NOTICE: Hard copies of the Australian New Crops Newsletter are available from the publisher, Dr Rob Fletcher. Details of availability are included in the
Advice on Publications Available.The following remarks were included in a private communication received recently by one of the Editors from a colleague: the colleague has chosen to remain anonymous and cynical. The crop itself is not mentioned, since it could be any one of many.
Once I was convinced that the economic viability of my proposed crop was exceptional (why hadn't anyone thought of it before?) I needed to see if there was practical potential for the crop. I am an economist. No problems.
The first obvious step was to get some seed. No problem. Once the plants were growing well, then all the problems anticipated for a big new crop entrepreneur could be investigated and hopefully solved easily ....... Harvesting ..logos for the trucks..high fibre recipe books.... guest spots on midday television..sponsorship of car racing, etc.
A lovely vista of the new crop stretching to the horizon would mean producers and processors would be beating a path to my door and paying huge prices for their chance to get into this new technology.
For starters, I needed seed. Contact a seed company. Look up the phone book. How do you spell that, sir? G..O..G..G..O..M..O..B..I..L..E....Nobody had the seed in Australia. Nobody had heard of the crop in Australia. Must be on to something good here.
Hence, I phoned seed suppliers overseas. At last, I found a seed supplier in Europe who knew about the crop and about Goggomobiles too. The only problem was that they thought I was from Austria. A..U..S..T..R..A..L..I..A. Once the message was finally transmitted to everyone's satisfaction, the seed was despatched by air-freight since I wanted to sow as soon as possible. Easily done. No problem.
Air-freighting a small package from somewhere else to Australia and not using a Customs Agent is a problem. To clear customs and quarantine can be difficult. The rest is easy once the maze of customs and quarantine has been negotiated.
To clear customs you need quarantine clearance and to clear quarantine you need a customs clearance.
The advice to me from the customs officer was to complete the paperwork which was obviously designed by a Warrant Officer Quarter Master: to complete the application for clearance the material being imported needed to be correctly coded. The code was contained in volumes, about the size of Encyclopaedia Britannica. No problem.
The volumes in question were not available at the airport, adjacent to the imported package and me. The volumes were available in the Library of the Customs and Excise Department in the city, (25 minutes away), open 10 until 2, Mondays and Thursdays. So far so good.
With a correctly completed form (eventually), including the correct code, I discovered that it was necessary to pay duty. No duty was payable on the package in question. Or more precisely, $0.00 was payable. You must attach a cash register receipt for the amount of duty payable. In this case, $0.00. No problem.
Cash register for payment of duty is open daily 10 to 3. At the time I discovered this, it was 3.40 p.m. Back tomorrow. Join the queue.
What was the cost of importing 2kg of seed?
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Purchase price $US100 |
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Parking at airport waiting for customs forms A$ 6 |
This figure does not include the increased costs of medication for me (and the taxi drivers and Customs employees) due to high blood pressure.
Like Jack and the beanstalk, I had parted with a good deal of money and all I had was a small packet of seeds.
But wait. I had faxed many other seed companies, as well. Four more 2kg packages arrived on separate occasions. Knowing the ropes by now, the process of customs and quarantine was a little more bearable. Four times I queued at the cash register for a receipt for the duty payable. $0.00.
How easy everything is if we take it one problem at a time.
I have since learned, incidentally, that importations through the mail do not need a cash register receipt for $0.00.
Knowing nothing about plants, I consulted with a friend who had a glasshouse so we could germinate the seeds, grow the seedlings, transplant them, etc. No problem.
But that's another story......
Any claims made by authors in the Australian New Crops Newsletter are presented by the Editors in good faith. Readers would be wise to critically examine the circumstances associated with any claims to determine the applicability of such claims to their specific set of circumstances. This material can be reproduced, with the provision that the source and the author (or editors, if applicable) are acknowledged and the use is for information or educational purposes. Contact with the original author is probably wise since the material may require updating or amendment if used in other publications. Material sourced from the Australian New Crops Newsletter cannot be used out of context or for commercial purposes not related to its original purpose in the newsletter
Contact: Dr Rob Fletcher, School of Land and Food, The University of Queensland Gatton College, 4345; Telephone: 07 5460 1311 or 07 5460 1301; Facsimile: 07 5460 1112; International facsimile: 61 7 5460 1112; Email:
r.fletcher@mailbox.uq.edu.au[
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GK; latest update 6 June 1999 by: RF