Select a country to view Importing Information and links to official websites.

Vehicles manufactured before 1 January 1989 may be imported without restriction (unless it has been modified or converted from original specifications at a date after 1 January 1989)

Generally, vehicles manufactured during or after 1989 will need to qualify under the Registered Automotive Workshop Schema (RAWS).

Generally, private persons may only import only 1 vehicle per year.

“In Australia, the commercial import of used motor vehicles is far more regulated and restricted than in New Zealand[citation needed]. The allowed imports are limited to what are called special and enthusiast vehicles (SEVS Scheme), or most cars manufactured before 1 January 1989. Until the pre 1989 regulations came in at the start of 2004, cars over 15 years old could be imported, and would need to gain a roadworthy certificate (needed for registration transfer in many states anyway) and often safety modifications to ensure that they met with regulations that would have been in force at the time of their manufacture.

To bring a car into Australia on the SEVS scheme, one must either apply to have the car added to the SEVS register, or import a car already listed on the register (http://www.infrastructure.gov.au/roads/motor/sevs/index.aspx).

The Australian scheme seems particularly effective at allowing manufacturers to make excessive profits on vehicles sold in Australia. In some cases comparing UK prices and Australian prices for vehicles that are effectively but not legally the same, the Australian consumer is required by Australian Government regulations to pay the manufacturer a 50% premium. This seems strange given the significant (to 5%) reduction in tariffs.”

The above is an unmodified extract from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grey_import_vehicle(Accessed 12 September 2010). This work is released under CC-BY-SA license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Eligible cars under RAWS 
This is a list of cars you are allowed to permit under the RAWS scheme.

Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service
Explains AQIS requirements for importing and about obtaining quarantine clearance for AQIS after vehicles has arrived at port.

DoTARS (Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local) 
Government Regulation regarding imports of used vehicles. This is the body that issues import certificates.

RAWS Registered Automotive Workshop Scheme 
Explains RAWS scheme

Road Vehicle Certification System
A letter of compliance is required from a company listed in the Road Vehicle Certification Scheme.

Australian Customs and Border Protection Service
A very good overview of what is required to import a used Japanese vehicle into Australia. This section is particularly helpful if you want to attempt to do a lot of the importing work yourself.

Also explains taxes;
Customs and Taxes
Vehicles older then 30 years and Motorcycles
Duty: 0%
GST: 10%
Vehicles up to 30 years old
Duty: 10%
GST: 10%
Four Wheel Drive Off Road and Commercial Vehicles
Duty: 5%
GST: 10%
Taxes are calculated on the Customs value which is either the Original Country Purchase Price (subject to depreciation) or rated on the Australian Landed Value. 
If the value of the vehicle is greater than AU$ 57,009 it may incur a luxury car tax. This additional tax is calculated at 25% on the amount over the threshold level, currently AU$42,999.

Botswana unified Revenue service
Importing vehicles into Botswana

Cars not originally manufactured to Canadian-market specifications may be legally imported once they are 15 or more years old. This has led to the importing of many “exotic” Japanese sports cars such as the R32 Nissan Skyline. The only categorical exception to the 15-year rule is that many – but not all[7] – vehicles manufactured to US-market specifications can legally be imported into Canada under the compliance modification and inspection program administered by the Registrar of Imported Vehicles. Typically, modifications to meet Canadian standards include the installation of daytime running lights and tether anchors to permit secure attachment of infant car seats, documentation indicating that any repairs required in response to the original manufacturer’s factory recalls are complete, and passenger cars assembled on or after September 1, 2007 are also required to have an immobilization systemthat meets the CMVSS 114 standard. Labelling of the vehicle to indicate its imported status, to warn that the odometer is counting in miles (as made-for-Canada odometers have usedkilometres since 1976) and to translate safety-related warning labels (such as airbag maintenance procedures) is typically also required. Speedometers in US and most Canadian vehicles indicate both miles per hour and km/h, so are usually left unmodified.

