Hops Stuck At Customs From Northern Brewer

[stux]

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.

Northern Brewer don't ship out of the USA, so you need to use a forwarder, as such NB really don't have to supply the import declaration

 

[phoenixdigital]

There is no problem with the amount of hops - just that they require a formal declaration of what you are importing. This is normally only required where the value exceeds $A1,000.

Here is an example used by Wyeast - as you can see there is nothing special, just a factual description of the product.

Have you tried talking to the local TNT office ?

If all else fails you could get a local customs agent to sort it out for you.

HTH,
Dave

View attachment 51407

Thanks for the example of the declaration. I might make some changes to match hops and send it through to Hop Union for them to add to a letterhead and sign.

If anyone has an example of a hop declaration that would be great.

I have spoken to TNT about 3 times and they said they would be forwarding on all my information to the customs area. The customs area were suppoed to ring me but have failed to do so. They have also sent a link to hops in the AQIS database showing pelleted hops are allowed to be imported.

That said its not specifically customs being pains here. I think it is a dept at TNT becauase when I rang customs they sad I had to ring TNT about it as they didn't deal with it from their end.

Either way I appreciate the help so far. I hope I can get the hops out of the stalemate soon.

I might even contact hops direct and ask for an example document from them. Then in the future purchase from them if they can assist. I have jsut sent them an email asking for a copy of their document.

I hate red tape.

 

[Mattzilla]

just to clear things up.... hops etc get checked and stopped by Australian Quarantine, not Customs

 

[abanygavin]

In this situation,you have to do Customs work and pay tax and other charges.

We always ship our goods to our Customers by FEDEX,DHL or UPS,if sample order.
If so,our Customers will never do Customs work and just sign for packages from Courier.
We supply conical fermenters/brew kettles.

 

[Mattzilla]

oh for bulk/commercial imports then yes customs will collect duty and GST and make sure all documentation is in order

 

[Duff]

Imagine... h34r:

I was waiting for you to pop up Josh, where have you been? Checking hop imports? :lol:

I started reading this thread thinking the same thing :lol:

 

[phoenixdigital]

Sigh..... just got this email from TNT
---------
Dear Sir/Madam,

Australian Quarantine has inspected your freight for Chinook alcohol brewing pellets and before it can be cleared, they require the following documents:

• Manufacturers Declaration stating end use and origin is required.

Could you please email me these documents at your earliest convenience in order to have your freight release.

Thank you,
--------

I hope Hop Union get back to me.... this is starting to get really old...

I wonder if it is only the chinook?

 

[phoenixdigital]

I just sent TNT (or whoever is dealing with this) this email. Will see what response I get.
-----------------
Hi,

I am trying to get in contact with the manufacturer but as yet have had no response.

If it is just the Chinook that is causing issues please just remove them and dispose of them.

The longer the other hop pellets are left in warm temperatures they will be damaged and lose their usefulness for brewing. I would appreciate it if you could put them into a coolroom.

I understand the importance of Australian Quarantine and I appreciate the work you do. I have had a lot of hops delivered in the past using this same method and have never needed a "Manufacturers Declaration". I was also under the impression that there would be no issues with insects or disease due to the method of processing of hop pellets and the AQIS database
http://www.aqis.gov.au/icon32/asp/ex_casec...CommodityId=936

Anyway either way can you please tell me what happens if I cannot get this "Manufacturer Declaration"?

Also as previously mentioned if it is only the Chinook holding this up please remove and destroy as the other hops in this package are deteriorating due to not being refrigerated.

Please call me on 0421 xxx xxx if you have any questions.

Again the purpose as you have even stated in your description "Chinook alcohol brewing pellets" is beer brewing and the manufacturing origin is "203 Division Street, Yakima, WA 98902"
http://www.hopunion.com/

I do hope this can be resolved soon as I personally had these posted from the USA. They were not sent from a distributor or the manufacturer which is why there was no documentation you are asking for. Which is also why I am having trouble getting in contact with them.

Regards
------------

 

[beerbog]

ahh, yawn.

 

[HoppingMad]

No offence to Customs reading this, but most of those manning our so-called border security are morons.

And to answer the question - they can't read - here's my story to prove it.

Just had my brother get hassled at Melbourne Airport bringing in 200g of Moteuka pellets fresh from Auckland. All sealed and in commercial foil packs.

The ******* at the airport gave my brother a lecture about them needing to be sprayed and him paying a $100 import fee. He obviously couldn't read that they were pellets (Not Flowers) despite them being clearly labelled as such.

My brother surrendered his hops to customs rather than argue it out, then checked the AQIS site and realised they were morons and hadn't checked their own guidelines which are spelt out on the website which clearly states that bringing in processed pellets is fine. He phoned them right away and they fished them out of the airport bin just in time. We got them mailed back to us from Daff Biosecurity. Their contracted inspectors I guess. We were very lucky.

Having now brought pellets in via mail and on plane, it never ceases to amaze me how these d@#kheads get flowers and pellets muddled up.
Hopefully if more of us continue to bring them in they'll get educated out there in border security land.

If you are reading this Customs & AQIS get your sh#t together.

Hopper.

 

[the_new_darren]

I agree, if you get a job in customs or the child support agency, you dont need to know your ar$e from your head.

tnd

 

[phoenixdigital]

ahh, yawn.

Sorry to keep you awake.

Just got a response from the email I just sent out. They have cleared customs and will be sent out today.

