[Milsurplus] Homeland Security - My Real Life Experience

[jan at skirrow.org]

I had a problem a couple of years back that may be relevant to folks who 
want to bring their stuff into Canada.

I was bringing some R390As back. At Canada Customs I declared them - had 
the invoice etc. I was told that there was a directive from Ottawa that 
prohibited the import of radios containing sensitive technologies. As it 
wasn't thought possible for the border guys to decide on their own, they 
had to call Ottawa with the specifics of the radio and wait for direction.

They did this, and there was a lot of fuss around the telephone in the back 
office. After about half an hour the guy came back and showed me the 
directive. He said they had tried to call the number and got a recorded 
message that said, basically, that the person who should have answered, had 
quit and no one had taken over the function. So the Customs guy didn't know 
what to do.

We discussed the radio (50s-60s tube tech) and explored the directive's 
statements about what was prohibited. These included any encryption 
technology, any satellite up link capabilities and any self-destruct 
mechanisms. We looked at one of the R390As and agreed that there was 
nothing hidden in all the tubes that might violate the directive.

In the end, all that was needed was patience. However, I learned one other 
thing - I had to convince the guy that the radio didn't transmit - only 
people with a legitimate radio license may import a transmitter into 
Canada. So the Customs guy suggested always having a copy of my ham licence 
with me if I was importing transmitters, or any radio just to avoid the 
whole problem of whether or not it could transmit.

As I said, this has happened only once - but there are so many rules these 
guys are supposed to follow, and so little support from head office - that 
you can expect some difficulties from time to time. In my case, it was an 
experienced officer who had a vague memory of a relevant directive.

The only routine question I've had in returning to Canada with military 
stuff has to do with weaponry - whether I had any weapons, any parts for 
weapons, any ammunition etc. This is only asked when I mention military 
surplus at the border. Our laws are really tough on such things, and 
Americans are regularly relieved of their firepower coming across the border.

As far as going out of Canada, I have never had problems with US Customs, 
and would normally stop at Canada Customs on the way down and get a little 
green card that describes the item I am taking out of Canada But expect to 
bring back. These cards take some time to get but avoid any question about 
whether or not I bought a radio in the US and thus might owe taxes on return.

FWIW

73s, Jan



At 12:00 PM 5/12/04, W2AGN wrote:
>Just subscribed to this list. Thought there might be some discussion of
>Military Radios. I use a BC-348 (with a old Heath AT-1 transmitter), a
>GRC-9, a PRC-47 (converted for LSB) and an RT-91/ARC-2. Haven't tried to
>go to Canada with any of them though.
>
>Somebody tell me where the list is about Military Radios, their use,
>conversion, mods, etc?
>
>---
>   _    _    _    _    _  John L. Sielke
>  / \  / \  / \  / \  / \ http://w2agn.net
>( W )( 2 )( A )( G )( N )w2agn at w2agn.net
>  \_/  \_/  \_/  \_/  \_/
>OK, QRPTTF was GREAT, now don't miss LAITF!
>http://www.amqrp.org/contesting/laitf.html
>_______________________________________________
>Milsurplus mailing list
>Milsurplus at mailman.qth.net
>http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/milsurplus



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