Sydney Airport Customs Clearance Chaos

straitman · #11 (**permalink**) 1st October 2007, 02:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by econgdon

I personally think that not Xraying every person going through customs is a step up, not down.. where else in the World are entering people all held up while their luggage is xrayed?? .. its not a lapse, its an advancement .. this country is paranoid about people entering and all this hold up achieves nothing, because guns and drugs are more prevalent than ever before in our Society and its criminal members .. In my opinion it is mainy about making an appearance, and getting revenue out of the uninformed traveller who brings back an extra bottle of wine or two, or some extra smokes. I find it disgraceful that if a traveller declares additonal items ( being honest) on return, that they are taxed on the lot in their posession, and lose their whole duty free entitlements and also, that a person taking a bottle of wine out of the coutry as a gift, which they have paid tax on. Cannot get a credit to bring an overseas gift back which was received as a contra.. "Take all .. give nought". Thats the attitude of our Government in my opinion.

You definitely don't want to go to the LOTFAP then

JohnK · #12 (**permalink**) 3rd October 2007, 01:04 PM

Has this change only been implemented in the last few weeks?

When I arrived back in SYD early September, purchased duty free, only 1 person in front of me at customs, wait a few minutes for luggage, no more than 5 minutes wait at quarantine, get in friends car and arrive home within an hour of landing.

NM · #13 (**permalink**) 3rd October 2007, 02:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by econgdon

I personally think that not Xraying every person going through customs is a step up, not down.. where else in the World are entering people all held up while their luggage is xrayed?? .. its not a lapse, its an advancement .. this country is paranoid about people entering and all this hold up achieves nothing, because guns and drugs are more prevalent than ever before in our Society and its criminal members .. In my opinion it is mainy about making an appearance, and getting revenue out of the uninformed traveller who brings back an extra bottle of wine or two, or some extra smokes. I find it disgraceful that if a traveller declares additonal items ( being honest) on return, that they are taxed on the lot in their posession, and lose their whole duty free entitlements and also, that a person taking a bottle of wine out of the coutry as a gift, which they have paid tax on. Cannot get a credit to bring an overseas gift back which was received as a contra.. "Take all .. give nought". Thats the attitude of our Government in my opinion.

The process of x-raying bags as you enter the country has nothing to do with looking for guns. It serves the very worthwhile process of identifying organic material that may be about to introduce a bug or disease into the country that is not already here. It is unique to Australia and NZ since we are both island nations that have so far managed to remain free of some of the rampand diseases found in other countries. Those of us who live in Qld wish there was similar diligence exercised when someone decided it was a good idea to bring the cane toad into the country.

As far as guns are concerned, it is assumed people will not have such weapons in the carry-on bags, and by the time your checked bags are delivered to the luggage belt they have already been x-rayed by customs looking for such nasties (and sniffed by the beagles etc). The AQIS x-ray is primarily looking for organic materials that could carry diseases, and if they happen to see something that looks like a customs issue then AQIS will quickly refer it to Customs for further investigation.

I see the AQIS x-ray process as a forward-looking process and not a backward step. Yes it can cause delays and at time it would be advantageous to have more machines and staff to process the queues more quickly. But I am always happy to have my bags x-rayed knowing that it is for the betterment of the country.

serfty · #14 (**permalink**) 3rd October 2007, 02:28 PM

It's unlikely to happen like that in Sydney in the mornings where 12 or more 747's land daily between 5 and 8 am - any day of the week.

JohnK · #15 (**permalink**) 3rd October 2007, 04:51 PM

Arriving back from SIN with BA early Friday morning end of July I was home within an hour of landing. I have not experienced these type of delays in SYD but then again I do not travel out of the country that often.

Next overseas opportunity will be Kiwi Mainland DO in November and I hope the delays are not as bad as has been reported.

Soundguy · #16 (**permalink**) 3rd October 2007, 06:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ethernet

Another family member is pissed off, because he declared spice, and suspect footwear, but copped an official warning for the undeclared wooden spice rack when he showed the bottles. Heavyhanded and inappropriate. Can one make a complaint and whom to?

That's not so bad. I was fined $110 in Adelaide for not declaring a chocolate bar. And I was told I had to pay right there and then before I left the airport or they would take me to court. It was a fully wrapped and sealed Cadbury bar.

This was just before 6am, it had taken over an hour since deplaning - yes it took them that long to process a single plane - and I had been travelling for 22 hours, but in hindsight if I wasn't so sleepy (and stunned) I probably should have taken it to court. So I paid them and now I add a levy onto every government job I do.

I told them I had been on a farm but they didn't bother checking my shoes for mud, guess getting such a great bust and a $110 fine was more important.

econgdon · #17 (**permalink**) 4th October 2007, 01:02 AM

[quote=NM]The process of x-raying bags as you enter the country has nothing to do with looking for guns. It serves the very worthwhile process of identifying organic material that may be about to introduce a bug or disease into the country that is not already here. It is unique to Australia and NZ since we are both island nations that have so far managed to remain free of some of the rampand diseases found in other countries. Those of us who live in Qld wish there was similar diligence exercised when someone decided it was a good idea to bring the cane toad into the country.

Seeing that the Queensland Government introduced canetoads against all the advice of the Scientific community in the rest of Australia, but is not paying compensation to the rest of the nation for the damage done despite being flush and subsidising petrol to its citizens.. the analogy is not a good one, but I understand it .. still I think it retrograde .. a simple impregnated mat that people walked over was rejected when I advised it years ago.. they have also discontinued insecticide in arriving planes.. someone might own shares in the company making scanners.

econgdon · #18 (**permalink**) 4th October 2007, 01:03 AM

[quote=NM]The process of x-raying bags as you enter the country has nothing to do with looking for guns. It serves the very worthwhile process of identifying organic material that may be about to introduce a bug or disease into the country that is not already here. It is unique to Australia and NZ since we are both island nations that have so far managed to remain free of some of the rampand diseases found in other countries. Those of us who live in Qld wish there was similar diligence exercised when someone decided it was a good idea to bring the cane toad into the country.

Seeing that the Queensland Government introduced canetoads against all the advice of the Scientific community in the rest of Australia, but is not paying compensation to the rest of the nation for the damage done despite being flush and subsidising petrol to its citizens.. the analogy is not a good one, but I understand it .. still I think it retrograde .. a simple impregnated mat that people walked over was rejected when I advised it years ago.. they have also discontinued insecticide in arriving planes.. someone might own shares in the company making scanners.

serfty · #19 (**permalink**) 4th October 2007, 08:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnK

Arriving back from SIN with BA early Friday morning end of July I was home within an hour of landing. I have not experienced these type of delays in SYD but then again I do not travel out of the country that often. ...

Arriving back in SYD from HKG in the Early hours (QF128) last April it took 1 minute to get through SmartGate and 45 minutes to get x-rayed and out. We had no checked luggage.

Shano · #20 (**permalink**) 4th October 2007, 08:55 AM

The last time I cleared C&I in SYD (also arriving on QF128) in June this year when returning from China, it took about 15 minutes from the time I had collected my checked luggage to get through x-ray screening.

Arriving into MEL on QF136 last month took < 5 minutes.