Importing a dog from a foreign country (customs Broker ??)

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briarpatch
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Importing a dog from a foreign country (customs Broker ??)

Post by briarpatch » Fri Jan 20, 2012 9:15 pm

Have you imported a dog from a foreign country ? Was a customs broker needed ?

I am importing a pup and was called by the airline today and informed I probably need a customs broker ?
I askd why and they said do you own a website and I said yes then they said the customs officials will believe you are using the pup for breeding and whenever a dog is imported for breeding purposes you need a Customs broker ..

I have never heard tell of this any input from anyone who has experience would be appreciated ???

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Cora's Shadow
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Re: Importing a dog from a foreign country (customs Broker ??)

Post by Cora's Shadow » Fri Jan 20, 2012 10:37 pm

You should not need a customs broker. I have imported 5 dogs from the Czech Republic and 3 dogs from Germany and I've never been asked to use a broker. The last dog I imported, I didn't even have to go to customs. The airline cargo office (Lufthansa) handled everything for me so I just got to take the dog straight from their office and go.

With the other dogs we have imported, we have had to go to customs for a quick interview and paper-check before taking the pups/dogs home. I think the website/breeder thing is a miscommunication. I even gave our kennel business card (with our website address clearly written on it) to one customs official when he asked me what we do with the dogs.

Good luck with the new import!

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Re: Importing a dog from a foreign country (customs Broker ??)

Post by tenbearsviz » Sat Jan 21, 2012 6:05 am

I brought 3 in from Canada. Piece of cake, No broker needed. Just be sure vaccine and health certs are in order.

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briarpatch
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Re: Importing a dog from a foreign country (customs Broker ??)

Post by briarpatch » Sat Jan 21, 2012 6:39 am

Thanks for the info I had imported my Belle from Canada a few years back and didnt use a customs broker and it was no problem , but I dont think I had a website then . And I had never imported from Germany before.
Lufthansa is the ones who called me yesterday and asked was I a breeder or do I own a website I said yes then they said I would need a customs broker because customs would research me and know that and beings the pup could be used to breed there would be tarifs to be paid on the dog beings I have a website.
I never heard of anything like that before for a puppy but couldnt remember if they asked me if I was going to breed Belle when I had her shipped in from Canada or not and dont think I had the website then.

really appreciate the info
Dennis

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Re: Importing a dog from a foreign country (customs Broker ??)

Post by JKP » Sat Jan 21, 2012 12:34 pm

Hve had 6 dogs come in from Germany to Newark....have handled all the paperwork myself...just had to drive 1/2 mile to customs and pay a $20 fee. Was done with the whole process in 30 minutes.

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Re: Importing a dog from a foreign country (customs Broker ??)

Post by Georgia Boy » Sat Jan 21, 2012 7:35 pm

One thing you will have to consider is what time the flight arrives and will the customs office in that city be open at that time. Otherwise you will have to leave the dog at the airport kennel overnight. They tried to make me do that on the last dog imported and told me it would be $150.00 for the stay. Luckily for us we were able to smooth talk our way out of it and get her cleared after hours by airport customs supervisor.
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briarpatch
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Re: Importing a dog from a foreign country (customs Broker ??)

Post by briarpatch » Thu Jan 26, 2012 9:25 am

thought some of y'all might be interested..
I dug a little deeper into this because my pups flight got changed and Lufthansa again recommended a Customs broker .
So I called a Customs broker and asked do I need one..
Basically he said it was a gamble to go without one because customs randomly researches people and if they found that I have a website as a breeder they would assume that the dog was going to be used for breeding and I would have to file paperwork to pay the tarifs on the dog and it is normally handled by a customs broker as the forms are lenghy and must be properly filed or your dog will be kenneled at your expense until the paperwork clears and he could have the dog precleared before i arrive at the airport so all I would have to do is pick up my pup after it arrives for a $285 fee. He said I could chance going to the airport and picking up the pup myself and if they required the longer forms be done and tarifs paid contact him but it would be more expensive as the dog is coming in on a late afternoon flight which could incur overtime that I would be responciple for and if they couldnt get it straightened out that night the pup would have to be kenneled and i would have to pay for that as well.. So the 285 could quickly turn into over $5oo if I didnt hire him ahead of time .

So I of of coarse had to dig a little deeper into this to see if this was really needed So I pulled the trigger and called customs in Philly and asked . They said yes I should get a customs broker because there are lenghy forms to be filled out for the tarifs and they said if I pay over 2000 for the dog or I am a breeder or if they can google me and my name comes up as being a trainer or show person I would be required to pay the tarifs on the dog , I could go up ahead of time and file them myself but they didnt recommend it .

The 285 included the taxes (tarifs) to be paid as well I opted not to gamble on running into problems and possibly having the pup kenneled overnight and making several trips to philly so went with the broker ..Supposedly he is going to have everything pre-completed when I get to the cargo area i will just pick up the pup and not even have to see customs .

I could have gambled that customs wouldnt research me but I didnt want to take the risk .. Even the customs broker told me its a crap shoot if they Customs bothers to research you or not..But if they did research me I would be required to do the lenghy point of entry forms.

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Re: Importing a dog from a foreign country (customs Broker ??)

Post by gotpointers » Sat Jan 28, 2012 9:04 am

Cora's Shadow wrote:You should not need a customs broker. I have imported 5 dogs from the Czech Republic and 3 dogs from Germany and I've never been asked to use a broker. The last dog I imported, I didn't even have to go to customs. The airline cargo office (Lufthansa) handled everything for me so I just got to take the dog straight from their office and go.

With the other dogs we have imported, we have had to go to customs for a quick interview and paper-check before taking the pups/dogs home. I think the website/breeder thing is a miscommunication. I even gave our kennel business card (with our website address clearly written on it) to one customs official when he asked me what we do with the dogs.

Good luck with the new import!
Thanks for the tips!!!! :D

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