In March 2007, Transport Canada initiated proposed rulemaking to change the importation laws such that vehicles not originally manufactured to Canadian-market specifications would be eligible for import only once they are 25 years old, rather than the present 15-year cutoff rule.[8][dead link] The main impetus behind this proposal is the significant influx of Japanese-market vehicles in Canada in recent years, particularly in Western provinces such as British Columbia due to geographical proximity to Asian ports of departure. BC has a system ofpublic auto insurance. ICBC created a study that states right-hand drive vehicles are involved in 40% more crashes.[9]“

The above is an unmodified extract from

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grey_import_vehicle (accessed 12 September 2010). This work is released under CC-BY-SA license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Transport Infrastructure and Communities Portfolio

Canada Border Service Agency 

National Customers Service

Association of Latin American Trade 

Tariff Commission http://www.infoexport.gc.ca/eng/document.jsp?did=20980

Customs and Excise Department http://www.customs.gov.hk/

http://www.transport.ie/roads/vehiclestandards/

Irish Tax and Customs http://www.revenue.ie/

Embassy of Ireland http://www.irishembassy.jp/

“Japanese used car importing has been quite common in Ireland since the 1980s. The imported cars are significantly cheaper than local used cars due to the very low value of used cars in Japan (and to an extent, used products in general), and a much larger range of specifications are available on Japanese models compared to the very limited ranges sold locally – even in comparison to the UK, model ranges of Japanese cars can be very limited – mostly due to the high VRT and other taxes imposed on new cars sold in Ireland.

For example, the Toyota Corollas sold in the late 1980s up until the late 1990s (E90 and E100 series) were only available in Ireland in the one XL (XLi on later models) spec, with little features outside a cassette radio (central locking was only added in the late 1990s), and only the base 1.3 litre petrol and diesel engines – in Japan, however, 1.5 and 1.6 litre engines were also available, with around 6 different trim levels, options such as sunroofs, central locking and electric windows available on many specs as early as 1989, ABS and driver’s airbags optional since 1991, four-wheel drive, and performance GT models with a power output of 160 PS in later models.
Options like the above were more easily available on imported models. Very basic saloons and diesel-engined models with automatic transmissions also appealed to taxi drivers.

In more recent years, Japanese imports have become less common with typical family cars, probably due to the great change in the Irish economy over the past 20 years — people generally have larger incomes now, and sales in new cars have soared. Imports from Japan has become more of a speciality market now – importing of sports models not originally available in Europe such as the Mitsubishi FTO, Toyota Corolla Levin/Toyota Sprinter Trueno, Toyota Starlet Glanza and Honda Integra has become quite popular, and sports cars like the Nissan Skyline GT-R, Toyota Supra and Mazda RX-7 are more easily available as imports. Also, small commercial kei car models such as the Daihatsu Midget II and Nissan S-Cargo are used by some businesses as advertising aids, as they are quite distinctive and eye-catching on the roads in Ireland.

No modifications are required for Japanese imported cars to be registered and driven on the roads in Ireland. One disadvantage is that Japan uses a different FM radio band than everywhere else, so an adaptor or a replacement stereo system is required to receive the full FM band used locally. Like all other cars used on public roads in Ireland, Japanese imports have to pass the NCT.”

The above is an unmodified extract from

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grey_import_vehicle

(accessed 12 September 2010)
This work is released under CC-BY-SA license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Age limit of not more than 3 years old for cars and 4 years for light commercial.

Import permit must be obtained before importing.

http://www.jamaicaemb.jp/consular/index.html#vehicle

http://www.congenjamaica-ny.org/General%20Info/motor%20vehicle%20import.htm/

Vehicles must be not older than 8 years from the first year of registration.

Vehicles must be right hand drive.

Vehicles are shipped to either Mombasa or Dar-Es-Salaam Ports.

