• Importing Your Personal Effects From Outside the European Community on Transfer of Residence.
• Port Health.
• Importing Your Private Motor Vehicle From Outside the European Community on Transfer of Residence.
• Re-Importing Your Unaccompanied Private Motor Vehicle From Outside the European Community.
• Importing Your Private Motor Vehicle on Payment of Customs Duty and VAT.

Please Note : If you are a private individual and are already a resident in the UK and you wish to import some items you ordered from outside the EEC or you shipped some goods unaccompanied which you bought on holiday, the goods will need to be treated as a commercial import. Please see our section on Commercial Importing. This does note apply to motor vehicles and these are covered further down this page.

To enable us to arrange Customs Clearance on your behalf, we will require the information and documentation listed in the following sections. Once these are received a customs entry is prepared and normally sent electronically to H.M.Customs and then, if required, original documentation is lodged with H.M. Customs. If Customs are happy with this and they do not require any further checks on the cargo, such as a physical examination, they will release the shipment.

Clearance from Port Health will also be required on shipments of Personal Effects and their requirements are also listed below.

Any Customs or Notices mentioned in the following sections can be obtained from your local H.M.Customs and Excise office or from the Customs Web site at www.hmce.gov.uk.

Importing Your Personal Effects From Outside the European Community on Transfer of Residence.

If you are importing your Personal Effects into UK unaccompanied you are not allowed a "duty free allowance", but generally, except for the goods listed in the Exceptions and Prohibited Goods below, you can import your unaccompanied Personal Effects into the UK free of Duties and Taxes if you fulfil the following:

• You have had your normal home outside the European Community for at least 12 months.
• You have owned and used your effects for at least 6 months.

To bring your Personal Effects into the United Kingdom the following documentation will be required from you and this will be attached to the customs entry:

• Customs Form C3 - this has to be an original. A photocopy or fax will not be acceptable.
• Packing List.
• For items less than 6 months old it may be useful to have proof of value.IE invoice.
• Exceptions and Prohibited Goods.

The following products are items which are not allowed to be imported free of charges and duty and VAT will have to be paid upon import into the UK:

• Wines and Spirts
• Perfumes and Toilet Waters
• Tobacco Products (Cigarettes, Cigars, tobacco etc.)
• Items not owned or used for at least 6 months.
• Goods for commercial use.

If you have any of these items you will have to let us know the price paid or current value of the items, the quantity of each item and for Wines, Spirits, Perfumes and Toilet Waters the number of bottles and size of each bottle, for cigarettes the number of cigarettes. We will then calculated the taxes payable using the Customs Tariff and these will form part of the customs entry which is given to Customs.

The following is a list of Prohibited or restricted goods, it not exhaustive and if you have goods or are in any doubt that any of your goods may be prohibited or restricted you should list them on your C3 form:

• Controlled Drugs
• Firearms
• Counterfeit Currency
• Some Animal Products (EG. Meat and Poultry)
• Plants and some vegetables,fruit, seeds and bulbs
• Indecent material
• Horror Comics
• Certain knives, offensive weapons and some martial arts weapons
• Radio transmitters not approved for use in the UK (EG cordless telephones,walkie Talkies)
• Alive or Dead Animals. Parts and articles obtained from protected species and items produced from them

For more information on bringing your Personal Effects to the UK please read Customs Notice 3 ?Bringing your belongings and private motor vehicle into the United Kingdom from outside the European Community? which can be obtained from the H.M.Customs Web Site. A copy of the Customs Form C3 can also be obtained from this Site.

Port Health.

Port Health are concerned with all imports of Personal Effects to see if they contain any types of foodstuffs or animal products as there are restrictions to the type of these goods allowed into the UK. If you have foodstuffs or animal products you wish to import and are unsure if these will be acceptable please contact the Port Health authority at the port of arrival for your goods or us with details of the cargo to see if they are allowed into the UK.

The normal documentation required for Personal Effects to be sent to Port Health is:

• Copy of the Packing List
• Copy of the Bill of Lading

Once Port Health receive these they will advise if they require any further information or if they will examine the goods. Once they are happy with the consignment and documentation they will release the cargo.

Importing Your Private Motor Vehicle From Outside the European Community on Transfer of Residence.

You can import your Private Motor Vehicle free of Duty and VAT if you are transferring your residence if you fulfil the following:

• You have owned and used your vehicle for at least 6 months.
• You have had your normal home outside the EEC for a least 1 year.

To bring your Motor Vehicle into the United Kingdom on transfer of residence the following documentation will be required from you and this will be attached to the customs entry:

• Customs Form C104A - this has to be an original. A photocopy or fax will not be acceptable.
• Proof of Ownership - E.G. Title Document / Log Book.
• Proof of use - E.G. Insurance Documents / Service Invoice.
• Proof of living out of the UK for 1 year - E.G. Service(Gas/Electric) Bill.

For more information on bringing your Motor Vehicle to the UK please read Customs Notice 3 ?Bringing your belongings and private motor vehicle into the United Kingdom from outside the European Community? which can be obtained from the H.M.Customs Web Site. A copy of the Customs Form C104A can also be obtained from this Site.

Re-Importing Your Unaccompanied Private Motor Vehicle From Outside the European Community.

If you exported your Vehicle from the UK and are now re-importing back into the UK you will require the following documentation to allow the vehicle into the UK free of Duty and VAT:

• Customs Form C179B - this has to be an original. A photocopy or fax will not be acceptable.
• Copy of Registration Documentation.

Please note if your vehicle has undergone any repairs, alteration or renovation except for running repairs you may have to pay Duty and VAT on the cost of these procedures.

For more information on bringing your Motor Vehicle to the UK please read Customs Notice 3 ?Bringing your belongings and private motor vehicle into the United Kingdom from outside the European Community? which can be obtained from the H.M.Customs Web Site. A copy of the Customs Form C179B can also be obtained from this Site.

Importing Your Private Motor Vehicle on Payment of Customs Duty and VAT.

If you have purchased your Vehicle outside the UK and can not fulfil the conditions in the previous 2 sections regarding importing your Vehicle into the UK you will have to pay Duty and VAT on your Motor Vehicle if you wish to import it into the UK. The documentation required to do this is:

• Customs Form C384 - this has to be an original. A photocopy or fax will not be acceptable.
• Proof of Ownership - E.G. Title Document / Log Book.
• Proof of Purchase Price / Value - E.G. Invoice.

For more information on bringing your Motor Vehicle to the UK please read Customs Notice 3 'Bringing your belongings and private motor vehicle into the United Kingdom from outside the European Community' which can be obtained from the H.M.Customs Web Site. A copy of the Customs Form C384 can also be obtained from this Site.

We hope you have found the above information useful and informative. If you require any further information or you would like a quote for us to arrange importation on your behalf please do not hesitate to contact us at imports@rjjfreight.co.uk