ECUADOR
I just flew into Ecuador with my Phantom (as I did before). This time I was called out by customs because of my "drone". While personal items like cameras are exempt from paying import duty, a flying camera aka drone is not part of the custom form that might have been created before multicopter where invented.
I was able to convince customs after about 3 hours, that I am an aspiring aerial photographer, preparing his pro business and I was able to proof that I am flying to Europe in September. Finally they allowed me to temporarely bring it in.
Asking what the usual process is I was informed, that drones are now a daily part of custom and they usually apply ~45% of the overall perceived value as duty and tax payments. I was told that about 80% of tourists coming into Ecuador are giving in and paying the fee before they are allowed to enter the country with their drone. I am very dissapointed by this and started this thread to see what's going on in other countries, after we heard recently about Thailand. Perhaps a better form can be found by the administrator to create a list with current experiences with customs agencies while traveling, sorted by countries.. ( subfolders per country?). It seems more countries are starting to create problems for us to travel with our birds.
I just flew into Ecuador with my Phantom (as I did before). This time I was called out by customs because of my "drone". While personal items like cameras are exempt from paying import duty, a flying camera aka drone is not part of the custom form that might have been created before multicopter where invented.
I was able to convince customs after about 3 hours, that I am an aspiring aerial photographer, preparing his pro business and I was able to proof that I am flying to Europe in September. Finally they allowed me to temporarely bring it in.
Asking what the usual process is I was informed, that drones are now a daily part of custom and they usually apply ~45% of the overall perceived value as duty and tax payments. I was told that about 80% of tourists coming into Ecuador are giving in and paying the fee before they are allowed to enter the country with their drone. I am very dissapointed by this and started this thread to see what's going on in other countries, after we heard recently about Thailand. Perhaps a better form can be found by the administrator to create a list with current experiences with customs agencies while traveling, sorted by countries.. ( subfolders per country?). It seems more countries are starting to create problems for us to travel with our birds.