Vehicles must pass JEVIC inspection (odometer check).

http://jevic.co.jp/en/activities/regulatory-inspections/kenya/

http://www.jevic.co.jp/jevic_english/index.html

Approximate Taxes:
Import Duty: 15% of Dutiable Value
Excise Duty: 10% of Dutiable Value
VAT: 17% of VAT Value

Kenya Revenue Authority http://www.revenue.go.ke/

Kenya Embassy http://www.kenyarep-jp.com/en_index.html

http://www.kebs.org/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenya_used_car_import_law

Korea Customs http://www.customs.go.kr/

KOTSA http://www.kotsa.or.kr/

Korean Embassy http://www.mofat.go.kr/ek/ek_a001/ek_jpjp/ek_02.jsp

http://www.japanautopages.com/useful_resources/malaysia_guideline.php

More details http://mauritius.usembassy.gov/chapter_6.html

Pre-shipment inspection required to be done by Interteck in Japan. Vehicles are issued a MOZ number and customers need to apply for this number at their local Interteck office.

http://www.intertek.com/uploadedFiles/Intertek….Importer%20Guidelines.pdf

No age restriction on Vehicles

Vehicles are usually shipped to Maputo, but may also be shipped to Durban

NZ Land Transport is the main governing body. Vehicles need to meet certain requirements – qualifying vehicles are identified based on the model/chassis code.

http://www.nzta.govt.nz/vehicle/importing/step-two/japan.html

http://www.nzta.govt.nz/vehicle/importing/index.html

New Zealand Customs Service

http://www.customs.govt.nz/travellers/Motor+Vehicles/default.htm

Bio security New Zealand

http://www.biosecurity.govt.nz/imports/non-organic/standards/bmg-std-vehil.htm

and

http://jevic.co.jp/en/activities/biosecurity-quarantine-inspection.html

Ministry of Transport

http://www.transport.govt.nz/

New Zealand Embassy

http://www.nzembassy.com/

Inspection is required

http://jevic.co.jp/en/activities/regulatory-inspections/new-zealand/

“In the 1980s, New Zealand eased import restrictions, and reduced import tariffs on cars. Consequently, large volumes of used cars from Japan appeared on the local market, at a time when most cars in New Zealand were locally assembled, and expensive compared to other countries, with most used cars available being comparatively old.

Local buyers now had a much wider choice of models, but despite specifications being higher than so-called “NZ New” cars, there were many problems with “clocking” or odometer fraud, with the odometer wound back to display a much lower mileage. Other problems include written-off vehicles involved in accidents in Japan.

However, the widespread availability of used Japanese imports prompted official importers to reduce the price of brand new cars, and in 1998, New Zealand became one of the few countries in the world to remove all import tariffs on motor vehicles.

Nevertheless, a great many used vehicles are imported, 94.6 per cent of which come from Japan. Most of the rest are German, such as Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche and Volkswagen.[10] There are a smaller number of US makes such as Chevrolet and Chrysler, which were built in right hand drive for the Japanese market.[11] Although in heavy decline from 2005[citation needed], used-vehicle import totals are higher than those of vehicles first registered in New Zealand. In 2006, 123,390 ex-overseas vehicles were registered, compared to 76,804 brand new vehicles.

In 2008, however, the Labour Government will pass Emissions laws that state second hand vehicles must comply with Japanese “GF” or Euro II rules, whilst getting progressively stricter as time goes by[citation needed]. General opinion is that this will rule out up to 70% of vehicles that currently come into New Zealand second hand[citation needed].”

The above is an unmodified extract from

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grey_import_vehicle

(accessed 12 September 2010)
This work is released under CC-BY-SA license

 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

No age limit on vehicles.

No road worthiness inspection required.

Taxes.

General Information on Vehicles: Tariff Rates and Duty Calculations.

Vehicles are import duty free but have different rates of excise duty imposed on the different classes of vehicles.