You can go back to sleep now Gibbo.

To all those that assisted and gave suggestions I appreciate your help. Bit miffed that this many hoops needed jumping through.

 

[HoppingMad]

Haha amen to that.

Just wonder how hard it is for these guys to actually check the facts on their database rather than making out they know everything.

I realise that these dudes must see some weird stuff coming through, and need to be on top of it all but if in doubt, they should check it out on their little computer.

My brother got a long-winded lecture at the end of a flight when they were totally in the wrong.

Hopper.

 

[Maheel]

good to hear the hops made it

I agree, if you get a job in the child support agency, you dont need to know your ar$e from your head.
tnd

how true, be good if they got off their arse and actually made some people pay the back pay they owe the parents taking care of kids....

 

[Fish13]

for all my parenting payments i prefer going to medicare then centrelink. much easier to work with. although if you are polite they seem to be a bit smarter.

 

[brettprevans]

Sorry, that's just not right.
I'm not trying to start a shitfight, i really am trying to understand.

I have a price list from a few months ago, it's still current. There's one posted in the elerslie thread in retail.
http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...st&id=50988

These prices are for .5 or 1 kilo
obviously being 2 and a quarter odd pounds in a kilo, you get a bit more when you buy local (100 gms or so in a kilo)

Chinook Hop Pellets .5 not available
Amarillo Hop Pellets .5 not available
German Magnum Hop Pellets .5 = $20
Czech Saaz Hop Pellets .5 = $26.50
US Fuggle Hop Pellets (uk) 1kg = $41.00
Centennial Hop Pellets .5 = 21.50
Cascade Hop Pellets 1kg = $57.50

That's $166.50 plus GST ($183.10) and you are missing 1kg of hops that they don't sell. You are also getting 450 gms (1 pound) for free by buying by the half kilo rather than the pound. So you're one pound short (and two varieties i acknowledge)
I've also found that MHB gave me prices very similar when i asked him for wholesale prices on kilo (850g in his case) hops. So your two varieties (or the whole order) could have come from him.

I just plain don't believe there is a price advantage to buying from the states and the figures prove it.

As for freshness i can't say as i've never bought from there 9this is why i ask these q's) but i can say i've never been dissapointed with Elerslies hops in my long and distinguished six month allgrain career. <_<

My last order from them was for three kilos of hops and i didn't get charged any freight at all. Maybe that was an oversight? I don't know but on other orders i've been charged $15.



Clearly you didn't gather prices from the Aussie wholesaler




Refer above please.

latest prices from elerslie have hallatau for example at $23 per 500g plus postage for 2010 crop. Hops direct is $10.9. so ur getting a kilo for the same price (excl postage wgich is about $20 for 3 lb).

So how we are wrong?.....

 

[punkin]

latest prices from elerslie have hallatau for example at $23 per 500g plus postage for 2010 crop. Hops direct is $10.9. so ur getting a kilo for the same price (excl postage wgich is about $20 for 3 lb).

So how we are wrong?.....

Well if you really want to be a dick about it....

You're quoting the 500gm price when you are talking about a kilo.
The kilo price is $36 + postage at $15 = $51

So hops direct is $10.90 per 1/2lb (i assume as you haven't said) so 10.90 X 2.25 = $26.70 + postage $20 = $46.70


You are $4.30 au in front buying from the states (assuming you are going to conveniently ignore the conversion penalty on you credit card or paypal, and of course the maybe good, maybe bad exchange rate)

And also assuming you are going to ignore the real case example i made from the real order and pick the example that you thought would show you right.

Current exchange rate is on your side, but next week may well not be.





What i'm saying is that people saying they are saving a stack of money (like twice the price) by buying overseas is just wrong.

It comes down to cents or a couple of dollars and i don't see the sense in it.

 

[brettprevans]

No ur a dick by telling us we are wronf.
Current season crop from usa v 2010 from ellerslie.
Ive used 500g as an exampke cause I cant be arsed converting bulk prices frim usa which also get cheaper the more h buy. Based on 500g v 450g u cant argue. Besides not evrryone wants 1kg of hops.

. Our point is tgat its fkn ridiculos that we can buy hops from usa that are fresher for less than what we can buy here.

As for ur real case.example ive got plenty of them. We check our sums before we buy. now yes currency rate isnt as good as what it was but if u werr smart you would have bought usa$.whikst it was good for this reason.
Now if u like we could look at nz hops and see that we are.still getting about a 30% discount when buying direct from nz on exchange and cheaper than buying local

U asked the question and didnt like the answer. Not our problem

U do what u like.

 

[punkin]

No actually it's you who doesn't like the answer.

I could be arsed about doing the sums. And did them for you.

The exchange rate right now is as good as it's been for 10 years or more. It's over $1 and actually supporting your point (slightly).


You can say what you want in your rant, but the sums don't add up.

What i first said was wrong is what you quoted me as saying in reply.

What i said was just plain wrong was this statement;

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)

And i proved it with the actual current prices.



Now you take what i said and twist it any way you like to try and prove me wrong.

You won't do it.


As i said, there may be a dollar or two in it, but there's no way there's twice the savings that you people are claiming.


edit the spelling, cause i could be arsed about that too.

 

[punkin]

BTW, nicko is only quoting 2 oz bags of hallertau and it's the 2010 crop

And the site this thread is about (northern brewer is quoting undeclared year Hallertau at $17.50 a pound (us $43.75 a kg)