GREEK TRANSIT LOG ISSUE - IMPORTANT

[Fil Brown]

I left the UK in August 2018 and have never left the EU since having sailed around to Greece ariving in April 2021 (Spain, Portugal, Spain again, Sardinia, Scicly, Italy then Greece directly from Italy)
Corfu PP demanded that we get an 18 TL which we had till we spent the winter in Lefkas. We visited the customs office there and were told that we didnt need a TL so handed it back in when we left Lefkas in late April. Since then i've only been asked for it once in Nidri but after explaining the Lefkas position they let me go.
Having seen the latest postings im now concerned that i could end up getting fined for having no TL.
I also understand that the TL document only needs to be shown "on demand" yet some have been fined for not having it stamped.

 

[Crisby]

I left the UK in August 2018 and have never left the EU since having sailed around to Greece ariving in April 2021 (Spain, Portugal, Spain again, Sardinia, Scicly, Italy then Greece directly from Italy)
Corfu PP demanded that we get an 18 TL which we had till we spent the winter in Lefkas. We visited the customs office there and were told that we didnt need a TL so handed it back in when we left Lefkas in late April. Since then i've only been asked for it once in Nidri but after explaining the Lefkas position they let me go.
Having seen the latest postings im now concerned that i could end up getting fined for having no TL.
I also understand that the TL document only needs to be shown "on demand" yet some have been fined for not having it stamped.

Hi Fil, we were in Greece on 31/12/2020, UK vat paid whilst UK in the EU and a letter from the yard (Cleopatra) with a stamp saying we were there so we don’t need a TL of any sort BUT still I avoid officialdom like the plague simply because of the large variation of interpretation of the law/rules.

Corfu and Preveza both have a reputation for zealously misinterpreting the rules and Lefkas the opposite, if they were your last point of contact I would go with that. Hopefully at some point it will all be resolved but until then just avoid them all!

Chris
(Azura)

 

[Chris_Robb]

Hi Fil, we were in Greece on 31/12/2020, UK vat paid whilst UK in the EU and a letter from the yard (Cleopatra) with a stamp saying we were there so we don’t need a TL of any sort BUT still I avoid officialdom like the plague simply because of the large variation of interpretation of the law/rules.

Corfu and Preveza both have a reputation for zealously misinterpreting the rules and Lefkas the opposite, if they were your last point of contact I would go with that. Hopefully at some point it will all be resolved but until then just avoid them all!

Chris
(Azura)

Couls all have been solved by now if the Greeks had published their FAQs and rule whi h they agreed to in April. I spent a considerable time setting out all the scenarios we wanted covered. My contact, a director of VAT, does not know why the completed document is not yet available.

In the next few weeks with the British embassy, we will have a last attempt before making yet another complaint to th EU Commission.

We are actually now arguing that if VAT paid, then no tl of any sort shoukd be required as this infringes the UCC and EU GOODS rights to free circulation an NO CUSTOMS PROCEDURES, as per their reasons for not requiring obe if you were i the EU. Its utterly illogical.

Had hoped to leave it all behind as i am retiring from this stuff and sailing!

 

[Crisby]

Couls all have been solved by now if the Greeks had published their FAQs and rule whi h they agreed to in April. I spent a considerable time setting out all the scenarios we wanted covered. My contact, a director of VAT, does not know why the completed document is not yet available.

In the next few weeks with the British embassy, we will have a last attempt before making yet another complaint to th EU Commission.

We are actually now arguing that if VAT paid, then no tl of any sort shoukd be required as this infringes the UCC and EU GOODS rights to free circulation an NO CUSTOMS PROCEDURES, as per their reasons for not requiring obe if you were i the EU. Its utterly illogical.

Had hoped to leave it all behind as i am retiring from this stuff and sailing!

Thanks for the final push Chris, if anybody deserves some time sailing it’s you!

Chris

 

[Hooligan]

I am based in Lefkas Marina. The boat was in the EU on Brexit day and is VAT paid and I have a stamp from the marina where I was at that time. The issue of a TL has never been raised to me and indeed when we relocated to Lefkas Marina (post end 2020) no one asked for it. This summer we got visited on anchor by a rather smart customs boat - looked like the tender from a super yacht so things clearly looking up in Greece - and when they asked where we were from I just said Lefkas and they went away. Totally agree re the comment on VAT paid and TL. It would seem that every place is different but so far so good at least in Lefkas!

