Hops Stuck At Customs From Northern Brewer

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phoenixdigital

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Hi Guys,

Just got an email from Shipitto.com saying that customs where holding my hops and wont release unless I provide more information.

Shipito is a freight forwarder which I have used in the past to import hops from northernbrewer.com

There were two emails the first being
--------------
Hello,

TNT has contacted us because they are requiring additional information.
The email states, "Con No : xxxxx/ REF: xxxxx-O - We need the
manufactures declaration. The shipment is under quarantine and will
require a formal customs clearance entry in Australia. " Please
provide us with a certificate of origin. Thank you.
--------------

The second

-------------
TNT has send a second emial with some clarification as to what is
needed.

"If your shipper or receiver do have an inquiry as to what is needed on
the manufactures declaration, I do have those details below:

This declaration must detail the following information.

MUST BE ON A COMPANY LETTERHEAD
MUST BE IN ENGLISH
MUST STATE CONSIGNMENT NUMBER
FULL CONTENT/COMMODITY
BIO/ANIMAL/PLANT/SYNTHETIC
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN
END USE OF PRODUCT
MUST BE SIGNED AND DATED

Please ensure the consignor provides this information in detail, the
more
information provided on the declaration, the easier for Quarantine to
clear. "
-------------

We did order a lot of hops :) About 3.5kg all up and they are all pellet hops.

Has anyone had this happen?

They seem to indicate they want northern brewer to send it which I doubt they will.

Do you guys think that we could send it through to customs?

Pain in the ass as I would hate for our $250+ of hops to get denied :(
 
Hi Guys,

Just got an email from Shipitto.com saying that customs where holding my hops and wont release unless I provide more information.

Shipito is a freight forwarder which I have used in the past to import hops from northernbrewer.com

There were two emails the first being
--------------
Hello,

TNT has contacted us because they are requiring additional information.
The email states, "Con No : xxxxx/ REF: xxxxx-O - We need the
manufactures declaration. The shipment is under quarantine and will
require a formal customs clearance entry in Australia. " Please
provide us with a certificate of origin. Thank you.
--------------

The second

-------------
TNT has send a second emial with some clarification as to what is
needed.

"If your shipper or receiver do have an inquiry as to what is needed on
the manufactures declaration, I do have those details below:

This declaration must detail the following information.

MUST BE ON A COMPANY LETTERHEAD
MUST BE IN ENGLISH
MUST STATE CONSIGNMENT NUMBER
FULL CONTENT/COMMODITY
BIO/ANIMAL/PLANT/SYNTHETIC
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN
END USE OF PRODUCT
MUST BE SIGNED AND DATED

Please ensure the consignor provides this information in detail, the
more
information provided on the declaration, the easier for Quarantine to
clear. "
-------------

We did order a lot of hops :) About 3.5kg all up and they are all pellet hops.

Has anyone had this happen?

They seem to indicate they want northern brewer to send it which I doubt they will.

Do you guys think that we could send it through to customs?

Pain in the ass as I would hate for our $250+ of hops to get denied :(


Could Nothern Brewer email you the info, you print it out sign etc and send it in.
I have had hops opened by costoms but they have always arrived.
 
You're the shipper right?

Hmmm

Good luck :)
 
I often get warranty replacement parts from overseas and they all come with a shipping declaration from the company providing the parts. I'm quite surprised there isn't one already included from the people you are ordering it from.
 
I often get warranty replacement parts from overseas and they all come with a shipping declaration from the company providing the parts. I'm quite surprised there isn't one already included from the people you are ordering it from.

I used a freight forwarder so as far as Northern Brewer were concerned it was being shipped within the USA.

As Stux said I am the shipper so maybe something from me should be enough.

Going to call customs now.
 
If it needs an import dec then it must be from the shipper, or at least appear to be. If people import a lot of stuff from craft brewer then they will probably have something on file. They are telling you because sometimes it is faster for you to contact the shipper.
 
Ok now this is getting annoying.

I now recieved this email from shipitto.

------------
Australian customs is requesting for a Manufactures Declaration for the
contents in this shipment, also known as country of origin. Please
provide that document so I can go ahead and forward it to TNT.
----------

Also found this
http://www.daff.gov.au/aqis/import/biologi...oods___Why_not_
 
that sucks, I got a filter from USA and it took a week to get here and then sat in customs for 2 and a half weeks before the decided they would send it on. Cant be to hard to open a box to see whats in there and close it again but obviously it is.
 
