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Sending Sword To Australia


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Yes Jim P - BUT NOT TO IMPORT ONE...

 

Ahhhh, the stupid, stupid, stupid b'luddy sword laws in Victoria!!  In my experience anyone can import a Nihonto - or any sword - into Victoria and no one checks the importer's legal status.  No one.  The sword laws in Victoria are STATE legislation and apply only to the State of Victoria in Australia - NO OTHER State in Australia has been stupid enough to enact such laws.  The only law pertaining to importing swords into Australia in general (and Victoria) is Federal law administered by Australian Border Force (previously known as Customs...) where the value of the import attracts GST (Goods and Services Tax).  Up to the present time this GST has been levied on goods declared as over AUD $1,000 in value.  One pays the tax and that is all there is to it.  The sword then comes to your address.  There is NO OTHER check as to your legal status to possess a sword in Victoria as it is not required anywhere else in this great country of ours.  The onus is on the importer to be "a good guy" and read his crystal ball to know that in order to simply possess a sword (not import one!!!!) he or she has to have membership of an approved exempt organisation, of which there are quite a number from Tai Chi, Scottish sword dancing, Re-enactment groups, Freemasons and the like and so on and so on.  The list is extensive.

 

EDIT 1: Having attended to the Tax issue one then picks up the sword from the Post Office or as delivered by the courier service (FedEx or whomsoever) with no other issues or difficulties.

 

I could write another paragraph about the split of jurisdiction between the Police and the Justice Department over the requirements of The Sword Laws.  Its an extraordinarily and entirely lamentable - and laughable - state of affairs in the legal and parliamentary processes that created this truly historically and culturally ignorant law.

 

Any Victorian resident requiring advice can PM me for discussion and advice (I have already received one such PM).

 

Best regards,

 

EDIT 2:  To answer Maximillian's question - just ship it to the buyer's address as one would normally do and declare the full value of the goods.  The GST is 10% of value including postage and insurance AND Australian Border Force charges the importer an AUD $95 processing fee...

 

BaZZa

(aka Barry Thomas)

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You know I don't recall ever having to pay the import tax, generally the value is understated as a precautionary measure against the more unscrupulous members of the postal services.

 

Quite correct, however

 

a) If you are unlucky, you will encounter a customs officer who knows their stuff, and will impound it on the proviso that it will be sent out, without import tax or handling fees, if you can provide the proof of purchase being under the $1000 threshold

b) Legislation is now in the works to lower, or even eliminate, said duty-free threshold

 

That said, there is no penalty for hitting scenario a) as if you are "caught out" you can simply state that the sender mislabeled the actual value without your input (which is something that has actually happened to me - the importer lowered the value of their own accord, but the lowered value was still above the duty threshold!)

 

There is one other thing to be careful of - concealed weapons (such as sword canes and mounted kogatana) face stricter import laws than regular weapons and may fall afoul of the customs check - again, depending on who checks the item. Just to be safe, I typically ask if the kozuka/kogatana can be sent separately to the main koshirae, at which point it becomes a "letter opener" and comes through with no problem at all :)

 

Aside from that, Bazza is spot-on - the government's only real concern regarding swords (and other large traditional weapons) is collecting their duty rather than stopping them from coming in. Anecdotally, in my state (WA) the only real consequence of a healthy sword collection is having a reputation as a bit of a weirdo!

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Yes Jim P - BUT NOT TO IMPORT ONE...

 

Ahhhh, the stupid, stupid, stupid b'luddy sword laws in Victoria!!  In my experience anyone can import a Nihonto - or any sword - into Victoria and no one checks the importer's legal status.  No one.  The sword laws in Victoria are STATE legislation and apply only to the State of Victoria in Australia - NO OTHER State in Australia has been stupid enough to enact such laws.  The only law pertaining to importing swords into Australia in general (and Victoria) is Federal law administered by Australian Border Force (previously known as Customs...) where the value of the import attracts GST (Goods and Services Tax).  Up to the present time this GST has been levied on goods declared as over AUD $1,000 in value.  One pays the tax and that is all there is to it.  The sword then comes to your address.  There is NO OTHER check as to your legal status to possess a sword in Victoria as it is not required anywhere else in this great country of ours.  The onus is on the importer to be "a good guy" and read his crystal ball to know that in order to simply possess a sword (not import one!!!!) he or she has to have membership of an approved exempt organisation, of which there are quite a number from Tai Chi, Scottish sword dancing, Re-enactment groups, Freemasons and the like and so on and so on.  The list is extensive.

 

EDIT 1: Having attended to the Tax issue one then picks up the sword from the Post Office or as delivered by the courier service (FedEx or whomsoever) with no other issues or difficulties.

 

I could write another paragraph about the split of jurisdiction between the Police and the Justice Department over the requirements of The Sword Laws.  Its an extraordinarily and entirely lamentable - and laughable - state of affairs in the legal and parliamentary processes that created this truly historically and culturally ignorant law.

 

Any Victorian resident requiring advice can PM me for discussion and advice (I have already received one such PM).

 

Best regards,

 

EDIT 2:  To answer Maximillian's question - just ship it to the buyer's address as one would normally do and declare the full value of the goods.  The GST is 10% of value including postage and insurance AND Australian Border Force charges the importer an AUD $95 processing fee...

 

BaZZa

(aka Barry Thomas)

Thank you Barry.

I have someone interested in purchasing a sword from me who lives in Melbourne.

So he was asking me if I could send it to him.

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