Those classified in Heading 8702 are generally the big buses or vans, designed to carry 11 or more passengers.

Excise rate is 10%
Those classified in Heading 8703 are sedans, mini-vans, station wagons, (prados, patrols, troopers etc) designed for transport of persons, with a sitting capacity of nine (9) persons or less, including the driver.

Excise duty is dependent on engine capacity
Engine capacity up to 2700cc – 60%
Engine capacity over 2700cc – 110%
Double cabin vehicles attract an excise rate of 40%

Heading 8704 are vehicles designed for the transport of goods such as utilities, single cabin vehicles, dump trucks.

All are at 10% excise duty rate.
Duty is calculated on the CIF value of the vehicle.

All vehicles then have GST at 10% calculated on – the Value of the vehicle plus any duty.

http://www.customs.gov.pg/motor_vehicle_imports.html

Tariff Commission http://www.tariffcommission.gov.ph/

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas http://www.bsp.gov.ph/

Philippine Embassy http://tokyo.philembassy.net/

Federal Customs Service http://www.customs.ru/en/

Department of Transportation http://www.gai.ru/ (Russian only)

Russian Automobile Dealers http://www.asroad.org/ (Russian only)

Embassy of Russian Federation http://www.russia-emb.jp/

Singapore Customs http://www.customs.gov.sg/

One. Motoring http://www.onemotoring.com.sg/

Singapore Embassy http://www.mfa.gov.sg/tokyo/

Importing is difficult unless when transiting to other countries.

ITAC (International Trade Administration Commission of South Africa)

http://www.itac.org.za/import_guidelines.htm

Embassy of the Republic of South Africa http://www.rsatk.com/en_index.html

5 yrs old (12 yrs old allowed with extra tax).

Vehicles must pass Japan Automobile Appraisal Institute (JAAI) inspection and receive a certificate.

Import Declaration Form (IDF) is applicable on all imports to Tanzania irrespective of value.

Engines capacity up to 2000cc:
Import duty 25%
VAT 20%  
(Together this is 50% of Dutiable Value)

Engine capacity above 2000cc:
Import duty 25%
Excise duty 10%
VAT 20%
(Together this is 65% of Dutiable Value)

Buses, lorries, pick ups, passenger vans (Commercial units):
Import duty 15%
VAT 20%
(together this is 32% of Dutiable Value)
Import Declaration Fees (IDF) is 1.2% of FOB value + US$ 10 per unit

All importers must have your Tax Identification Number (TIN)registered with Tanzania Revenue Authority and before clearing the car into Tanzania.

Tanzania Revenue Authority http://www.tra.go.tz/

Other charge at Dar-es-Salaam Port include:
・Warfare: This is charged at 1.6% of CIF value+20%VAT
・Handling: This is charged on the volume (cubic meters) x US$5 + VAT
・Removal fees: This is charged on the volume x US$1+ VAT

Basically importing used vehicles is not allowed except transiting to the other countries.

The Customs Department http://www.customs.go.th/Customs-Eng/indexEng.jsp

The Excise Department http://www.excise.go.th/eng-index.html

Department of Foreign Trade (only Thai)

http://www.dft.moc.go.th/index.asp?solution=800

Royal Thai Embassy http://www.thaiembassy.jp/rte2/

http://www.japanautopages.com/useful_resources/trinidad_tobago_guideline.php

“In Trinidad & Tobago nearly all used imports come from Japan, with some vehicles coming from Thailand and Singapore. Cars more than five years old are not permitted, and, presumably due to high traffic problems, no new importer dealerships are allowed. An import licence is required, and most imports are through dealerships.”

