Importing boats from the US - beware

[Solitaire]

Much has been posted on the forum with regard to importing power boats from the United States due to the favourable exchange rate and the initial cost of boats in the US. However all should be aware of the pitfalls.
I like I think a lot of others, was under the impression that any boats maufactured prior to 16th June 1998 were exempt from having to comply with the CE regulations. Today I had that myth blown clean out of the water.

The Recreational Craft Regulations 1996 RCD states the following:

As a general rule most boats built after 1998 should be CE market. There are numerous exemptions to this rule, all of which require some evidnece that the exemption applies for the craft to be legally used or SOLD within the Eurpopean Economic Area (EEA).

Compliant craft will have a CE mark, builder plate, Hull Indentification Number (HIN) and a declaration of conformitity in the owners manual. The exsitence of which can be easily ckecked.

Used craft of non-EAA origin will need evidence of use in EAA waters PRIOR to JUNE 1998.

Home built craft or home completed craft if sold within 5 years after first use must comply fully with the RCD

There is no exemption for importing and using a boat from outside the EAA for private/personal use

A CE market craft that has been substantially modified such that it alters any of its characteristics will be reagarded as a new boat and should be re certificated.

A non compliant craft NEVER gains legality through the passing of time. Action may be taken by any EAA country to remove it from the market, on discovery of the non compliance.

The panalties are harsh! For the person responsible for FIRST placing the craft on the market or taking it into service the maximum penalty is a 3 month imprisonment or a £5000 fine. This applies equally to private individuals and those in business Although a prosecution must be brought within one year of the date of the offence, there are other processes which can be invoked on the discovery of a non compliant or falsley CE market craft. These regulations give Trading Standards Offices, and any other authorised person in the EAA, wide powers to suspend, seize and apply for forfeiture of recreational craft found to be non-compliant in order to take them off the market. Trading Standards Officers also have the powers to enter premises, examine paperwork and goods to check that recreational craft comply with the regulations
These powers can be exercised whether or not an individual is prosecuted.

The implications of the above are significan if you bought a boat via a grey market route. Particularly if you want to sell such a craft on. Food for thought here!

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[Dave_Snelson]

Hmmm... maybe thats why we are hearing so much less of this route to market, rather than the much more that one would have expected given the potential deals advertised.

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[Solitaire]

The info was supplied to me by a broker friend - he had just removed two boats from his stock because of it.

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[Kevin]

Hi

A warning indeed! but that is hows its been since RCD was implemented and dealers and individulas are still doing it! problem the CE people have is once the boat leaves the UK port as long as its pre 1998 model they have no way of knowing where it orginated, thats why most imported boats will be those prior to 1998.

Like people said to wonging it is illegal unless you know of somebody who can CE plate them whilst in the States ( which if you know the right people is very easy and not just a made up CE mark but proper authentic CE plating approved by EU) this can be done for less than $1000 whilst over here it will amount to about £7000 for an average 28 foot cruiser., still making importing very worthwhile!

kevin



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[sjw]

As i asked in a previous thread has anybody ever been fined ,arrested etc .I think a major powerboat broker would have to return almost all his stock if this was the case. This is just a tactic to scare anybody who is thinking about importing not too ,perhaps if the dealers were to reduce their prices and reflect the dollar situation less people would take this route. all INMH.

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[Solitaire]

I doubt that very much. I'm really not talking about major importers - I would suggest all of them comply. It refers to those individuals that bring boats in and then try and shift em thru the supply chain to either make a quick buck or who are just plain ignorant of the facts. But yer pays yer money yer take yer chance.!

I see from your bio you have a Bayliner - new was it? Bought in the UK? Got a CE mark? If not can you prove it was being used in the UK prior to June 1998. All OK, then you got nothing to worry about then have you?

Make no odds to me really, but just thought there may be those out there thinking of importing from the US. I know a guy who has brought in several, not only has he now got stock which he can't shift thru a broker, but boats that he has already sold are now illegal! And will be for ever more. All IMHO of course!

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[kimhollamby]

One thing to remember

As the importer of a boat that you plate in the US you are personally liable for that work, not anyone in the US (or in other words distributors over here are liable for CE compliance on boats bought through usual channels but if you take on the project of doing it yourself you are legally responsible for compliance).

Although it is not obvious how it might work in practice it is conceivable that a personal import, sold-on, that is found not to comply in some material way might provide the purchaser with comeback on the vendor.

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[kimhollamby]

A good reminder...

...but not so new.

Information regarding this has been circulated widely in magazine articles and here on the forums since the wording of the RCD became agreed. Obviously not widely enough.

Chances are there are quite a few boats out there now that are technically illegal and because I have lost quite enough of my hair already i for one would be looking for proof of use in EEA waters prior to June 1998 on anything built earlier and not supplied with CE mark and paperwork (a manual should also be supplied with the boat, it is a standard RCD requirement).

Incidentally the received wisdom is that this would most avidly be applied to US / Canadian and Taiwanese-built boats and that the average Beneteau or Jeanneau that has made its way back, say, from a Turkish charter fleet is okay. That's not the letter of the law but you can see the logic, especially as EEA-built boats may have been trialled in home waters prior to export.

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[kimhollamby]

For ever more

Boats that don't comply can be made legal, but they have to be retrospectively put through RCD which can considerably take the shine off the saving, to say the least, of having bought a bargain import in the first place.

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[Solitaire]

Re: A good reminder...

I knew it had been around for some time but I'd never seen anything relating to the fact that boats prior to July 1998 had to be able to prove they had been used in the UK before that date. That's the bit that I was most unaware of. As to getting CE approval I know it can be done retrospectaively but as you say the cost takes the gloss off the whole deal really.



