luvtoyota:

How many days does it take for custom to clear the car ? 45 days ? From what I gather , if customs doesn't clear , the car is not booked for sailing .

Tell me from your experience

BizBooks: This replaces my earlier attempt to outline the processes involved in shipping a car to Nigeria.

This instruction is written for the benefit of the individual expecting a car from the US either via RORO or container. It may help you figure out when somebody is telling you “stories”. The steps outlined here refer to the US market but may be similar for Canada, Europe and Asia.

1. The first step in the shipping process is the completion of the dock receipt. A dock receipt is a form obtained from shipping companies and contains the names and addresses of the shipper and receiver, car details, title number, VIN etc.

2. Once the shipping company receives the completed dock receipt, they will process it and send back to you in a day or two. The processed dock receipt will be slightly different from the one you originally sent to them and will include the Port where your car should be dropped off.

3. Upon receipt of the processed dock receipt, make 6 copies and also 6 copies of the car’s title (front and back). 6 copies appear to be the standard as every shipping company I have dealt with asked for the same number. If you forget to make the copies, you may have to pay $1 per copy at the Port.

4. Take your car to the Port along with the documents. The Port staff will accept your car, stamp the documents and return one stamped and signed dock receipt to you. The stamp will include the date the car was brought to the Port. Remember, unlike Europe, US Customs will not allow any goods inside the boot or interior of the car. But they may allow items meant for the car eg tyres, engine oil, bumper etc. I specifically mentioned these three because I have included them in the past without any problem.

5. By now, you must have known the date your vessel is scheduled to set sail. But if you don’t, call the shipping company and get that. A day after the vessel is supposed to have sailed, call the shipping company and find out if that indeed did happen. If not (which actually happens more often than not), they will give you a new date if available. But if the ship sailed as scheduled, then you should be receiving a notice to pay the shipping fee 4 or 5 days later.

6. Once you receive the notice, it means that your Bill of Lading is ready. Do not delay, pay the shipping fee as soon as possible. Some shipping companies will give you the option of paying via direct deposit. If that is not available, send a cheque via next day delivery. Upon receipt of your payment, they will send the Bill of Lading to you. Also, some shipping companies will give you the option of paying $20 extra to receive the Bill of Lading via courier. I normally select this option if I can’t afford to wait for the normal 5 day Post Office delivery. The goal is to receive the Bill of Lading as soon as possible so you can send it to Lagos to avoid incurring demurrage.

7. Once you receive the Bill of Lading, make a copy for your records. Then send all the originals via courier to your clearing agent in Lagos. While your agent awaits the arrival of the originals, email him a photocopy so he can start talking to his Customs contacts. When sent via Fedex or UPS, the Bill of Lading usually arrives Lagos in 5 – 7 days. Do not send it any other way apart from courier unless you have somebody traveling to Lagos.

8. Upon receipt of the Bill of Lading, your agent will tell you if the vessel is already in Lagos or not. If it is, he will begin the clearing process. If not, he will tell you when it is expected to arrive. Stay in constant contact with your agent or he may leave your car and work on other pressing tasks.

Finally, if you are in Nigeria waiting for your car, you may not have much control over items 1 - 7. But you will get an idea of what to ask for once somebody tells you they have shipped your car. If you don’t ask for anything else, ask for a copy of the stamped dock receipt. It will include the name and phone number of the shipping company, the name of the vessel, Port and date of departure etc. With that information, you can call the shipping company any time and get the facts. If your shipper refuses to provide you with the stamped dock receipt, then there may be a problem.

P.S: If it ever gets to the point of calling the shipping company, most of them will only require the last 6 digits of your car's VIN number. So have that ready when you call.

Others should feel free to include any points I missed.

BizBooks:

When you say "if customs doesn't clear, the car is not booked for sailing.", I assume you are referring to US Customs. If that's the case, here's my experience:

In the past 3 years, I have shipped more than 30 cars to Nigeria. During that time frame, US Customs rejected my car only once due to an un-signed lien release. So if your documents are complete and proper, US Customs can process and approve them in a short period of time (usually less than a week).

Lakehay21: Pls can someone advise me on the documents that my clearing agent needs in order to clear my truck from the port.
Also as I am shipping from Belgium, Is it okay to let the shipping agency to ship the original documents of the vehicle to Nigeria or should I have it sent by post to NIgeria?

BizBooks:

Your agent will need the original Bill of Lading - BOL (that's all). You can get the BOL
from your shipping company after you have made full payment for the shipment. Some shipping
companies will offer to send the BOL to your agent but it is safer to do it yourself by
courier. Make sure you have a photocopy of the BOL before sending it to Lagos.

Also, to speed up the process, fax or email a copy of the BOL to your agent so he can start
the clearing process before the original arrives. Remember, Customs will only accept the
originals.

komekn: I'm not sure why this happens but it seems impossible in my experience to get a shippers agent to give me a definite shipping departure date and I'm not talking about 2/3 days out I'm talking weeks I have even had a three months wait...

BizBooks:

If you want a shipping line that will give you expected date of departure, try Sallaum
Group. I have been using them since 2009.

pobeaf:
Pls is it possible to buy a car without title and ship to Nigeria?

pobeaf:
Pls is it possible to buy a car without title and ship to Nigeria?