I am currently working on a documentary that will be shooting over 6 countries. Earlier this week the Producer tasked me with finding information on Carnets, stressing how important this was. I agreed, telling her she could rely on me to find out what she needed, all the time thinking “WTF mate?!”
I have experience of shooting across a lot of international locations, but have not come across these pesky things before, and I’m guessing I’m not alone. Therefore I thought I would give an idiots guide to Carnets (myself being the idiot.)
Firstly, what are they? Well it turns out they are a sort of “merchandise passport”. A Carnet is an international customs document that allows you to temporarily import various types of good.
At this my old brain goes, hang on a second, aren’t we making a film here? Why am I worrying about importing merchandise? I’m not importing anything! But actually we are – merchandise in the shape of kit! Not only does this very vital equipment bump up your airfares with its gargantuan weight, but it is also now costing you custom charges! A Carnet facilitates you avoiding extensive custom procedures, and eliminates the payment of duties and value added tax, and the purchase of temporary import bonds. In short, they save time, effort and money, which in filmmaking is a blessing as films take a lot of effort, a lot of time, and there is hardly ever any money!
So what are the benefits of Carnets?
- May be used for unlimited exits and entries into the U.S. and foreign countries (Carnets are valid for one year),
- Are accepted in over 75 countries and territories,
- Eliminate value-added taxes (VAT), duties, and the posting of security normally required at the time of importation,
- Simplify customs procedures. Carnets allow a temporary exporter to use a single document for all customs transactions, make arrangements in advance, and at a predetermined cost,
- Facilitate re-entry into the U.S. by eliminating the need to register the goods with U.S. Customs at the time of departure.
We will be using a Carnet to cover our camera equipment, but if we had needed to import “Van Gogh Self-portraits, Ringling Brothers tigers, Cessna jets, Paul McCartney's band instruments, World Cup class yachts, satellites, human skulls, and the New York Philharmonic”, they too would have been covered!
With our documentary we are shooting in the developing world and it seems we need a Carnet to be able to shoot in the majority of the countries we are featuring – infact, you need a Carnet to shoot pretty much everywhere!
If you are filming in the EU and are an EU citizen, you do not need a Carnet as all 27 EU member states are grouped as one export country. However if you were leaving the UK/Ireland and heading to or from the mainland you would need a customs clearance form. You would however need a Carnet if you were going to shoot in Switzerland, Norway or several of the Eastern European countries as they are not members of the EU.
These are the Carnet demanders!
Algeria, Andorra, Antarctica, Aruba, Australia, Austria, Balearic Islands, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Botswana, Bulgaria, Canada, Canary Islands, Ceuta, Chile, China, Corsica, Cote D'Ivoire, Curacao Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Finland, Latvia, Reunion Island, France, Lebanon, Romania, French Guiana, Lesotho, Russia, Liechtenstein, Saipan, Germany, Lithuania, Senegal, Gibraltar, Luxembourg, Serbia, Greece. Singapore, Guadeloupe, Macao, Slovakia, Guam, Macedonia, Guernsey, Malaysia, Slovenia, Malta, South Africa, Hong Kong, Martinique, Spain, Hungary, Mauritius, Sri Lanka, Mayotte, St. Barthelemy, Iceland, Melilla, St. Martin, French side, Mexico, India, Miquelon, St. Pierre, Moldova, Iran, Monaco, Swaziland, Ireland, Mongolia, Sweden, Isle of Man, Montenegro, Switzerland, Israel, Morocco, Italy, Tahiti, Ivory Coast, Namibia, Taiwan*, Netherlands, Tasmania, Japan, New Caledonia, Thailand, Jersey, New Zealand, Tunisia, Denmark, Norway, Turkey, Korea, Estonia, Pakistan, Ukraine, U.A.Emirates, Poland, United Kingdom, Portugal, United States, Puerto Rico, Wallis & Fortuna Islands
NB – these countries require an ATA Carnet, which is the Carnet needed for film crews (there are different types of Carnet for different types of things…)
So how do you go about getting a Carnet and how much do they cost?
You can get a Carnet by going to your local Chamber of Commerce, however the main advice seems to be to find a company that does this for you as 1) they are pretty complicated things, 2) they are damn easy to mess up and there are hefty costs involved with doing it wrong!
With costs, its down to the amount and type of kit you are using, and as you too probably predicated, they cost an arm and a leg, this is filmmaking after all!
For more advice on Carnets and other useful tips on shooting abroad
http://www.procam.tv/shooting-abroad
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