Customs - Protecting Our Frontiers

Thank God for Customs, huh? You see them on TV saving us from drug importers and noxious weeds, they're going through our inbound parcels looking for illicit substances, contaminated goods, and golf tees.

Yes, golf tees. Apparently they are a quarantine item.

My wife received a package from Singapore the other day. It contained a packet of 4 golf tees that she won on EBAY (why do they say 'won' when you have to pay for it?). The package had been opened and there was a sticker on it saying the package had been inspected by Customs because it was believed to contain prohibited items. When she opened it, the bubble pack inside had been slit open and one of the tees was gone.

She rang the number on the sticker and eventually spoke to someone. Of course his first response was that the tee may have been missing when it was sent. Yeah OK. Well, there should be a red sticker on the package with the date and the id of the person who inspected the package. Nope, no red sticker. Oh that's strange...

Then he tells her how things work. I'm so glad we have these people protecting us. A customs officer opens the package and inspects the contents. They then forward the package, still open, to Australia Post and they then seal it. How many hands it passes through before the sticky tape comes out, he couldn't say.

So what's the process when something goes missing. Oh, well the first thing they do is HAVE A LOOK ON THE FLOOR!!! You have got to be kidding! It's common enough for them to drop the item they are examining on the floor that they have a 'process' for it?

Now I don't know about you, but I would be very upset if a package of white powder fell out of someone else's envelope onto the floor next to my golf tees. Which came from where? Next thing I know, I'm in jail on drug smuggling charges and the drug smuggler is teeing up at his favourite course with my hi-tech tees from Singapore.

What if there's contaminated soil there from a packet of seeds? They drop my goods in it, pick them up, brush them off, and put them pack in my envelope.

So what about the possibility that someone has lifted the tee from the package? She writes to Australia Post (because that's what Customs told her to do - they sealed the package so it's their fault). A person with only a first name, who is per 'The Manager', writes back and says unfortunately Australia Post cannot help with the enquiry because the item originated from another country. So we have to contact Singapore PO and have them ask our Customs what they did with the contents of the package.

I'm sorry but any vestige of confidence I had in these guys has now long gone.

The guy from Singapore felt sorry for my wife, so he sent another tee free of charge. It wasn't his fault but he did it anyway. The second package was opened as well. No red sticker. At least everything was intact. We think...

Well then there was the Lee Valley Bessey order.

Fumigated by AQIS at our expense.

All well and good except everything was VERY well sealed in a cardboard boxes.

Oh, "the noxious substance penetrates the cardboard".

Yeah right. :rolleyes:

Had a bottle of Japanese sake confiscated once....the accompanying note said theyd taken it because it was holy water...a banned substance. I went down to see the customs boys and told them to stick their noses into the top of the bottle.....once the guy had dried his eyes he agreed that it wasnt holy water.