KAM
Well-Known Member
Anyone got any experience of taking teak components by air through customs into the EU. Are there likely to be any difficulties.
Taking wood boat components into the EU
- Thread starter KAM
- Start date
Graham376
Well-Known Member
Depend on size and weight of package. If will fit into suitcase or golf bag, then you're just another tourist arriving and highly unlikely to be challenged. You have your duty free allowance anyway, €430 by plane.
KAM
Well-Known Member
I was wondering if there was a risk of confiscation by some jobsworth because I don't have any phytosanitary certification.
wallacebob
Well-Known Member
Going to EU I don’t see any customs: security checks at UK airport are normal. Their question will be - can it be used as a weapon/club/etc to attack cabin crew. This is up to the staff on site. If you can, check it in the hold.
KevinV
Well-Known Member
I'd be more concerned whether it has certification to prove it wasn't chopped down in some protected bit of rainforest?
greeny
Well-Known Member
If it's hold baggage then very unlikely to be confiscated unless it's on the list of items not to go hold baggage. Hand baggage, they can confiscate anything they want if they deem it to meet one of the criteria listed, such as tools, tiewraps, short pieces of cordage, anything that could be used as a weapon etc etc. I would book a bag in the hold and take it that way. With hand luggage there's always the chance of meeting a jobsworth on a bad day.
AntarcticPilot
Well-Known Member
That's the main issue. But proof that your nice bit of teak is either plantation grown OR that it is old enough to predate CITES regulations might be needed. There are woods that have been used in recent history (e.g. Afromosia) that are no longer allowed and are not plantation grown so if you've got some of that, you'd better be able to prove it was harvested before regulations came in.
KAM
Well-Known Member
The parts are made from reclaimed wood which was harvested in the 1930s. Proving provenance might be tricky as I stole it from a previous employer.
AntarcticPilot
Well-Known Member
Theoretically, it would be possible to use the tree rings to determine a harvesting date, if there's a big enough section. Dendrochronology is a well-established dating technique!
Graham376
Well-Known Member
You haven't said if these items will fit in a hold case. If they will and you arrive looking like a tourist, no-one is going to search suitcases.