Feel import laws in your country are unfair ? Read this

[Carlo Giuseppe Tacchini]

Posted in the hope it can be refreshing to the ones that feels to import NihonTo in their country is hard.

 

I've been asked to find a cheap Fuchi with the right dimensions for a friend of mine.

It costs 22,5 USD, is just a small piece of rounded metal with no artistical value BUT

it's labeled (correctly) by the seller as Japanese SWORD PART

Really too much for the italian custom, weaponry department, that have blocked it for a

week at the border before contacting me and requires import fees plus the hereunder declaration,

plus the copy of the payment, plus the copy of my collector's permission (not mentioned in the

document but I know that they would ask it later for the age of the item).

For a single, cheap Fuchi of no importance in small package.

 

Guess that at the end it'll cost more in custom fees then tag price.

 

[Guest reinhard]

My advice to all of you: Avoid terms like sword, blade, weapon, samurai and the like. Tell your sellers to declare them as Japanese wall ornaments and use the correct terms. People at the custom usually don't know what a Tanto, a Wakizashi or a Fuchi is.

 

reinhard

[Marius]

Dear Carlo,

 

I have always thought that Polish bureaucracy was one of the worst in Europe. I am so sorry to see that Italians share at least the same or even worse problems.

 

Customs serve nobody, just customs officers and their bosses in some ministry. Let us opt for free trade. Not only for nihonto.

[Stephen]

I always use Japanese Nihonto daito ect...they dont know squat from nihonto terms....never use sword.

[John A Stuart]

It is not surprising. Lower echelon enforcers for the bureaucracy are bred for making life difficult for the hoi polloi. They haven't the wit to overcome their programming. John

[Walter]

....It costs 22,5 USD, is just a small piece of rounded metal with no artistical value BUT

it's labeled (correctly) by the seller as Japanese SWORD PART

Carlo,

Even with my poor Italian I can see that the description of item is "handle decoration of Japanese sword" ... What a morons!

For sure, the "spada" (sword) is the keyword triggering all possible alarms in their tide heads.

They may feel much more important catching "such dangerous" item!

 

That reminds me an old movie with Toto and his troubles with some dumb, however "very important" Customs officer...

[Goldy]

I learned my lesson at the airport - travelling with a wooden bokken. When asked what it was I replied "A bokken, its a wooden sword", what an idiot. The check in guy eventually let it go with the checked bags after his inspection (and consultations with about three levels of management). Its a wonder I made my flight. On the way home when asked, I called it "a piece of polished red wood". "No worries, have a nice flight sir".

[IanB]

Carlo and All, To think all of this neurosis around the world started, if memory serves, in Victoria, Australia where someone was killed with what the authorities thought might have been a Japanese sword. It's as though the rest were waiting for an excuse to apply yet further restrictions on us all.

Ian

[Goldy]

Yep, the neurotic do-gooders here in Oz will be banning steps and low hanging clothes lines any day now when they should be banning kitchen knives and those little spikey things you are supposed to use to hold corn cobs when eating...

 

Just before hell freezes there will be a day when authorities will listen to hands-on experts, the bleeding heart society will choke on their own words and a politician will do whats right...Don't hold your breath.

[Carlo Giuseppe Tacchini]

Guess that common sense is definitively lost in many parts of the world... :lol:

[lockesboy]

Im concerned about all of this, but not surprised, the world is slowly going nuts, I was thinking about bringing back 3 Japanese swords back into the UK this year but now I am having 2nd thoughts, I dont want to lose my swords which have been handed down to me and have been in our family for decades, Im honest, law abiding and would never even dream of using them in a violent way, Id rather get my gun if you want the truth, Im being penalised by my own goverment because of certain idiots with cheap chinese swords that cost 30 quid on ebay. What can you do legally in the UK, if you wanted to sell, say a WW2 shingunto for example, according to the law you cant do much with it because it is less than 100 years old, theres a big difference between a 65 year old sword and a new crap chinese one costing 20-60 quid. If I wanted to sell, I dont, but if I did then I would be breaking the law. Just my thoughts, what a crazy world we live in.

 

Ian.

[paulb]

Ian,

I am sorry but I think you are wrong. The defenses outlined in the amendment effectively offer exemptions for all Japanese swords made prior to 1954. This includes military swords as well as traditionally made blades. It was to protect collectors of Gunto that this defence was included. Therefore it is not illegal to import or sell military swords made before 1954.

The problem comes when the Police or Customs officials get involved as they have recieved no guidance from the government and couldnt tell the difference between a pre 1954 blade and a chinese fake.

Hopefully this will improve as they become more familiar with the new laws and what is and isnt exempt. Also there are efforts being made to help officials.

[lockesboy]

Ian,

I am sorry but I think you are wrong. The defenses outlined in the amendment effectively offer exemptions for all Japanese swords made prior to 1954. This includes military swords as well as traditionally made blades. It was to protect collectors of Gunto that this defence was included. Therefore it is not illegal to import or sell military swords made before 1954.

The problem comes when the Police or Customs officials get involved as they have recieved no guidance from the government and couldnt tell the difference between a pre 1954 blade and a chinese fake.

Hopefully this will improve as they become more familiar with the new laws and what is and isnt exempt. Also there are efforts being made to help officials.

 

Hi Paul,

You might be right and probably are, I have to confess that I have not read the Goverment papers on this, but have only read what has been in the newspapers and television, I list an example of that below from the BBC.

 

Best regards,

 

Ian.

[lockesboy]

OOPS uplink didnt work on the BBC report mentioned above, have tried again but does not seem to be working, sorry, anyway in the BBC report it says only swords over 100 years old are exempt.

Ian.

[paulb]

Hui Ian,

wouldnt be surprised if the BBC got it wrong. They have done so far on everything to do with the subject. Every blade attack they have reported in the past 3-4 years has quoted a "Samurai Sword" as the weapon used when in reality everything from machetes to iron bars were the real weapon.

Though I hate to say it the BBC are becoming as accurate as The Sun newspaper when it comes to not letting the truth get in the way of a good story!!

[Carlo Giuseppe Tacchini]

As regards the description of the goods, if at the border my package get X-rayed and they see there is

a sword inside, for default it get confiscated by the police, no matter what the description says.

And to free it would be an *Imperial pain in the back* with possible legal implications

that might result in the deletion of my Collector's permission or even worse.

[Carlo Giuseppe Tacchini]

That reminds me an old movie with Toto and his troubles with some dumb, however "very important" Customs officer...

 

You like "Principe Antonio De Curtis" ?

 

Yeah. Italy in many things is still how he described it, even today.

[Walter]

You like "Principe Antonio De Curtis" ?

Yeah. Italy in many things is still how he described it, even today.

Sure! Toto was always my favorite.

[Bugyotsuji]

Yes, I think we have to use our creative imagination for customs until they get trained properly. No need to shoot yourself in the foot with extra zealous wordage.

 

I brought a fairly large telescope back to Japan from the UK as hand carry-on baggage and bubble-wrapped it and labelled it TELESCOPE all over. No-one thought to check it in any way. If I had written BAZOOKA on it, I am sure it would have been ripped open at once.

 

The correct use of the Japanese terms is good. There also seems to be a difference according to which shipping system you use. Without going into detail on this public site, wrapping stacked opposed items to distort the silhouette may help too.