As Shredy stated before, the sender should have had to supply this information before being able to despatch goods.
 
As already said You need tge shipping declaration from northernbfewrr. Its slack of them not to have provided it.its gotnothing to do with a declaration from you as implied by otherss. Contact northernbrewer. Tbey can fix it easily.

Theres so no reason ti use a freight forwarder.for.hops. Unless northern brewer wont ship out of US. In which case id use someone lije nikohops or hopsdirect. Screw paying for something for no reason.
 
pheonix, have you contacted northern brewer? What did they say?
Or was it was it easier to complain on here?
 
Slightly off topic and not helpful at al to the OP, but i still don't get the advantage with buying from the states?

It's not price, as Ellerrslie is just about on par per kilo, so is it freshness? Availability of different varieties that Ellerslie don't have?

Just seems such a hassle and knowing that the hops are sitting for 7-10 days out of the fridge if you're lucky, charges for currency conversion etc. And of course this risk...
 
pheonix, have you contacted northern brewer? What did they say?
Or was it was it easier to complain on here?

I have emailed them and am waiting for a response.

I am not really complaining just asking for advice. Though its probably coming off as a whingefest that is not my intention.
 
Sorry about the grumpy reply, coffee has kicked in now.

The other thing to do is ask the fruit company if they have tried to get in touch with NB. in theory they should not have sent it without the correct paperwork.

Most companies will have this on file somewhere, and it is very standard paperwork.

Other thing is to make one if you are any good with computers? Not that I would ever advocate falsifying documents! Get the logo off the net, put it on a word doc, fill in the details. Whoops, did I say that out loud?
 
Slightly off topic and not helpful at al to the OP, but i still don't get the advantage with buying from the states?

It's not price, as Ellerrslie is just about on par per kilo, so is it freshness? Availability of different varieties that Ellerslie don't have?

Just seems such a hassle and knowing that the hops are sitting for 7-10 days out of the fridge if you're lucky, charges for currency conversion etc. And of course this risk...
Ellerslie would haveneeded to drop a lot to be comparabke in price. Its still generally cheaoer to import in bulk than it is to buy in aust. Plus tbe aussje.dollar helped, u can get more varieties etc. need I go on?
 
Slightly off topic and not helpful at al to the OP, but i still don't get the advantage with buying from the states?

It's not price, as Ellerrslie is just about on par per kilo, so is it freshness? Availability of different varieties that Ellerslie don't have?

Just seems such a hassle and knowing that the hops are sitting for 7-10 days out of the fridge if you're lucky, charges for currency conversion etc. And of course this risk...

A combination of those things you've listed. Having bought from hopsdirect they are the freshest hops I've ever seen/used. The fact that they are sitting out of the fridge for a few days would have a negligible impact on the product and the issue in this case is that the OP used a freight forwarding service (no idea why) and thus northern brewer assumed they didn't need the same paperwork as they would have supplied had they known it was going to Australia.

BTW, my experience with Northern Brewer customer service has been fantastic. They will do whatever they can to assist I am sure.
 
A combination of those things you've listed. Having bought from hopsdirect they are the freshest hops I've ever seen/used. The fact that they are sitting out of the fridge for a few days would have a negligible impact on the product and the issue in this case is that the OP used a freight forwarding service (no idea why) and thus northern brewer assumed they didn't need the same paperwork as they would have supplied had they known it was going to Australia.

BTW, my experience with Northern Brewer customer service has been fantastic. They will do whatever they can to assist I am sure.

Will definitely be giving hops direct a go next time. This time we ordered the following

Chinook Hop Pellets 1 lb.
Amarillo Hop Pellets 1 lb.
German Magnum Hop Pellets 1 lb
Czech Saaz Hop Pellets 1 lb.
US Fuggle Hop Pellets 2 lb.
Centennial Hop Pellets 1 lb.
Cascade Hop Pellets 2 lb.

I used a freight forwarder as last time I ordered from Northern Brewer they would not ship to Australia. Got hops through last time no issues.

I price checked the difference when buying these hops compared to Australia and I paid about $250 for what would have cost approx $400 if purchased locally (costs include shipping)

Fingers crossed it gets sorted out soon. At least we dont have a stinker of a summer this year otherwise I would be very stressed.
 
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