made a claim for it to be returned, via email, on the same day I picked up the packages. In each case it took less that four weeks and the 5% duty was refunded into my bank account of choice.

It involved only one email from me to initiate the claim and one other to specify the bank account it should be paid into.

I found this easier than trying to communicate with Fedex and my suppliers in the US due to the time difference.

Good luck. Look forward to seeing your ring.

 

[AVCadmirer]

Thank you all for your replies....hopefully it does go smoothly but we will see. Atleast there is a lot of help on here if it doesn't I also wanted to update that Lesley has already emailed me (its true she must never sleep) the relevant forms and has stated that it was included in the parcel which I absolutely believe...and wanted to add that I hope I didn't come across sounding like I was faulting BGD in my first post.....trust me the service I have received so far in particular with Lesley is beyond amazing!!!! I had posted that in a very panic rush....and as Im sure most of you have felt at some point overly eager to see the gorgeous jewellery that awaits.
Anyway hopefully all goes well on Monday...I will be updating once I receive my ring

 

[AVCadmirer]

YAY! Just wanted to update again more so for the benefit of any other Aussies. I emailed the paperwork to Fedx last night and the 5% duty was deducted and a new invoice came through from them today been Saturday, which surprised me. I was to late to call and make payment so I still have to wait until Monday but I would imagine I should have my ring by Tuesday or Wednesday. So I may just be one of the luckier ones. I will say though next time I will be more prepared and have the vendor email me through the AUSFTA form so I can be ready. Maybe I stressed a little bit prematurely but hey what can I say that's who I am

 

[misssoph]

I ran into the same problem with a package from good old gold ith FedEx Australia customs brokers a few months ago.
The brokers had calculated and paid the duty prior yo contacting me! I refused to pay. They made me feel like I was being extraordinarily difficult and thretened to send the package back. GOG sent them a letter . Eventually they released the package. When I picked it up I found all the appropriate AUSTFA paperwork in the fRont sleeve on the box. The FedEx customs brokers just hadn't bothered to look at the paperwork originally supplied.

 

[AVCadmirer]

Oh wow...sorry to hear you had a tough time with it all. I must have been lucky and got some nice service people. Lesley said that's where all the documents were put also, but as I have read many times on here I just don't think the assessors bother to really look. From a few post I have read recently I was starting to think this was going to be a huge pain but I am surprised at how quickly everything has been done. The 3 different people I spoke to where really nice and very prompt with emailing me relevant forms/invoices. I hope Im just as lucky with my future purchases.

 

[arkieb1]

I ran into the same problem with a package from good old gold ith FedEx Australia customs brokers a few months ago.
The brokers had calculated and paid the duty prior yo contacting me! I refused to pay. They made me feel like I was being extraordinarily difficult and thretened to send the package back. GOG sent them a letter . Eventually they released the package. When I picked it up I found all the appropriate AUSTFA paperwork in the fRont sleeve on the box. The FedEx customs brokers just hadn't bothered to look at the paperwork originally supplied.

+ 1 mine was inside the box and the customs people were too lazy to open it and look at it. I have a VERY low regard for customs.....


Anyway I am glad you got it sorted out. Aussie customs is a law unto themselves. I swear more than half the time they just try and charge everyone the full amount just to see if they can get away with it.

 

[misssoph]

I don't think it is actually customs that is the problem . FedEx uses private custom brokers to fill in the computer forms to submit to customs o calculate the duty owing. It is much easier for those brokers to fill in the generic custom forms rather than bother ith the separate A USTFA schedule.
If you have something posted to you using registered mail rather than FedEx or DHL customs sends you the forms to fill in instead, and are actually quite helpful. Alternatively you can employ a customs broker to fill them in for you at great expenses. Not worth it for a 2 page form