Reporting to Customs in Australia

[Bajansailor]

The report below was on the BYM Industry Newsletter this evening at http://www.bymnews.com/news/newsDetails.php?id=23710

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Australia. New Zealand yachtsman fined for failing to report arrival in Queensland

Wednesday, 12 March 2008


A yachtsman appeared in Mackay District Court yesterday (11 March 2008) and was fined $2,500 for failing to report the intended arrival of his vessel and crew into Australia.

Mr Timothy Foreman, a New Zealand citizen, was charged under section 64 Impending Arrival Report, and section 64ACB Crew Reports of the Customs Act 1901.

Mr Foreman arrived into the port of Bundaberg from New Caledonia on 28 November 2006 but failed to provide the necessary notice to Customs prior to his arrival.

The court convicted Mr Foreman on the two charges and ordered that he pay a fine of $2,500 and court costs of $1,417.

Customs National Director Enforcement and Investigations, Roxanne Kelley, said that the case highlighted the importance of recreational yachts following correct reporting procedures when arriving into Australia.

"This result sends a strong message to masters of yachts that they need to provide proper notice to Customs prior to arrival."

"Provision of this information is essential for Customs to perform its role of protecting Australia's borders from illegal activity," Ms Kelley said.

A ship's master must provide notice of intended arrival to Customs not later than 96 hours before arrival into Australia, and must arrive at a proclaimed port.

Further information on these reporting requirements, including reporting times if the voyage is less than 96 hours, is available at http://www.customs.gov.au/
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Here is the info copied below from the relevant link on the Customs website http://www.customs.gov.au/site/page.cfm?u=4791

There are several agencies interested in your arrival - principally Customs, Quarantine and Immigration.

96 hours notice may be given by either;

* Sending an email to yachtreport@customs.gov.au:
* Sending a fax to +61 2 6275 6331;
* Phoning the Australian Customs National Communications Centre on +61 3 9244 8973.

You will need to provide the following information

* The name of your craft;
* Your intended first port of arrival;
* Your estimated arrival time;
* Your last four ports;
* The details of people on board including name, date of birth, nationality and passport number;
* Details of any illness or disease recently encountered;
* If you have any animals on board;
* If you have any firearms on board.

Comment by Bajansailor :

I have heard that the Customs Authorities in the USA have similar regulations re how all vessels have to report in in advance before they make landfall - is this correct?

And it looks like it will soon be effectively compulsory for all ocean voyaging yachts to have either satellite telephones or means of sending email while at sea (Sailmail, Winlink et al) in order to satisfy these new regulations.

 

[Pincoya]

A ship's master must provide notice of intended arrival to Customs not later than 96 hours before arrival into Australia, and must arrive at a proclaimed port.

No mention of any time limit more than 96 hours and therefore no need to do this in transit. Email, phone, fax, send a post card (I jest) before leaving and you will be covered. I hear that the authorities will be quite happy to receive this information well ahead of time and that the 96 hours is a minimum.

Paul

 

[BobPrell]

The wooden boat forum mentioned a story they did about visitors being prosecuted by Customs. pretty grim read, in full, at

http://thecoastalpassage.com/manzaris.html
and they were seeking help to pay their fine and costs.

I have condensed their story here:

Jim and Dorothy Manzari and their boat "Oceanus" are under "Harbour Arrest" in Bundaberg.


They began a voyage began six years ago in Germany, to sail around the world. Dorothy is a citizen of Switzerland and Jim is an American.

They visited the Australian Consulate in Noumea the capital city of French New Caledonia. We had heard a few stories about how bureaucratically difficult Australia had become for visiting private yachts. Many cruising couples had warned us to stay away from Australia. An Austrian couple who have been cruising in the South Pacific region for fifteen years told us that they no longer visit Australia, because every time they had arrived they were treated like criminals by Customs and other officials. We heard a story of a sailor who was sailing directly from New Caledonia to Madagascar, more than 6000 nautical miles, without touching Australian waters and to avoid the intimidation experienced by other visitors.

The Consulate had only one copy of a undated document titled "Information for Yachts Travelling to Australia". This document was produced and published by the Australian Customs Service, the Quarantine Service, and Australian Immigration Department.
They elected to use the first method listed, to report at the port of intended arrival, Bundaberg, by calling a radio station call sign VMR 488 on VHF channel 81.
Oceanus is a US flag recreational vessel and is not required to carry any kind of radio whatsoever.

