Goods to Follow lists - will differences make a difference?????
 

Ok so I'm lying in bed thinking of the million and one things to do and about our new life in VI and it suddenly dawned on me that our Goods to Follow list that we took with us last March, will be radicaly different from the actual goods that we now want to take with us.

Basically what has happened is that when we left in March to land in Toronto we intended to sell everything and just take the basics. The GTF list reflected this.
After much thought and also takng the advice of others on this forum we have decided now to hire a shipping container and take most of our belongings with us.

This means that the Goods To Follow list we had stamped last March will be different to what we physically want to take. Can I fill out a new GTF when we actually move or am I bound by the one thats already been processed?

Tom

Re: Goods to Follow lists - will differences make a difference?????
 

When we landed we had our goods to follow list stamped, then when our container arrived I had to go to the local customs office with my list which they checked through, one of the questions the officer asked was "Other than what's written down here is there anything else to follow?" I answered no of course and everything went though ok. As far as my own experience goes and if it were me I would check with the Canadian customs people on that, my guess is you'll have to do another. Either way it's best to always tell the truth and be as up front as possible.

Re: Goods to Follow lists - will differences make a difference?????
 

I think, (what I would do anyway), the best thing would be to make up a new list which shows items that are additional to the ones on your original list, and present that plus the original list when you arrive at customs, and explain why you have all the extra. Then when your stuff comes, the customs officer will have everything listed.

I don't think it will be a problem so long as you are up-front about it, as Steve said.

Re: Goods to Follow lists - will differences make a difference?????
 

My understanding is that, once your Goods To Follow list has been stamped, you cannot add stuff to your shipment and expect that additional stuff to enter Canada duty-free. In other words, I believe you would be charged import duty on additional items that had not been included in your Goods To Follow list.

Here is

Memorandum D2-2-1

Ottawa, February 3, 2006

Settlers' Effects - Tariff Item No. 9807.00.00

Paragraph #39 of the Goods To Follow section states:
If I were you, Tom, I would find out how much import duty I would be charged, and I would use that in my calculation of whether or not it was worth shipping my possessions from the UK to Canada.

Under normal circumstances, I am an advocate of shipping furniture from the UK to Canada, all the more so if it is good quality furniture. But that presupposes that the settler has listed all of their household effects on their Goods To Follow form.

If they have not listed their possessions on their Goods To Follow form, it changes the equation, and the numbers need to be re-calculated.

If you want to phone Canada Border Services Agency from outside of Canada, you would need to call
or

Re: Goods to Follow lists - will differences make a difference?????
 

You get two tax free shots at bringing your stuff here: One is when you land & carry stuff, the 2nd is when your stuff follows. After that you may have to pay tax on items in the inventory list. Watch out for carrying stuff described as "tools required for my trade". I got lucky when I came here because the customes woman closed the lid of my case & said "I didn't see that" otherwise I would have had an unholly mess & a ton of tax to pay. Always remember that movers here are like garage mechanics in the UK (crooks!). ie: they will take anything they can get at so if you absolutely cannot loose small items of value do not pack them & ship them! Locking the container or crate is no protection as customs will often open it all up.

Re: Goods to Follow lists - will differences make a difference?????
 

easy for me to say, but i would not worry too much, on landing the list was briefly glanced at and discounted. the shipment arrived and came direct to us, i never even went/spoke to customs, when i queried this with the agent, she told me she would be giving them a quick ring and not to worry. the list still sits with me unviewed and i have all my stuff.

Re: Goods to Follow lists - will differences make a difference?????
 

I landed at YVR and honestly could not get anyone there to even look at my GTF list, let alone actually stamp it.

Anyway, i forwarded a copy to my shipping company and they cleared my shipment thru customs and delivered it to me without any problems.

I did not have to go to the port, or customs, or anything. Was all very easy. Of course, didnt feel it at the time, i was totally fraught in case my container got pulled for inspection, etc, but was all fine.

Re: Goods to Follow lists - will differences make a difference?????
 

Tom, please do come back and tell us what you've decided to do.

If you decide to ship a container's worth of belongings, please do come back and let us know how that worked out too.

Re: Goods to Follow lists - will differences make a difference?????
 

When I had my shipment processed by customs the shipping agents who handled it asked me to send them a list of items and values and were actually surprised that I was organised enough to have a stamped goods to follow list. So it may not matter.

Also, at the end of the day I believe the tax is only a few percent, so unless you're sending over some really expensive items you may still be better off sending them and paying a bit of tax if need be.

Re: Goods to Follow lists - will differences make a difference?????
 

Hi Judy
I will do, thanks for the phone numbers, I'll give them a call and suss it out. Being Scots' my nature is to ship the goods over and take a chance on the tax thingy......I 'll make a further posting once I call the customs guy tomorrow evening and let you know what they say.

thanks again , as usual your advice is superb.

Re: Goods to Follow lists - will differences make a difference?????
 

Thanks for the info, thats kinda what I want to hear.......don't know if that would be the case 100% of the time though. Can I ask who your moving company was?

thanks for taking the time to reply.

Tom

Re: Goods to Follow lists - will differences make a difference?????
 

No problem, was only in July that i moved over, so well relate to how stressful it all is.

I used Allied Pickfords, and although i found it stressful at the time, my goods were delivered within their stated timescale, and with no problems at all. The agent this end was Williams Moving who were excellent.

Re: Goods to Follow lists - will differences make a difference?????
 

Thanks Robski,

I've trawled through the forum and there are not many who have a bad word to say about Pickfords...wil call them tomorrow for a quote.

Tom

Re: Goods to Follow lists - will differences make a difference?????
 

Once you have all your quotes in, dont forget to get them to negotiate. I played them all off against each other and saved another £400. :D

Re: Goods to Follow lists - will differences make a difference?????
 

my shipping will be handled by williams on this side as well... thanks for the feedback about them, robski.

just getting through the paperwork (shipment should arrive in vancouver on november 15th :eek:). on their fast track customs declaration they advise landed immigrants to contact cbsa if they are shipping more goods than they have on the stamped goods to follow list.

since my shipping inventory and my stamped goods to follow list are exactly the same i can't really help you. but good luck with whatever you decide to do.