bons

Has anyone imported a trailer into Portugal? Is it the same as a car in terms of needing to have owned it for six months, import duty etc.?

peterfc

I tried to import a Lynton Load Lugger trailer IMT told me i needed a Certificate of Conformity to Matriculate the trailer. Lynton told me the trailer was not made for the EU market and they couldn't supply a Certificate of Conformity. In the end i just sold it to a local builder and got myself a van.

bons

We're making sure we get a C.O.C with the trailer if we decided to bring it.

Rambling archer

You need to check the specifications - weight of trailer, weight fully loaded on spec - and number of axels, whether has braking etc etc - as PT rules are slightly different even to EU rules, never mind UK rules as to need to licence separately from car, be OK with driving licence type, insure as addition to car, or separately, etc etc. As for coming into PT as goods and chattels, then yes it is similar to the car, own more than 6 months and come into PT for residence within the time limits. Trailers for private vehicles are not encouraged in PT and those for businesses are complicated ...

You might end up bringing it in on the UK plates and retiring it as a chicken coop!

liveaboard

I had an English neighbor, he liked to use UK material for his house build, and was very much a DIY guy.
So every year when he came, he brought a trailer loaded with things.
He told me the cost of hauling the trailer home in fuel and ferry cost was more than its value; he had 4 of them standing in his yard.
All scrap.

Like Rambling Archer said, the PT road authorities make it difficult with trailers.
If the gross weight is under 300kg, you can use your car registration number, but you still need additional insurance.
And I think it still needs some sort of conformity, I'm not sure.
One day, the GNR will pull me over and educate me on that.

Midgo

I have a 22 foot saily boat with a trailer that I bought when living in Germany, So it has German plates and registration and I used to get it tested every year there.
Then I lived in UK for a while and when I moved back down here my friend bought boat and trailer down here from UK with his UK van with his van number plates on it
I looked into matriculating the trailer here, but as ever it just looked like opening a can of worms - needed proof of conformity (it was fabricated by a now defunct Dutch company in the 80's) then pay for inspections, the rules aren't well defined / interpreted subjectively, etc etc, the usual Portuguese Bureaucracy / corruption / rip-off / protected markets
I would also have to insure it and get it inspected every year even though I only use it once every two years or so.
So, now I keep it in a field and drive it to and from the boat yard with no boat on it and my car plates on, and use it as a 'cradle' when I lift her out in the boat yard. I'm taking a risk, I know.
If I need to transport the boat itself in the future I will pay for a transport of the boat on the trailer on a car transporter, cheaper and far easier
Unless its a really invaluable thing to have I wouldn't bother

bons

Thanks for all of your input, most helpful.

bons

Thanks for that. Did you have problems registering your boat in Portugal?

Midgo

I didn't, its still on the SSR
Again, inspections that are purely money making exercises etc etc
My PT friend had an 'inspection'. The inspector asked my friend on the dock if he had all the equipment on the list. My friend asked if he didn't want to look for himself and the inspector replied that there was no point as my friend could have just borrowed all the equipment for the test
Many PT friends have foreign flagged boats
Since the definition of a 'foreign boat' in the PT legislature is one from outside the EU, I relied on that. I think technically being resident here meant that I should have re-registered boat here, but I didn't
Now I don't know exaclt where I stand, and I am not sure that anyone really does.
If you find out anything, please let me know!