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Canadian custom value
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29 posts in this topic

  • Administrator

****THIS INFORMATION WILL SAVE ALL CANADIAN CUSTOMERS FROM PAYING CUSTOMS ANY FEES (AS PER CANADIAN CUSTOMS)*********

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As a Canadian submitter to CGC the burden of proof that the books came from Canada falls to you. The best way to prevent this being called into question is to visit your local customs office before shipping your submission and explain your intentions for these comics, that they are yours and are being sent to the US for evaluation only. They will provide you with a form that should accompany your comic submission and when the books are returned with this form the package will not be called into question. If we are to receive a Canadian submission without this form we will send back the books with any claim stickers that were affixed to the original box. This has sometimes worked as proof that the books came from Canada. The value that we will declare on the package is the amount paid for the grading of the books and they will be noted as "Canadian goods being returned, shipped to US for evaluation only."

Edited by Gemma
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I live in Canada and don't have a customs office nearby. I've spoken to two different customs offices via 1800 #'s and they are confused as to what form they should provide me. Can you actually identify the form? Is it the export form?

 

Thanks

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  • Administrator

To the best of my knowledge you need the document for temporary exportation. The copy I have seen is a green card-like document. If you find that there is a different document that is preferred by customs, please let me know.

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The green card is either called a Y-38 (pretty sure) or Y-98 (not so sure) temporary export form. You will need to article your export on the card (you can only list 10 items... if you send more, you need to list on a separate sheet of paper and they will code that sheet with a serial number). Unfortunately, I think a customs official needs to confirm what you write on the card. You can have one do this at the nearest international airport.

 

Otherwise, when sending to CGC fill out the customs declaration sheet Canada Post gives you to send in as much detail as possible. When CGC returns, if they include this as evidence Canada was the country of origin for the books you should have no problems. This has worked for me every time.

 

 

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I looked into this previously (i live in Toronto). When speaking to the Customs office, they said you only need one of those forms when you take the items across the border yourself. For example, you're driving across the border to visit Seattle and have a really nice digital camera; you'd stop into the Customs office at the border, get a form so that they don't try to ding you in customs coming back.

 

What you should do (and I've done this in past sending books to CGC) is through your courier on their Customs Declaration, declare "Canadian goods being returned, shipped to US for grading purposes only". I confirmed with the local Customs office this is the only way it can be done when shipping it across the border, not taking it across yourself.

 

HTH.

 

K.

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What I have done in the past if you are paranoid like me is to do the following:

 

Scan the book/s you are sending down to the USA.

On the back of the scan write something like:

 

"This book is being sent to the USA for grading purposed only. They will be returned to canada by "DATE". the books will be let back into canada at the discretion of a CBSA office"

 

Bring the copy and the book to your local CBSA office (at any airport and get them to stamp the copy with a customs stamp. Enclose the copy with your books and send. This should eliminate any concerns over taxes etc ...

 

Worked for me with some big books before...

 

T

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I live in Canada and don't have a customs office nearby. I've spoken to two different customs offices via 1800 #'s and they are confused as to what form they should provide me. Can you actually identify the form? Is it the export form?

 

Thanks

 

It's called a commercial invoice and every major shipping company, including Canada Post has their own.

 

You basically fill it out with your shipping and contact info, CGC's shipping and contact info, and a description of what is inside.

 

The form is attached to your package. You keep one copy, the shipping company will keep one copy and CGC receives and returns a copy of the same invoice when your books are sent back to you.

 

I've literally shipped 100's of packages to CGC and never had a problem.

 

The odd time that I have forgotten to add the commercial invoice I was simply charged a small ($15 or so) customs fees.

 

Hope this helps.

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I live in Canada and don't have a customs office nearby. I've spoken to two different customs offices via 1800 #'s and they are confused as to what form they should provide me. Can you actually identify the form? Is it the export form?

 

Thanks

 

It's called a commercial invoice and every major shipping company, including Canada Post has their own.

 

You basically fill it out with your shipping and contact info, CGC's shipping and contact info, and a description of what is inside.

 

The form is attached to your package. You keep one copy, the shipping company will keep one copy and CGC receives and returns a copy of the same invoice when your books are sent back to you.

 

I've literally shipped 100's of packages to CGC and never had a problem.

 

The odd time that I have forgotten to add the commercial invoice I was simply charged a small ($15 or so) customs fees.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Roy, If you can point me in the direction of Canada Post's Commercial Invoice, I'd sure appreciate it. I've looked on their website and I can't find one anywhere. Today I visited two postal outlets, one run in a Shoppers Drug Mart store (with knowledgable staff, I might add) and also the main Canada Post depot in my city. Clerks in both locations had no idea, and both claimed Canada Post had no such forms. If you've got some, please advise me where I might get one. Many thanks. -- Chris

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I just joined CGC and dropped my first 20 books off at the CGC booth during the Toronto ComicCon. I asked the person at the booth about these customs forms that I read about in this thread. They told me that they handle all this since they now ship returned books via FedEx instead of registered mail.

I plan to ship out some more books direct myself. Have things changed or should I alow for the custom forms that are discussed here?

New to this any advice would be great!!!

Thanks!!

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  • Administrator

There shouldn't be any undue custom fees as we ship using Fed Ex Priority and most of the fees are supposed to be built into that cost, but it may be a helpful additional step if you want to include the form along with your comics for the return shipment. It would be best to consult with your local Customs office to find out your best course of action in this situation.

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My apologies if I'm stepping on some toes Gemma.

 

So long as CGC marks the package as Canadian Goods returned then there are no customs fees. If they fail to do this you may be contacted by FedEx and can offer that explanation along with proof of shipment. If you get charged duty then you can fill out the attached paperwork and submitting to the government with the same explanation.

 

What FedEx Priority has built into the cost is the brokerage charge. Personally I ship via FedEx ground which does not have that cost built in. I get a separate charge for usually about $20 to cover brokerage. I do not get charged duty.

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OK, so I spent some time reviewing this process with my good friends at the Canada Customs office.

 

The form you will need is an E15.

Here is a link to it on the CBSA Website: PDF of Form E15

I was told that a lot of the fields do not apply to me, for the purpose of shipping items for evaluation. So just fill out what you can.

 

Then a customs officer has to Stamp it and fill in some additional details on the form.

 

When your product is coming back, it is best to note on the outside of the box, or customs paperwork "Canadian Goods Returned, E15 Attached" and then have a copy of the E15 in a pouch on the outside of the box.

 

If they see that, he said they pretty much wave it right through.

If you have the E15 inside the box, then they have to open the box and look for it.

 

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Not quite in the right area, but roughly how much to ship back to Canada?

 

Does CGC "choose" the service to ship back to Canada? Sorry, I have subbed through a local retailer but thinking of getting a membership to sub myself and just want to have an idea of the costs for having the books sent back...Thanks!

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Got a question in regart on the E15 form. On this form - question #6 said " Currency used for delcared value" - does that mean I have to put in the value of my comic books in there?

 

Thank you.

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Hello,

Question for Canadians - Does anyone have any experience with insuring comics that are returned by CGC? It appears that FedEx has a $100 limit and my comics would be worth more than that. I can't find any info on this. Thanks in advance.

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