Lareon

Once this appeal is finished I'll write a whole thing explaining what I've found out. There's been a lot of back and forth since the last update with borderforce.ill include why the items are seized and what sort of thing they will accept as evidence etc. I just want to make sure everything goes through ok before I write it all. But since you ask. Simply the previous import being seized led to the second seizure from what I gather. An npsu officer told me once you have one seizure most likely all your packages will be checked and under much stricter scrutiny. I've not received communication about the second seizure over the initial letter. I contacted them today to enquire about it and they have an internal deadline to get back to me mid June......

A quick update for all. The process for the first seizure has moved on to the appeals process on border force's decision. This is a much better system and lets you speak to someone with a name for the first time. Basically it is my belief up until this point nothing I could of done would have affected the outcome. Now that I can have a dialogue with someone, things are progressing. I'm still in the middle of this process so I will leave out any information or inferences from it until after I've had a result but I've found some interesting information out that will most likely help people in the future. As a side note I've contacted A curator of Asian Art and had them write me a letter about the items from a place of authority. I would of done this in the UK but I did it from America as it has more weight due to being where the items were sold. (odd I know) This should be enough to swing the balance in my favor but as with everything so far. we will see. By the way, I had to prove I was a member of To-Ken with bank invoices and the date I joined. Like I said I will write a proper update when I get my decision which I'm hoping will be favorable if not then It will go to tribunal. Then I have to decide whether to continue with the court case as this is a separate matter.

The defences that already exist under section 141 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 also apply to their simple possession. This includes that the weapon in question is: of historical importance to be used for historical re-enactments to be used for sporting activities for use in film and theatre possessed on behalf of a museum or gallery, or lent or hired by a museum or gallery for cultural, artistic or educational purposes possessed for religious reasons Antique weapons, over 100 years old, are exempted from section 141 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988[footnote 18]. This exemption now also applies to the offence of possessing such antique weapons. There is also an exemption for swords with curved blades of 50cm or longer made before 1954 or those made at any time by traditional methods by hand. Swords with a curved blade of 50cm or more may be imported where the weapon: was made before 1954 was made by traditional methods of making swords by hand is only available for the purposes of use in religious ceremonies or for martial arts is for use in a historical re-enactments or sporting activity for example a martial arts demonstration for which public liability insurance is held this is an extract from the offensive weapons act What seems to me to be the issue is they are following this first section which are valid reasons to import an offensive weapons (section 141) What they are not doing is following the second section which makes the items exempt from section 141 and makes simple possession legal. the minimum proof needed is one of these poitns as stated here. the easiest is that the items were made before 1954. well they are ww2 gunto one with the surrender tag still on. all this has been told to them with reference photos from books etc so they easily meet this case. since the war was well over by 1954 in Japan. They are traditionally made, i did my best to provide proof on this but it is a harder case to make of course. one of them is over 100 years old which i proved by comparing signatures with reference, the age also means it has to be traditionally made. because that's the definition of traditionally made... maybe by the end of this they will both be over 100 years old :p (I provided many pages of information, this is just a summary)

I received the letter today and am still going over it and thinking about my next step They have offered the chance to appeal the decision so I will be thinking about what to include in that. Originally I supplied a large swathe of documentation even references from books when they were first seized to prove the age and that they are traditional etc, this was quite detailed information! they even say they have looked at this but then ask for further dates and proof they are traditional again. I said that I was a member of the To-ken society but they want more proof of this even though it is irrelevant and now asking for information that I have provided swords to them in the past???, I'm happy to provide what i can but i've provided a lot of information already so may have to go the certificate route as John has said. I guess I did show @Ian at the Birmingham arms fair my Gassan Handachi and Sent @paulb images of it last year to look at. will write that I guess but this is far outside the scope of the law and very invasive if you ask me. Not Sure why they even want this information it's not part of the law on importing the items. What I really can't seem to get across to them is that the items are legal to import and the argument they keep making is. It isn't a legal item then I need a valid reason to own it. They never have once refuted my evidence but only my reason for owning. These are two separate things as the law clearly states the exceptions and also there is no restriction on possession and ownership. I feel ....bullied

Update for everyone. Finally received a reply from borderforce on request for restoration of the items which has been declined. they stated that a private collection or collecting of swords is not a valid defence for importing swords based on Home Office policy..... Guess i'll email Igor or someone to write a letter confirming I am a member of To-Ken ? then appeal

Managed to speak to a borderforce offficer on the phone today who confirmed that after one seizure of items then items after that point will be under more scrutiny from border force and most likely will be stopped. so the black list idea is the case. wasn't a stretch of the imagination as I imagined that would be the issue No resolution as the guy on the phone has no power to do anything and since their phone line is only open for 1 hour a day just was told to wait for replies to the communication. The guy did say that he felt the system was broken and could be solved by a permit system. The second set of items were bought from a Japanese and korean art auction, I've sent a communication about it and will await and see. well stiff upper lip and we will see what happens!

