Importing a non-CE boat into Europe

[southatlantic]

A complicated question for those of you familiar with European regs. My wife and I have recently retired and moved to the Algarve (Southern Portugal), so we are EU residents, now. We have been agonizing for a while over whether to bring over our boat, a very special (well, to us, anyway...) 9-year-old 46 ft power catamaran, custom built by a premium builder in Brazil, to ABYC and Brazilian ABNT standards. We think that we finally figured out how much VAT we will have to pay (a lot...), how to convert the genset and appropriate appliances from 60Hz to 50Hz and how to get the boat from Brazil over here.

However, we cannot find a straight answer on the question of the Recreational Craft Directive (RCD) standards, that need to be followed for the boat to be "CE-compliant". The regs say that boats less than 24m long may only be placed in the EU market or put in service within the EU if they meet the essential safety requirements set out in the RCD. The controversy is whether that means that if we bring our non-RCD boat to Europe we will never be able to sell it (tough one, but we are willing to live with that), or whether we will not be able to use it at all, even though it would be exclusively for our personal use. We have searched previous threads and found both views expressed.

Furthermore, we can find online agencies that offer services to register boats in less onerous jurisdictions (The Netherlands or Poland, for example) that do not seem to demand RCD/CE compliance for registration.

Can anyone shed light on this? Can a legally registered boat still be non-compliant?
Any inputs would be greatly appreciated!

[AlfaGTV]

Look up article 2 of the recreational craft directive 2013/53/EU:
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-cont...3L0053&from=EN

2. This Directive shall not apply to the following products:

vii) watercraft built for own use, provided that they are
not subsequently placed on the Union market during a
period of five years from the putting into service of
the watercraft;

[southatlantic]

Originally Posted by AlfaGTV

Look up article 2 of the recreational craft directive 2013/53/EU:
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-cont...3L0053&from=EN

2. This Directive shall not apply to the following products:

vii) watercraft built for own use, provided that they are
not subsequently placed on the Union market during a
period of five years from the putting into service of
the watercraft;

Thank you very much, good point, and very helpful link. However, just a bit further down, the Directive that you sent defines watercraft built for own use: “4) ‘watercraft built for own use’ means a watercraft predomi*nantly built by its future user for his own use;”

So, I conclude that a boat built for my own use by a custom boat builder would, not, unfortunately, qualify for the partial exemptions from the RCD... a real pity, as that exemption would help a lot (the engines and genset are Cummins and Kohler models sold in Europe and therefore, CE-compliant for emissions).
If I am misinterpreting it, please do let me know!

[boatman61]

As EU residents your boat is not required to be EU registered nor CE compliant.
You can maintain your current registration and avoid VAT & CE Compliance by taking it to Gibraltar or Tangiers for a weekend every 18mths to restart the 'Clock'.
The only time VAT & CE will matter is when you come to sell but even that can be bypassed by doing the transaction in Gibraltar.
However, I have heard that Portugal is considering changing the current tax laws for foreigners so this could change in the future.
Brexit is creating strain as the remaining 27 struggle to fill the financial hole our removed billions has created.. LOL

[MartinR]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Brexit is creating strain as the remaining 27 struggle to fill the financial hole our removed billions has created.. LOL

Instead of just firing 10% of the bureaucrats and going for a smaller budget

Anyhow, congratulations to the UK for it's independence

[George DuBose]

This seems to be a popular thread recently.

I sailed over my 1973 Pearson 36-1 in 2009 and kept her in a Dutch marina.

According to the rules as I understood them, since my boat was not in the EU before 1998, I had to pay VAT to the first country I landed in, but that was Ireland and the customs/immigration agent who came to meet me in Baltimore, Ireland, said "Keep the boat in Ireland, we don't care about that".

Well, I had intentions of cruising northern Europe and heard that the French and Norwegians were particularly interested in a VAT receipt. I had a low priced receipt for my US purchase, which the Dutch accepted with no question. I think I paid €1200 VAT.

