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.  

As we near the arrival of the 6 cars in China, the necessary legal and financial pieces of the puzzle are coming together to make a picture of Morgan car business in China as a fully legal and commercial enterprise. Little did I know that we had been shadowing the cars while on vacation in Singapore. MOFCOM issues the licenses will allow goods to enter China under a particular classification; in our case class 38 which is for automobiles. The importance of this document is that the goods can be resold by our WOFE, which has the wholesale rights in China for Morgan brand cars. On Feb 20th we received the MOFCOM issued Automatic Import Licenses for the 6 cars - a pair per license. This means that the price paid , specifications and duties are known and the cars should clear customs upon payment. We still have to effect the inspection for road use, which we shall do under the low volume import regulations. However, customs clearance should be painless. We were able to secure these licenses by using our 10 digit import company code; unique to ourselves and for the Morgan cars. Automatic import license issued by MOFCOM                         We had been in Singapore from 7-19th Feb and I had looked out to sea thinking that our cars could be out there on one of the ships harboured in the S. China Sea. Sure enough today I had confirmation of the itinerary. The 6 cars were in the docks while we enjoyed the some rest and recuperation in Singapore. Container TRLU645540-5 has been loaded on board vessel HYUNDAI SPLENDOR 021 E. Date/Time of Loading (approximate):                                 20 Feb 2013, 16:55 Local Port of Transshipment:                                              Singapore Carrier:                                                                       OOCL-OOCL Shipper Name:                                                       Morgan Motor Company Ltd Forwarder Name:                                                     MJS Shipping and Transport Ltd Consignee Name:                                                     Malvern Morgan Cars(Beijing)Co Ltd Booking Number:                                                     3068884260 Shipper Reference Number:                                    00001411-13002, MJS1391 Origin:                                                             Southampton,Southampton,England,United Kingdom Port of Load:                                                       Southampton Departure at Port of Load:                                          21 Jan 2013, 05:20 GMT (actual) 1st Vessel Voyage:                                                  APL CHONGQING 006 E Arrival at Transshipment Port:                              14 Feb 2013, 15:45 Local (estimated) Transshipment Port:                                                 Singapore Departure at Transshipment Port:                        20 Feb 2013 08:15 Local (estimated) 2nd Vessel Voyage:                                                  HYUNDAI SPLENDOR 021E Arrival at Transshipment Port:                             02 Mar 2013, 17:00 Local (estimated) Transshipment Port:                                                 Busan Arrival at Port of Discharge:                                 Local (estimated) Port of Discharge:                                                  Xingang Final Destination:                                                  Xingang,Tianjin,China Container Number:                                                   TRLU645540-5 Container Type:                                                     40' General Purpose Container Cargo Nature:                                                       Dangerous Quantity:                                                           1 Package Description of Goods Declared by Shipper:                           Morgan motor vehicles Cargo Nature:                                                       Dangerous Quantity:                                                           1 Package Description of Goods Declared by Shipper:                           Morgan motor vehicles