RIF Import - Declaration Template

I`ve given Parcelforce 48 hours to give me a delivery time, I don`t care if UKBA has it. If they don`t respond then I`ll try and claim the dosh back through Paypal.

edit:

the letter they sent me either last Monday or prior to that has still not left their building and in due course it will but unknown when that will be

Maybe they can`t afford the stamp
What a bunch of tossers. The way government organisations are run, it`s like this country has rolled back to the 1970`s.

One problem is paypal is wrapped up with eBay and have a sort of anti-gun policy even with airsoft guns.

If a lot of this happens and they lose money steps may be taken to stop airsoft sales with paypal.

Not that I know how they would do it just a thought how stuff backfires on us over stuff like this.

I am tempted to contact customs again today and tell them if I don't get some form of direct contact from the UKBA by this Friday I will be reporting this as a crime of postal theft. As to how I report it I don't know one action is as you say to paypal.

It just can't take 22 days to send me a letter or at least it shouldn't!

Exactly!

I have an UKARA no. And the b...lighters seized my rifle on the 5/5/13 finally received it yesterday with a £12 handling fee for good measure :/

But on a brighter note my new gun is epic!

Just assume they're shit and you won't be disappointed

You should charge them a rental fee for having it so long

Just phoned customs helpline and they reckon I`m not on the ukara database, so I gave them my number and expiry date. Lady is going to ring me tomorrow hopefully with an update. The phrase 'Couldn`t organise a shag in a brothel' springs to mind.
As an afterthought, are ukara having problems ? or are they playing silly buggers with memberships ?
Has anyone had a problem with AFRA when customs are involved ?

Just phoned customs helpline and they reckon I`m not on the ukara database, so I gave them my number and expiry date. Lady is going to ring me tomorrow hopefully with an update. The phrase 'Couldn`t organise a shag in a brothel' springs to mind.
As an afterthought, are ukara having problems ? or are they playing silly buggers with memberships ?
Has anyone had a problem with AFRA when customs are involved ?

Yes mate I am AFRA and they keep looking me up on UKARA and I have had 3 automated emails to say so that my membership expired in 2009. I have told them all repeatedly that it only takes 5 minutes to ring AFRA or send them an email not one month.

As I have shown it's easier to get a live firearm through the post from the USA than an airsoft from China at the moment.

The email to complaints works, I sent in a scan of both sides of my AFRA card with a letter explaining stuff as in the posting above.
UKBA sent me 2 letters I got today saying I had to provide them with a copy of PLI insurance by the 15th in 10 days or they would dispose of the items.

Anyway a nice lady by the name of Sarah contacted AFRA today by email and got it all sorted out just like could of happened near a month ago.

Thanks AFRA for sorting this out quick once contacted

well done. It really seems to boil down to who you speak too. Still thankfully it worked out in the end.

Received a letter from the Border Force in the post today, asking for my defence details and an invoice showing the value of the goods. Have completed it and will send it off tomorrow.
I have got a direct number to call and an email address on the correspondence so I`ll post it here for anyone who may need it....

Border Force
Post Detection Team
Coventry International Hub
Siskin Parkway West
Middlemarch Business Park
Coventry
CV3 4HX

(No public counter unfortunately)

Tel: 02476 212857 (lines open Mon-Fri 0830-1630 hrs)
email: postal.seizures@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk

Got them this morning.

Perhaps it was the small writing on the box
-- attachment is not available --

-- attachment is not available --

Not much AFRA can do if they dont call.
Bryn was on the case as soon as he was contacted.
It is the holiday season but this takes the mick.

I`m still waiting for mine to turn up. Be interesting to see if Cop9gun wrote the ukara number on the box, seeing as UKBA first stated that I wasn`t registered, then I gave my number twice, once on the phone and then again in the letter. If it`s written on the box then someone at UKBA is taking the piss.

Excellent that they arrived OK in the end. Might be best to put the AFRA website URL on stuff in future, with my email address instead of that number. My phone blocks calls from anonymous numbers, so they might not get through

Considering the hassle that can occur even with a UKARA number there really isn't much of a difference between that and providing a site membership and contact details, or even something like a set of evidence photographs.

At the end of the day it's up to the person with the rubber stamp what they consider as "valid proof of defence".

I guess having as many possible channels of evidence put on the package is the way to go and just another thing to factor into the importing process along with duty, tax and so on.

providing a site membership and contact details, or even something like a set of evidence photographs.

Are they accepted as a defence or exclusion under the VCRA?

While they are evidence of a defence I imagine that if straight forward UKARA or AFRA membership is a challenge to the Border Agency personnel then you are onto a loser with evidence that requires some thought or legwork! Make it simple for them initially, use backup evidence if disputes are edging towards destruction or if you are in court.

Yeah whatever means less hassle for the Border Agency the better, though at least having a little folder of more direct evidence to hand just incase isn't a bad thing.

When it comes to buying airsoft guns from shops, or indeed second hand, already in the UK then it is totally up to the seller what they accept as proof of defence, some might swear only by UKARA, some might accept any actual evidence if you have a chat with them, so having a UKARA number as well as other proof covers all bases.

Personally I would feel more comfortable with an independent airsoft players register, perhaps built upon the UK Airsoft Players Union, this would seem to be more akin to AFRA membership compared to UKARAs "by retailers to protect retailers" set up.

All a bit post hoc though?
VCRA has been around for years and only UKARA stood up for the interests of airsoft.
Quite right that they should protect their interests isnt it? If they sell to no qualifying people it is the seller who commits the offense. They as the seller needs to know who meets the requirements.
To get another body recognised would require a lot, a whole lot, of work and expense. Governments dont like change, civil servants less so.
How would you determine who is legit?

The time that I didn't get any hassle with a parcel that contained airsoft guns was when I sent the supplier scans of both sides of my AFRA card which they printed onto an A4 sheet and attached it to the parcel, I'd placed the order a few days before christmas expecting to have to wait until the new year for it to arrive and it was ready to collect from the local parcelforce depot within 4 days of placing the order so I had them in time for christmas

In the end I sent UKBA a scan of both sides of my AFRA card this time but if I had done it in the past you would not have seen any photo on them as it had degraded so severely it could have been anyone.

I also dislike having a copy of my card's both sides bouncing about in the world mail, it just feels to me that it could be copied or the info used in some way

This year’s card I have kept in the plastic sleeve it came in and the ink hasn't transferred off the card in the heat of my wallet.

I take care of who has access to my cards and photos these days as I once had my Fire Arm Certificate stolen in the post.