 

[Hooligan]

Ps just to add that we berthed in Kalamata port in August and encountered no one. Boat is British flag. Perhaps issues resolved?

 

[Daydream believer]

You can all pay me E40 if you like & our fast speedy service will sort it for you. Of course there will be some delays in sorting the paperwork, but you can email us at Rudra.spamemail@india.com
Just give your credit card details & our lovely lady Shyla will take the payments immediately. Please do not send follow up emails for at least 2 months as Greek authorities can be slow. But rest assured that we will have your money.

 

[cegri]

I assume this is the proper topic:

A question about "freezing" the limited transit log in Greece;

We will be wintering our boat in a marina without a customs office. (Messolinghi)

Do we have to go to a customs office (like Preveza) or can the Port Authority in Messolinghi can do it?

Edit: It turns out there IS a customs office n Messolinghi, so question became irrelevant.

 

[Mistroma]

Not certain about that one as we don't have a Transit Log. I thought there was a Customs office beside the Port Police office. Perhaps it closed years ago. Pretty certain there's a Customs office in Patras and Agrino but don't know if they would help.

I thought the process used to be that you handed the documents to the Port Authority if no Customs nearby. Always worried about them being lost but I think they just annotated it to state out of use.
Hopefully someone will give a detailed answer for the current situation.

 

[Chris_Robb]

All fun intit!
This was predicted and the greeks have set up a working group last week. They could not do it before as they were embargoed to talk to us before the agreement was made.

They have started reviewing how ALL the regs can be adjusted to get rid of red tape. This sounds encouraging.

Please, no one should get excited as yet, as I think they want to reappraise how it all works. Also getting agreement on any at issues including going to Turkey and returning.......

Gosh, just read what I wrote back in Feb 21. So thus dear working group was set up with absolute clarity..... but they never published it to Port Police and Customs. In Greece the local Customs makes 'ITS OWN DECISION'

Really out of it now since spring 22 when we sold the boat so don't have any up to date feed back.

But technically if you are freezing your TL then you CANNOT go to another port to surrender the docs and then a days sail to your laying up port destination as you must have the TL with you at all times in Greek waters.

The marina at messalonghi should know if the port police will take it, but they should as this is a port police document..... the LTL and is not a customs document.

It was very unfortunate that the several complaints to the EU Commission that were made destroyed our relationship with the VAT directors as their top brass in the AADE forbidden them to talk with the CA any more....

It's now all but a distant memory.

We now have a Drascombe longboat to day sail in Chichester harbour..... back to exactly what we had in the 80's!

 

[cegri]

Thanks for the replies. (I wasn't planning on sailing but taking a bus or car to a port with customs.)

However, it turns out there IS a customs office in Messolinghi. I thought they were limited to ports of entry.

 

[Mistroma]

Thanks for the replies. (I wasn't planning on sailing but taking a bus or car to a port with customs.)

However, it turns out there IS a customs office in Messolinghi. I thought they were limited to ports of entry.

I was pretty certain I had seen one next to the Port Police but it was a few years ago. We wandered all over Messolonghi when sorting out my wife's residence card.

We are currently in Vathy, Ithaca and heading to Messolonghi at some point. We asked about storage a few years ago and seems to remember they were pretty expensive.

 

[Ocean Safari]

We ocean safari is kept in Messy marina and we handin our transit log every time we go home or stay in the marina with the customs office and the 18 months is stopped until you leave to go cruising with the boat. You can also check in and out with the port police

 

[citybubble101]

Hey all - We have had the usual heated conversation with a local (Greek) port police with regards to TLs. We are a UK VAT registered boat that has been in Greek waters since before Brexit. I know that I have read somewhere (I’m sure it’s on this forum) but I’ll be damned if I can find it that if you don’t leave Greek waters (6nm??) then no TL is necessary. Could someone point me to something official that I can print out and keep? Thanks

 

[Chris_Robb]

Hey all - We have had the usual heated conversation with a local (Greek) port police with regards to TLs. We are a UK VAT registered boat that has been in Greek waters since before Brexit. I know that I have read somewhere (I’m sure it’s on this forum) but I’ll be damned if I can find it that if you don’t leave Greek waters (6nm??) then no TL is necessary. Could someone point me to something official that I can print out and keep? Thanks

I understand the rules have changed significantly, and that you apply for the UTL on line as have lived transit logs. I am afraid that I have been out of this for 3 years now so don't know what's possible. I don't know what the CA has published on this.