-----Original Message-----
From: CANTABENE@xxxxxxx <CANTABENE@xxxxxxx>
To: olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Thursday, May 06, 1999 4:08 PM
Subject: [OM] Customs: A Tale of Two Cities
>I had two interesting experiences with customs some years ago when I was a
>fulltime professional photog. One was in Canada, the other in Franco
Spain.
>
>I had crossed into Canada on an assignment for an American firm with an
>operation there. When the customs man saw my four Nikon F2s and lenses,
he
>requested import duties of over $2000. Taken aback I made a mild protest.
He
> told me I had three options. 1. Turn around and go home.
>2. Pay the $2000. 3, enter without paying anything but leave the cameras
>with him. I left the cameras there there and went on to see my client.
>From the point of view of the customs officer, what assurance did he have or
could have had that all the equipment was going to leave the country along
with yourself when the assignment was completed? When I have been across the
border south of Vancouver the US Customs people get very inquisitive about
whether one is going to leave anything stateside, whether visits are for
business or pleasure, and whether we are carrying anything of significant
value. Canada does not have a monopoly on diligent customs' officers!
jh
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