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[sjw]

My boat is not the issue here although it is a genuine bayliner and the assumption that all bayliner owners must import is a bit unfair.HM customs takes vast amount of money in vat and duty on these imports and nobody is ever fined or arrested,the only people who benefit from stopping people importing is the dealers and manufacturers who can keep the prices high and want to keep the boats off the market place.

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[Solitaire]

All Bayliners are genuine - I've had two. Made the same mistake twice! I'm sure your's is fine. Just I find your attitude rather confrontational. I was simply pointing out what is in fact the part of a ruling that I was not aware of. There are plenty of people who look serioulsy at importing from the US for reasons so often stated. As it happens VAT is paid on the boat's arrival in this country based on the price paid in the US -plus other bits and bobs.

As to people getting caught, I can't comment. Its a bit like wingers going on about having to have a radio licence or an operators certificate - what are the chances of getting caught. In realitity fairly low I should think, but it's the law! If people choose to ignore it, then.........................................



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[wonging]

Considering the RCD was introduced in June 1996, with full effect from June 1998 and here we are in 2004 either having imported boats or thinking of importing boats or knowing that plenty of others are importing them, then i can only come to one conclusion!

Its all poppy cock, no-one cares, at £$2.00 which im sure we will see soon, im a buyer and the heck with the lot of them, if i ever get caught i will pleed ignorance and and ship the bugger back across the pond, hopefully this will coincide with the reduction of the $600 billion twin defecit and the fed will have stopped shorting $ and we will be back to £$ 1.40 and i will make enough on the sale to pay my fine and have a nice holiday in the bargain!

Any americans here fancy buying a bayliner 2855 in 2012 delivered to your home marina free of charge with full tank of fuel? lol

;-)


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[Kevin]

Re: One thing to remember

Hi

I certainly take your point but i wouldnt lose sleep wondering how accurate the CE plating was most people just want the boat they want at a price they want, the CE people number only a few hundred and they are mainly office bound and more interested in finding commercial new imports that dont comply ( hence their trawl around the boats shows where they astonishingly still find non ce approved and non plated boats!), they are not going to bother looking at a CE plated boat nor have the resources to check it over just in case. Never heard of a surveyor being able to tell an imported boat from a non imported, so i cant see the practice stopping anytime soon, unless the Customs position, which remains firm, should alter to that of other EU countries.

Plus there are many companies/organisations that are poised to challenge any UK implementation of the retrospective CE plating and are prepared to go legally all the way. Their argument being not that they shouldnt have CE plates but the extremes of the CE testing which costs thousands is unfair , for example float tests on a mass produced boat that is already imported into the UK legally for example bayliners sea rays etc, the testing of hatches that are already on UK CE approved boats etc etc, thus true CE approval would only be a £1000 or so for a make and model of boat that already is being brought in through legal channels. They would also challenge the law as a piece of trade restriction rather than safety issue as the RCD stands now. That is why as yet there has been no ( as far as I know) incidents of legal action against imports (especially personal) because the government and CE body are too frightened to open a whole can of worms which they have a fair chance of losing and should that happen they will have probably decimated in one swoop the used market as its known now, with high prices which would affect many businesses over here and jobs and I think they will see that as a risk and possible backlash they can ill afford to to take.

Kevin

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Re: One thing to remember

Whilst I agree with what you've said in principle, the fact remains that any machinery imported from outside the EC has to be CE marked unless it is exempt. Yes, you are right in that there are'nt thousands of trading standards and C & E officers checking boats or any other machinery for that matter for CE marking but I have heard of machinery being impounded at ports because it did not have CE marking. Furthermore, your insurance may be voided in the event of a claim if the insurance company finds out that your boat is not CE marked. Then there is the problem of selling the boat on to another buyer who may know that the boat should be CE marked. Lastly, if you want to finance the boat or any other future buyer, then the finance company will ask for the builders certificate confirming CE compliance
IMHO its not worth the risk importing a boat without CE marking

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[Kevin]

Re: One thing to remember

I here what your saying but you are talking after 1998 before that there is no missing CE plate as no boats had them so the risks you mention dont actually have a place in practice, the insurance companies would have no grounds not to insure or pay out on a claim.

In the UK the Customs stance is that their role is not check on CE plating on boats but only collect VAT and import duty and thus they will not attempt to hold any boat from going through customs and into the UK ( this is unlike most other EU countries), this they say is their stance and they say no change in the foreseeable future.

by the way not condoning doing it!

Kevin

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Re: One thing to remember

But thats the point, Kevin. If you do import a pre 1998 boat that hasnt already been used in the EC, it does have to be CE marked on entry into the EC. It doesnt matter whether the boat is a model that wasnt already CE marked. In fact there may be thousands of that type of boat imported into the UK before 1998 that are not CE marked but if you import an example of that very same model now, it does have to be CE marked

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[Kevin]

Re: One thing to remember

Yes I know but the point I was making is that it may technically need a ce plate but bringing a pre 1998 one in without no one can possibly know. thats what i was saying I wasnt talking about the actual legal need to have one but the practicalities of not needing one and still being ok, from the point of selling and insurance, the legal matter is far removed from the practical matter, legally yes of course you need one but in practicality you dont, you can sell it insure it without any problems whatsoever as its not possible for anybody here to know its been imported.

Kevin

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Re: One thing to remember

Yes, theoretically, you're right but it would mean disguising the boat's provenance from your insurance company and subsequent owners apart from modifying it to look like an EC sourced boat (240V instead of 110V leccy system for starters)

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