Then I was concerned about the Post-Construction Assessment survey. I shopped around and had estimates from 3-4000 euros. I finally went with DCI, a Dutch certification company who initially wanted 3000 euros. I made a payment schedule and as the inspector found so few "defects" (I had to add gaskets to the cockpit lazarettes, fix butterfly valves to the ventilation holes, put a lock on the aft lazarette and remove the solar powered vent, put a switch on the bilge pump circuit in addition to the existing float switch and add a second "guard rail line" to the stanchions).

When I went to DCI to make the second 1000 euro installment after the inspector saw that I had repaired all the defects, I was wearing shabby clothes and cried "poor mouth" saying I had to sell my old timer car to pay for this inspection, the director said, "Just pay the second 1000 euro installment and you're done."

So the total I paid to legally import the boat into the EU was 3200 euros.

In 2017, I was cruising the French Atlantic coast and was boarded by French immigration and customs. When one of the agents was checking my VAT and PCA papers, she said I paid too little for the boat...

I told her that the boat wasn't so nice when I bought it, that was true.

So rather than sailing out of the EU every 18 months, I just bit the bullet and now I have no worries and my boat is rated RCD catagory "A" and is in fact a better boat then when she was new.

I wrote a little book about the whole saga of buying a boat in the US on eBay, sailing across to The Netherlands and doing the "import" dance for the EU.

https://www.amazon.com/Renovate-Sail.../dp/0988923483

[southatlantic]

Thank you! Very helpful, your experience gives me renewed hope that my boat could pass a post-construction assessment survey without too many modifications. I have just bought the Kindle version of your book, should be a very interesting one for someone in a similar situation like me.

[Welschrisby]

I am new to posting so please excuse me if this is the wrong place. I own a Cooper 416 currently moored in Mexico. She is a Canadian built boat, (has Victoria written across her transom) but is currently registered in Delaware USA. I plan to sail her back to Canada. Does anyone know if I will have to pay import duty, or taxes when I bring her into Canada? She cost me $20K US and I have spent about $40K repairing storm damage. I have nearly gone blind looking at the government site and found nothing useful. I would be very grateful for any information and advice. Thank you

[boatpoker]

Originally Posted by Welschrisby

I am new to posting so please excuse me if this is the wrong place. I own a Cooper 416 currently moored in Mexico. She is a Canadian built boat, (has Victoria written across her transom) but is currently registered in Delaware USA. I plan to sail her back to Canada. Does anyone know if I will have to pay import duty, or taxes when I bring her into Canada? She cost me $20K US and I have spent about $40K repairing storm damage. I have nearly gone blind looking at the government site and found nothing useful. I would be very grateful for any information and advice. Thank you

As a Canadian citizen on a Canadian built boat you'll be exempt from import duty but they will demand sales tax and they'll want it the instant you touch land.

Unless you intend to register or license the boat in Canada it will have to leave Canadian waters within one year.

[Welschrisby]

Thanks very much for your reply. And is this still the case given that I let her Canadian registration lapse and registered her in Delaware. Do you also know if they base the sales tax on some sort of black book figure or do they go by the purchase price? Or the purchase price plus and improvements repairs or upgrades? I bought her after she was de masted and have spent quite a bit on mast and rigging. Would that be classed as repairs? Is this also taxable?

Thank you so much in advance for your time.

[BM2023]

Originally Posted by southatlantic

Furthermore, we can find online agencies that offer services to register boats in less onerous jurisdictions (The Netherlands or Poland, for example) that do not seem to demand RCD/CE compliance for registration.

The ships registrar in the Netherlands does not require a CE Certificate, that is correct. In Poland they do and if the boat does not have one, a Tonnage Certificate, survey report or a brochure of the ship yard will do as long as all measurements are stated.

[boatpoker]

Originally Posted by Welschrisby

Thanks very much for your reply. And is this still the case given that I let her Canadian registration lapse and registered her in Delaware. Do you also know if they base the sales tax on some sort of black book figure or do they go by the purchase price? Or the purchase price plus and improvements repairs or upgrades? I bought her after she was de masted and have spent quite a bit on mast and rigging. Would that be classed as repairs? Is this also taxable?

Thank you so much in advance for your time.

I my opinion. Duty due should be based on your purchase price if you back it up with a bill of sale however ........ CBP are answerable to no one and they have infinite discretion.