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Canada Customs woes with Kei class vehicles?

Discussion in 'General Truck Info' started by Suzuki Kei, Jun 16, 2015.

  1. Suzuki Kei

    Suzuki Kei New Member

    I have a Suzuki kei car inbound from Japan currently to Vancouver. I've imported full sized vehicles before but never a Kei car/truck.

    I received copies of all the paperwork from my exporter and forwarded them to my broker whom I've used many times before. This is where I get bad news.

    On the Export Certificate for kei vehicles, under "First Grant Date" there is no month listed. This however I found is perfectly normal for Kei cars not to have a month, unlike a export certificate for a full sized vehicle where there is a month listed. I've attached a photo that shows a Kei Export certificate (top) vs a full size car export certificate (bottom).

    My broker tells me one of the customs officers that does the releases for Brokers is "strict" and will possibly reject the car because there is no month listed. This is in Vancouver. Supposedly it's not a known issue on the East (Halifax etc). I've asked a couple guys on the east that have Kei's and they got theirs cleared fine, again no month listed on the export certificate.

    I ask around and the consensus seems to be I should head to Vancouver and clear the vehicle with customs myself so the paper work gets done by a front counter customs officer instead.

    There are keis that arrive in Vancouver all the time and they seem to clear no problem.

    Anyone clear one in Vancouver recently? Broker or self-cleared? Any insight?

    Thanks!
     

    Attached Files:

    Last edited: Jun 16, 2015
  2. ttc

    ttc Active Member

    my wife self brokered our hijet just a couple weeks ago but this was on the east coast and the customs lady she worked with was super nice and it all went fairly smoothly she even called us very early in the morning once the soil inspection was done so we could get the truck out of the port as the port closes at noon. My wife actually felt what the broker does is not much at all. The biggest pain was to fax the soil inspection request to Montreal as our new printer isnt as useful and we ended up using a online fax service for a couple dollars. She did the paperwork/ running around tuesday. Our tuck landed wednesday afternoon and we got it out of the port on friday. Good luck with your plight as it seems someone in an office is on a campain to stop people importing. damn sometimes people cant thing outside the box at all. if the truck is a 99 or older who the hell cares about the build month as it clearly falls into the 15 year restriction.
     
  3. Suzuki Kei

    Suzuki Kei New Member

    Yes I believe your wife is on another forum I frequent.

    I am getting help from the same exporter that sent your HiJet to try and help me out with this matter.

    My broker (being very popular on the west coast) has never brokered a Kei/Minitruck before it seems. Not very reassuring for me to use him at this moment, lol.
     
  4. Dave in Japan

    Dave in Japan Member

    It that certificate you posted for your truck? Is the truck a 1999?


    If it’s a 1999 the customs officer can quibble and say that if it was made after this month (June, 1999 now) then it could be a few months less than 15 years old. Quibble, quibble.


    Have you got your chassis number? Maybe I can get it to come up on a date checker that will confirm the truck was made over 15 years ago.


    Just pm me at dave@japancardirect.com


    Cheers,


    Dave
     
  5. Dave in Japan

    Dave in Japan Member

    Hi again Suzuki Kei,

    I can't count. Yeah, if your truck is a 1999 it should, of course, clear the 15 year rule.

    Cheers,

    Dave
     
  6. rst277

    rst277 Member

    The month is irrelevant as long as it is a 1999. I just "quarterbacked" a container of 6 trucks, four of them 99s and no issue at all. If it is a 2000 and there is no month then you are screwed but your importer should have warned you of that. Let us know how it turns out. Ralph in Winnipeg
     
  7. mtslesse

    mtslesse New Member

    How did it turn out for you Suzuki Kei? Hope everything turned out right!!!
     

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