Well I've Imported parcels with multiple blades in before, sometimes 3 or 4. I tend to get multiple as it's more cost effective in shipping. No issues until this happened. In fact many of my packages before have been Opened by borderforce and released. I know this because the packaging is opened and re sealed with borderforce packing tape. Ups didn't contact me this time. They have done before. But not always. Ups usually sails through. This time though it got seized instantly the minute it hit the UK. Was potentially unwise to import another package since the first issue was not resolved but since I'm not doing anything wrong and it is legal then it shouldn't have mattered. I also don't want to put my life on hold for a year while I await a court date. Sadly though the situation is a bit too much and I will have to now. The cost difference in the UK market compared to the USA is large. -- I went all-in this time with the description of the items. I included signature in Japanese and a translation into english. I included age. I included original invoice. A supplementary document that had the measurements of the blade and a description of each one. I included use case as a collector. I included my to-ken membership. They are all traditionally made blades of course. I have the correct tarrif codes. I included vat code I included a description of the tarrif code I was using. I chose ups because they have their own clearing even though it cost me £500 to ship and insure with them. Hopefully to avoid issues. Here we are though. I'm wondering even after this is dealt with by the court if I will have to repeat this process in the future over and over

Different Carrier, UPS and USA

Yes I'm really unsure what has gone wrong in this whole process and thought it was a one time stupid mistake on the part of border force. It seems to not be an isolated case so I'm unsure what has happened as i have imported many times before. I must be on some kind of blanket black list now...

Update for everyone. Well I tried to contact border force and resolve the issue outside of the court but that has been to no avail even with a ton of documentation and evidence they have not replied. Unfortunately I have had a second package seized with 4 items in, 3 traditional old blades and one mantetsu. Due to this I will most likely be stopping collecting in the manner I have been and only purchase from the UK. the total value of my seized packages now amounts to $10k I must be on some kind of list because I made sure everything was absolutely perfect with this one. I'm not really sure what else to say except I will update on the outcome of Both cases as I will also be pursuing this one too. Best of luck collecting everyone, I will still be lurking around but wont have anything new to show until the outcome of these cases as I wont be buying anything more for now.

There's a couple shown briefly in "empire of the sun" I don't have a screen capture though I just remember seeing them

Aha! Thank you for the link. This is the exact sword in question!

The blade is in rather poor condition but here are a few close ups

Hi all. I found a gunto that had a leather saya with this sticker attached. I was wondering what it said? Some kind of sticker from the military? My first thought was a shop sticker So far I have a few parts closed on Sunday Shin gunto first class exterior Paulownia wood. (I guess the saya) ishikawa prefecture ? sword army hall I don't have any other photos of it in afraid and I've already put it through Photoshop to straighten it out a little.

This was attached to the saya of the sword

Hi guys, I was wondering if anyone could give me a very rough age on what they think this could be. It's in real bad shape though

The heavy chain hanger for my Kai gunto.

I know this sword, it has a seki stamp on it but it's mounts aren't quite right, fuchi isn't a standard gunto fuchi. I didn't bother to translate the mei but it does have one, the mei has red rust in it if i remember but i can't remember much else

Nah I'm not getting legal representation, quite happy to do it myself and not nervous. Just indignant. I wrote a nice little essay that I sent to borderforce with a good selection of references, pictures, source material from books etc. Hammering the point home that it's legal to import. Still not sure why there can't be some more communication to sort this out without a court proceeding but fine. I'm guessing they won't drop it even with the evidence I sent and are going to waste everyone's time. The simple fact is, it is legal to import, it's provable on many fronts and it's easy to argue a case where you are right and have evidence on your side. I don't really expect to be awarded anything from the court but if I get something I'll spend it on importing another sword...

My black painted 95 for inclusion in the thread. Barely any damage to the paint

Yes black saya with a fair bit of paint loss suguha hamon. I'll take some photos later of it all. It passed hands quickly!

My badly treated mantetsu for you @Bruce Pennington Sadly someone's been chopping at things with it.

Cheers everyone, It's in now, I was being far too gentle with it!

Maybe i'm just being too gentle, i could not slot it through