What is a Carnet?

If you are visiting Australia on a vacation and you would like to bring your vehicle to travel around the country, you can apply for a Carnet in your country of residence.
A Carnet de passage en Douane is an international agreement that allows an individual visiting Australia to import a vehicle without paying any import duty or tax, providing the car is exported back to the country of residence within 12 months. On arrival your vehicle will still need to be inspected by a government approved facility to ensure that it is roadworthy.
A carnet provides all of the pertinent information about the vehicle, such as the make, model, colour, engine capacity, seating capacity, registration number, owner and value. Carnets can be obtained for motor vehicles, motorbikes, campervans, four wheel drives, caravans, trailers as well as machinery.
Did you know that you can also import your vehicle to 25 different countries with the same carnet during that 12 month period! All that is required is for the carnet to be stamped by customs on arrival and departure to each place. Keep in mind that the vehicle covered by a carnet must not remain in Australia when the owner is not in the country.
We recently had a customer who wanted to bring his campervan to Australia from Europe so that he could go on a road trip discovering the sites of Australia. He was very happy to have his campervan to drive during his holiday, and is planning to take the camper to New Zealand next on the same carnet.
If you would like help or further information in obtaining a carnet, our logistics company can provide assistance. Please contact Rebekah at Red Nav on 08 9303 2110.