Carnet de Passages en Douanes
Posted by ActivityMaximum2055@reddit | overlanding | View on Reddit | 4 comments
Good afternoon everyone, new time poster here. I'm looking at doing an overland trip from London to Cape Town and then on to Nairobi. I'm having some trouble with the Carnet de Passages en Douanes. Please can anyone shed some light on how it all works and where to apply?
Thanks in advance
grecy@reddit
What questions do you have specifically?
I drove the same route.
Here's a background on the carnet system, happy to help with any direct questions you have https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Z0OfODby98
ActivityMaximum2055@reddit (OP)
Hey, thanks so much for your comment. Apologies, I realise my question was rather broad and vague.
Thank you for the video, its been really helpful. But from my understanding, the only countries you absolutely must have one is Egypt and Sudan. I'm not planning on going through those, so I question whether the Carnet is truly needed. The Carnet.org website lists countries as Carnet required, but the official CPD company in the UK, "CARS UK", has a different list. It's also important to note that I will be permanently importing my car into Kenya at the end of my journey, so according to the CARS team, I would need to discharge the CPD in Mozambique. I'd start in Morocco and hug the coast to the west as much as possible before heading down the west coast to Cape Town. So the countries I have been led to believe would really benefit from the Carnet is Cameroon, Congo and Nigeria?
Since you've done the journey, which countries did you find it made a huge difference? Would you do it without if you did it again? Its a huge cost which really hurts the trip planning.
The video you linked speaks of the disparity of issuers across the world which begs the question, is this just an antiquated system thats essentially milking money off unaware travellers (my cynicism showing here).
grecy@reddit
You are very welcome.
100% yes. It's stupid and painful, but some countries insist on it to stop people selling or dumping cars in their country without paying the correct taxes, etc.
These days Ghana is really much easier if you have one, but from my understanding it can still be done without. Cameroon, Nigeria and Congo are no problem without.
Namibia recently has started enforcing it, though people are giving mixed answers on if they get in without one or not. It seems "officially" it is required, but not always 100% enforced.
Kenya these days is pretty much 100% enforced you have to have one.
How are you importing and selling your car in Kenya? Are you up to date on all their rules for permanent import in terms of vehicle age and costs and all that? I don't suspect it's easy or cheap.
Galax8811@reddit
The purpose of the Carnet de Passages en Douane (CPD) is to ensure that you don't sell the vehicle in the country you're traveling in. When you apply, you must leave the value of your vehicle as a deposit (some people undervalue their vehicles to reduce the cost). You can get your money back when you return the CPD, which proves that the car is in a country that doesn't prohibit its sale under this system. If you have an accident in a country that requires the CPD, you must provide proof of the vehicle's destruction to get your deposit back.