The above is an unmodified extract from 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grey_import_vehicle

(accessed 12 September 2010)

This work is released under CC-BY-SA license

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grey_import_vehicle accessed 12 September 2010

http://www.removals.co.uk/TURKEY-IMPORT-REGULATIONS.html

UAE Freezone http://www.uaefreezones.com/

Dubai Customs http://www.dxbcustoms.gov.ae/home.aspx

Embassy of The United Arab Emirates http://www.uaeembassy.jp/

No vehicle age limit

Pre-shipment JEVIC inspection required http://jevic.co.jp/en/activities/regulatory-inspections/uganda/

Both Right and Left hand drive vehicles are allowed.

Approximate taxes:
VAT: 17% of VAT Value
Import Duty: 15% of Dutiable Value
Import commission: 2% of Dutiable Value
Withholding Tax: 4% of Dutiable Value
Excise duty of 10% may be applied and also some duties on commercial vehicles.

See Uganda revenue authority http://www.ugrevenue.com/

Dutiable Value is determined by the ‘The General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs (G.A.T.T) valuation method’

Vehicles are shipped to either Mombasa or Dar-Es-Salaam Ports.

Department for Transport

HM Revenue & Customs http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/

British Embassy http://www.uknow.or.jp/be_e/

“There are also some Japanese imported cars found in the UK, the most popular being the Mazda Eunos Roadster and Mitsubishi Pajero as well as performance cars such as Nissan Skylines, Mitsubishi FTOs and highly tuned Subaru Impreza and Toyota Supra variants that were never officially imported into the UK. These cars tend to be cheaper than official UK imports, but often have better JDM specification levels by comparison.[15] The range of Japanese vehicles in the UK is rising all the time as UK customers see the impressive high spec, low mileage Japanese vehicles on the roads. Each month new models are being imported by dealers and rapidly become popular on the UK market.”

The above is an unmodified extract from 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grey_import_vehicle
(accessed 12 September 2010)
This work is released under CC-BY-SA license

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Customs and Border Protection http://www.customs.gov/xp/cgov/home.

EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) http://www.epa.gov/otaq/imports/

Vehicle Importation Regulations http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/rules/import/

Embassy of the United States http://www.thaiembassy.jp/rte2/

“Recently, a vehicle which came to notoriety is the Nissan Skyline, which was featured prominently in video games, movies and magazines. This vehicle became an object of interest and in 1999, a California company, Motorex, sacrificed a small number of R33 GTS25s for the purpose of crash testing. They submitted their information to the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and petitioned them to allow 1990-1999 GT-Rs and GTSs to be imported, at the condition that they were modified to meet federal motor vehicle safety standards.[4]Many Skylines were subsequently imported through Motorex. This lasted until late 2005, when the NHTSA became informed that not all 1990 through 1999 Skyline models would perform identically in crash testing. Motorex had submitted information for only the R33, and told the NHTSA that it was sufficient for all R32, R33, and R34 models[4]. According the further review by the NHTSA, only 1996-1998 R33 models have been demonstrated as capable of being modified to meet the federal motor vehicle safety standards. After that, only these 1996-1998 models are eligible for importation. In March 2006, Motorex ceased all imports and Motorex principal Hiroaki “Hiro” Nanahoshi was arrested and held on $1 million bail on financial, kidnapping, and assault charges.[5][6]”

The above is an unmodified extract from 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grey_import_vehicle
(accessed 12 September 2010)
This work is released under CC-BY-SA license 

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

No age restriction on Vehicles

Vehicles are shipped to either Durban or Dar-Es-Salaam Ports

Pre-shipment JEVIC inspection required

http://jevic.co.jp/en/activities/regulatory-inspections/zambia/

Taxes according to the Sambian Revenue Authority

http://www.zra.org.zm/ 

which can be calculated using the following calculator

http://www.zra.org.zm/Motor_Vechicle_Calculator.php

No age restriction on Vehicles

Generally commercial vehicles, Trucks and Buses are taxed less. Cars less than 1500cc are taxed less.

Approximate Taxes and Duties:
All non-commercial vehicles: 60%

Zimbabwe Revenue Authority http://www.zimra.co.zw

For more details http://zimbabwe.shipping-international.com/customs/