Importing from a private seller in Europe

[kizzle]

Hey guys, I am looking at buying a RIF from Europe from a private seller, but I have no UKARA number. But I do have a site membership and could provide booking confirmations as a defence. Can I expect it to be more hassle than it is worth getting it into the country? I really don't want to be breaking the law. 

 

[Guest]

There is a ton of info in the legal section bud. 

You need a legal defense to import a RIF, whether or not it’s a private seller.

There are a plethora of legal defences, all of which are untested in law, including UKARA

rdb

 

[Tommikka]

When buying in the UK the seller is responsible in being confident that the buyer had a valid ‘defence’ under the VCRA, whether they are a retailer or private seller

When importing into the UK the importer (buyer) is responsible in ensuring they have a valid ‘defence’ under the VCRA

HMRC/the carrier will observe incoming packages based on their import declaration, the location it came from and how it looks or potentially x-rays.  If they know it’s a RIF (from actually looking), or if they suspect it may be a RIF (Declaration, X-ray or sender) then they send out a letter asking if it’s a RIF and if you have a Defence  - they may accept your documenting site membership —— that’s pretty much what the VCRA requires 

Fail to convince then they may send it back or destroy it, the seller has no obligation to refund, but an international retailer will typically give a part refund less a restocking fee, a private seller will have no obligation

 

[MisterG]

I think without UKARA you are at the mercy of which ever custom's officer is given your case to review, assuming they check it and not some temp at RM.  If they understand the law and you have a good alternate defence, then you should be ok, but if not .....  probably sent back or the crusher.

Is it something very rare you can't get in the UK?

Cheers

G

 

[kizzle]

I think without UKARA you are at the mercy of which ever custom's officer is given your case to review, assuming they check it and not some temp at RM.  If they understand the law and you have a good alternate defence, then you should be ok, but if not .....  probably sent back or the crusher.

Is it something very rare you can't get in the UK?

Cheers

G

Yeah, a GHK AK74M which I can't seem to find anywhere.

 

[ak2m4]

I think without UKARA you are at the mercy of which ever custom's officer is given your case to review, assuming they check it and not some temp at RM.  If they understand the law and you have a good alternate defence, then you should be ok, but if not .....  probably sent back or the crusher.

Do UK customs still have access to the UKARA DB?  Did they ever?  I remember hearing rumours back in the day but whenever I spoke to anyone at the main Parcel Force / UK customs international hub no-one ever heard of it.  

 

[Rogerborg]

Do UK customs still have access to the UKARA DB?

Notionally, the Home Office in the form of Border Force is responsible for stopping RIFs getting into the country.

When someone who definitely wasn't me recently FOI'd them and asked how many UKARA checks they performed last year, the tl;dr answer was "Dunno, we don't have records of investigations, despite being a department obsessed with record keeping."

Someone who was more cynical than me might wonder if a more honest answer would have been "Whatchyu talkin' 'bout?"

 

[ak2m4]

When someone who definitely wasn't me recently FOI'd them and asked how many UKARA checks they performed last year, the tl;dr answer was "Dunno, we don't have records of investigations, despite being a department obsessed with record keeping."

Wow, darn interesting.  So potential urban myth like the TV detector van.   Plus why would the database be made available to Border Force, definitely not in the interests of the stores who maintain it and does it violate any breach of information legislation, who knows....

 

[Tommikka]

Wow, darn interesting.  So potential urban myth like the TV detector van.   Plus why would the database be made available to Border Force, definitely not in the interests of the stores who maintain it and does it violate any breach of information legislation, who knows....

Providing UKARA validation to Border Force (and retailers, private sellers etc) is not a breach of either the old Data Proection Act or GDPR.

Those fall within the purpose of the data collected in the first place

Its covered in their privacy statement 

http://www.ukara.org.uk/

 

[Rogerborg]

The system can also be accessed on an individual look up basis by the UK Boarder [sic] Agency to allow player imports of RiFs & 24/7 Intelligence department, Hampshire Police also in reference to imports.

But ak2m4's point is this:

Why would a scheme set up by and for UK retailers do a damn thing to assist the import of RIFs from foreign retailers?  What possible benefit is there to the people paying for it?  It's actively harming their business.

If I were running it, I'd be minded to can that provision and tell Border Force that, so sorry, that's just not our concern.  If I were a retailer paying £300+ a year towards it, I'm fairly sure I'd be making that argument.

Aside, the DPA 2018 removed the subject access fee for (reasonable) requests for a copy our own data.  So any of us can request our own UKARA registration data, and they are obliged to provide it.

 

[Shogun666]

I got a rif from a place in San Marino and it got here no problem,