Morgan car import to China The process of importing Morgan cars has now begun in earnest. On the 11th March the 6 Morgan cars, which comprise the first commercial consignment, docked in Tianjin after some 42 days at sea. On 19th March Erika and I traveled to Tianjin to drive the cars out of the containers. The Customs port is a vast warehouse complex on a spit in the Bohai sea. There are rows of cars waiting for clearing, or collection from this tax free zone.
The amount of paperwork required to clear these cars is daunting. Prior to their arrival we had to demonstrate that we have a level 2 service partner, which includes registered paint shop. Our service partners in Beijing don't have a paint shop, but our customs agent has one that we can use. The Certificates of Conformity have to be completed which list all the details of the cars. I am concerned about the engine numbers being inconsistent. MMC say that the numbers are not all the same format - I can't believe that BMW's sometimes have 8 and sometimes 12 digits. If this isn't right - the Plus 8's will be held up in customs due to an administration error which could have been avoided. Every day in customs is chargeable. Our first issue has been the
Vehicle Identification Number on the chassis of the cars. Modern-day Vehicle Identification Number systems are based on two related standards, originally issued by the
International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in 1979 and 1980; ISO 3779
and ISO 3780,
respectively. Compatible but somewhat different implementations of these ISO standards have been adopted by the
European Union and the
United States of America.
Apparently China appears to be adopting the VIN used by the USA, and we may have to recalculate all the VIN's for our cars.
Morgan car import to China The process of importing Morgan cars has now begun in earnest. On the 11th March the 6 Morgan cars, which comprise the first commercial consignment, docked in Tianjin after some 42 days at sea. On 19th March Erika and I traveled to Tianjin to drive the cars out of the containers. The Customs port is a vast warehouse complex on a spit in the Bohai sea. There are rows of cars waiting for clearing, or collection from this tax free zone.
The amount of paperwork required to clear these cars is daunting. Prior to their arrival we had to demonstrate that we have a level 2 service partner, which includes registered paint shop. Our service partners in Beijing don't have a paint shop, but our customs agent has one that we can use. The Certificates of Conformity have to be completed which list all the details of the cars. I am concerned about the engine numbers being inconsistent. MMC say that the numbers are not all the same format - I can't believe that BMW's sometimes have 8 and sometimes 12 digits. If this isn't right - the Plus 8's will be held up in customs due to an administration error which could have been avoided. Every day in customs is chargeable. Our first issue has been the Vehicle Identification Number on the chassis of the cars. Modern-day Vehicle Identification Number systems are based on two related standards, originally issued by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in 1979 and 1980; ISO 3779 and ISO 3780, respectively. Compatible but somewhat different implementations of these ISO standards have been adopted by the European Union and the United States of America. Apparently China appears to be adopting the VIN used by the USA, and we may have to recalculate all the VIN's for our cars. 