They found after arriving in Bundaberg and being charged with violating the Custom Act that a new up-to-date "Information for Yachts Travelling to Australia" document has been published by Customs, Quarantine, and Immigration. This new document offers only three methods for reporting impending arrival. VHF radio is no longer an option.

The prosecution convinced the magistrate that they had made no report to any official government agency! The prosecution argued successfully that VMR 488 is only a volunteer organization and not an official arm of the Australian government, in spite of the fact that the government has shutdown all official radio stations along this coast.

As a result they have been convicted of a serious crime attracting a 9 month prison sentence or fine of $4,000 and prosecution costs of $15,000. Their personal legal costs are now approaching $40,000.

In 2001 the Australian Parliament amended the Customs Act to downgrade impending arrival reporting infractions to the level of Infringement Notice.

Had the CEO disagreed with their explanations, they would have paid a penalty of about $1300. And the right of Customs to prosecution would be extinguished. By law there would be no publicity or criminal stigma attached to the payment of this penalty.

Queensland Customs is apparently the only region in Australia that is prosecuting the weakest targets they can find. Jim and Dorothy are not unfamiliar with procedures for entry into a foreign country by private pleasure craft. They have in the past entered and cleared from more than 25 countries without any kind of problem.

If Jim and Dorothy Manzari had pleaded guilty, they could have been placed on an international watch list for terrorists, drug smugglers, and other so-call "persons of interest".

cheers

 

[AndrewB]

Re: USA

[ QUOTE ]
I have heard that the Customs Authorities in the USA have similar regulations re how all vessels have to report in in advance before they make landfall - is this correct?

[/ QUOTE ]
No, there is no requirement for advanced notification for a foreign yacht entering USA, though it has been talked about, together with satellite tagging as recently introduced by Thailand. Note that the USA (in particular SE states) is more particular than most that you do report immediately on arrival, before anything else. And there is a fair chance you will be intercepted by US coastguards even before you arrive, as you approach the SE coast.

The current nasty from USA is that they seem this year for the first time to be enforcing a requirement (stated on the cruising permit) that foreign yachts must report to customs every time they move within the country. Evidently Florida has just fined an Australian yacht $5000 for failing to do so. Take a look at this article.

 

[Bilgediver]

One of our club members commutes between Scotland and Australia and last MArch I met him in Australia after his most recent return by yacht. He is an australian citizen.

He had fallen foul of this rule and when boarded by customs at Fremantle was hauled over the coals for not giving the 96 hours notice. He replied that he only had VHF and was told they would have accepted notification from his last port,Capetown accepting inaccuracies in ETA.

He was also charged something like 160 Aus dollars for the disposal of a potato and two apples.

Seems that every effort be made to give notice of arrival from the previous port or carry an Iridium and to put the sharks on a fruit diet the day before arrival.

/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[Bajansailor]

It has been reported above that there is no time limit as such - eg, they want you to report in to them from Cape Town before setting off, and saying that you will turn up approx 4 weeks later.

Remember the Berrimillas (www.berrimilla.com) ? A few years ago they did the Sydney - Hobart race, then immediately set sail for England (with a brief stop along the way in the Falklands) to do the Fastnet. And then set off to sail back home non-stop in time for the next S2H. Two chaps on a 35' boat.
I can see the email that Alex might have sent to Aussie Customs :
"Hi guys, just to let you know that we are setting off tomorrow from Falmouth, ETA back home in Sydney in approx 4 months time, give or take a week or 2. Cheers!"

 

[nickrj]

As the resident Australian on this board (I think?), all I can do is apologise to everyone on behalf of my sometimes backwards country. I met a French couple here that were hassled every single day by a customs fly-over, asking the same questions over radio, day after day. On the 6th day, the couple kindly told the helicopter to take a hike (with stronger language), and were promptly boarded and harassed like never before in Brisbane...

nick

 

[gingerman33]

Extract from latest Customs clearance from Berrimilla:
The intention is to depart from the Cruising Yacht Club in Rushcutters Bay, Sydney and sail direct to Alaska. The broad details can be found here

www.berrimilla.com/tng