What's a carnet and do I need one?

I was in Europe shooting photos for a book, and brought my two tripods, a bunch of lens bags, three bodies and seven lenses through customs on my way back into the States.

I was stopped at customs and told I needed a carnet to document that I had taken the gear out of the country and was bringing it back. The agent claimed he could confiscate my gear for not showing proof that I had bought it in the US and not on this trip. He also marked my passport in the computer to check on me each time I left and came back into the country.

I notice that it costs $250 annually for a carnet and that I have to give the issuing organization a deposit of 40% of the value of my gear each time I travel.

What gives?

http://www.uscib.org/i​ndex.asp?documentID=18​43

Sounds like another money grab by governments.

rob0225 wrote in post #15849723
http://www.uscib.org/i​ndex.asp?documentID=18​43

Sounds like another money grab by governments.

I've seen this. I want to know if as a journalist, I have to have one.

So long as you can prove the items were originally taken with you, when you left the US, you shouldn't have a problem. they are just checking that you aren't bringing goods in, that you bought while abroad, without paying duty.

I just carry a copy of my insurance documents, which list all the major pieces of kit and the serial numbers. As the documents are clearly dated before I went abroad, the camera gear was clearly mine, and present in the UK (in my case) before my trip.

http://boardingarea.co​m …-camera-gear-u-s-customs/

4457 works - only pain is going to customs and getting each form stamped. i travelled to India in Jan 2013 with all my equipment - the US customs after immigration wanted to know what was inside my backpack, i showed them the equipment and the forms and that's done. I told them though i am not a professional photographer

Given that it is about proving that you owned the equipment prior to the trip wouldn't copies of the receipts (showing serial numbers) suffice? If you wanted to make extra sure just get certified copies.

PhotosGuy wrote in post #15850355
http://boardingarea.co​m …-camera-gear-u-s-customs/

Thanks. Very helpful.

PhotosGuy wrote in post #15850355
http://boardingarea.co​m …-camera-gear-u-s-customs/

That article is interesting, but he's incorrect about form 4457. The 4457 is useful specifically because you can list as many items on it as you can cram in. Even on the form itself, it's clearly stated "Description of articles." He also mistypes it as 4577 eight times in his article, so that doesn't help either.

Getting the stamp was either free or very inexpensive, I don't recall. Use a form 4457, and you can use it forever. Just get it stamped once, and that gear will always be covered under that form. It's really not that big of a deal to do, particularly compared to the other solutions being proposed.

Link to Form 4457

CraigPatterson wrote in post #15851334
That article is interesting, but he's incorrect about form 4457. The 4457 is useful specifically because you can list as many items on it as you can cram in. Even on the form itself, it's clearly stated "Description of articles."

That was my experience a few decades ago, too, but I thought that they might have changed it.
Detroit is a border city, so I had the form filled out & took it to Customs with my equipment & the whole registration process took only about 10 minutes.

When we took a dozen cases of equipment to England & Italy, we used a customs broker for the studio equipment. No pain... ; )

We have the same thing here in Canada. The onus is on the traveller to prove the gear was temporarily removed from the country and is not being imported. I filled out this form when I went to Japan, China, and HK a few years ago, mainly because the value of the gear I was taking was so high (5D2, 35L, 85LmkII, and that sort of thing), but also because of where I was traveling to.

We at least have the good fortune that you only have to fill out the form once, and you just keep it in your bag and add/subtract items as needed. I havent yet updated it, and have never been asked about any gear I have.