Do i need a carnet for canada to bring a panasonic dvx100a?

J

JIMMYFISCHE

New member
Do i need a carnet for canada to bring a panasonic dvx100a?
Im heading to toronto for a few days for the film festival. Love to shoot some scenics of the happenings.
Can i bring a panasonic dvx100a without any paperwork?
Or will customs give me a problem?

And what about a tripod/monopod?

Thanks everyone!
 
I've travelled many times with my HVX200 and encountered no problems getting past customs with it. During the film festival visitors with camera gear are going to be highly visible and common, so it really shouldn't be a problem.
 
I have travelled with much more photo gear (large lenses, tripod etc.) to both US and Canada and I have never been even asked about it. I believe that with NAFTA in place, you can bring pretty much everything over the border...
 
The short answer, and in part because of the physical size of a DVX as it doesn't look like an ENG camera, you won't need a CARNET and you shouldn't have any problems strictly because of your equipment (if that's all you're carrying). The problem you may run into depends entirely upon your answer to the question, "What is the purpose of your visit to Canada?" If your trip is pleasure, and you're going on vacation, you should not have any problems. If you tell them you're working you'll require a work visa which may mean you'll be denied entry if you don't already have one.

What you're crossing the border with as far as personal or professional equipment has absolutely nothing to do with NAFTA unless you purchased it in the US, Canada or Mexico and are importing it; then NAFTA only relates to duties or import taxes.
 
Muskoka said:
What you're crossing the border with as far as personal or professional equipment has absolutely nothing to do with NAFTA unless you purchased it in the US, Canada or Mexico and are importing it; then NAFTA only relates to duties or import taxes.
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Well, this is true, but it is not the whole story. The key is "importing it". If you are crossing a NAFTA-like border, no one cares about the camera, because even if you are importing it, you are not liable for any taxes etc.

But if you are crossing a border between states that do no thave a similar agreement, the customs officers might demand some sort of assurance that you are in fact not importing the gear. This could be an extra form to fill or in some cases a deposit of the amount of the tax that would be due, refundable upon your departure from the country.
 
Warthog said:
Well, this is true, but it is not the whole story. The key is "importing it". If you are crossing a NAFTA-like border, no one cares about the camera, because even if you are importing it, you are not liable for any taxes etc.
Click to expand...

Also not the the whole story. You're not distinguishing between duty and tax. Dependent upon a large number of criteria, including where the product being imported was originally manufactured, duty may or may not be chargeable on the goods being imported. Taxes however are payable on the value of the goods at a rate determined by the country and or state the goods are being imported into. For example for the sake of this discussion, if you were to purchase a brand new DVX camera in the US and are a resident of Ontario, you would not pay duty on the camera, but when importing it to Canada, you would be required to pay GST (8%) plus PST (5%) on the purchase price of the equipment less any allowance provided for the length of time you were out of Canada ($750 if you are out of the country for 7 days).

This is with the understanding that you're lawfully declaring what you're importing.
 
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True, I forgot about the GST (or VAT in Europe). But I suppose the Canadian officials do not automatically suspect everyone travelling with a bit more expensive camcorder of importing it for sale or something like that.
 
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