Tax and Customs Board has set aside items confiscated at border – quite an exhibition: knives; other sorts of weapons; counterfeit brand clothes, shoes and perfumes; animal skins... These the travellers have attempted to bring along, knowingly or in their innocence.
For breach of customs rules, the law prescribes fines or arrests, and the goods may be confiscated.
Among its top dangerous items, the exhibition features electroshock weapons – forbidden in Estonia yet allowed in some nations. «As people see these on sale they assume it is all lawful, but every state sets its own rules. As exception, only truncheons may be brought but these are only accepted as service weapons and have to be registered in the name of a company; a private person may not use these,» said Customs Board chief specialist Aleksander Miksjuk.
Guns and knives
Another popular item is anti-radar – a device to set on dashboard of a car to interfere with police apparatuses trying to measure their speed. «In Russia, these are totally legal but not in Estonia – if found in use, these will be confiscated,» said Mr Miksjuk.
Knives are allowed across the border with blades up to 8.5 centimetres. Weapons may not be masked as other items – the exhibition includes a knife-blade craftily concealed in a comb.
Tax and Customs Board advises that when buying something people make sure the products are not fakes. Usually, clothes, footwear and accessories claiming popular brands are manufactured from cheap materials. As an example of that, fake Versace sunglasses have been brought into Estonia which do shield the eyes from bright sunlight while providing no protection from UV radiation – thus lacking the real effect.
With footwear, the filling of the sole may be of poor quality thus the sole will sink in time. Fake perfumes, however, may not be safe – no-one save the maker would know what has been put in there so the user may encounter chemicals causing allergy or irritation of skin.
Mobile phones and other electronics are being falsified as well and none will guarantee these meet the EU safety requirements. Often, Chinese products do sport the quality mark but may not comply in reality. Phone batteries have been known to explode while held in hand.
«For the most part, the technology devices will work, but with Samsung for instance their trade mark is protected, and with iPhone also the shape. Thereby, counterfeits are easier to detect,» said Mr Miksjuk.
«When people wish to bring in electronics, the product must undergo expert analysis in Estonia. For a private person, this spells loss of money and time as expert analysis and storage of the item come with fees. The product will not be allowed across the border until the document exists regarding it complying with requirements,» said Mr Miksjuk.
«In case of doubt, we have recourse to the local representative of the brand. After that, patent attorneys carry out expert analysis. They know how a product needs to have been packaged. With perfumes, for instance, there may be markings in the package revealing if this is original or not,» explained Mr Miksjuk.
There are other ways the genuine stuff may be marked. «Every pack of cigarettes comes with a code showing what market it was mean for. Same with footwear – on the inside, there is a label with product code providing information regarding who and when produced it. Often, the counterfeit mongers take any old label, make copies of it and stick the same on everything,» he said.
Mr Miksjuk gave a hint regarding knowing genuine Chanel perfume: a real Chanel usually comes with the tube inside straight, as it is cut to size of the bottle. The fakes don’t care too much and insert any tube they have. This is not the rule with all perfumes; rather, it depends on shape of bottle, the producer etc.
Estonia has ruled out entry for several accessories and medicines which include animal fats, plant extracts etc as some plants and animals are in danger of becoming extinct.
A private person may bring along items of crocodile skin. «These may be brought up to four items; with more, permission needs to be secured from the exporting country and Estonia,» said Mr Miksjuk.
Tax and Customs Board has held purses of python and cobra skin, and a stuffed cobra. Without special permission, none of that may be brought into Estonia.
With snake skin, counterfeit may also occur – they try to use some widespread type of snake to which certain shape and pattern are added by wire and paints.
Medical products sometimes come with animal parts used. If the species are endangered, it matters not how much of it is contained – the product may not cross Estonian border.
«Rhinoceros horn is widespread, costing tens of thousands of euros. Mostly, the animal is killed for one reason only – once the horn has been removed, the dead rhino is left lying around in the savannah,» explained Mr Miksjuk.
For the man in the street, genuine ivory is hard to discern. At times, what they may sell is plastic. But there was this black bracelet which looks like any old plastic but is actually sea turtle shell.
If an individual has by own hands picked up a horn, hair or some other detail of an animal somewhere, he must be able to prove in the country of location that the animal was not killed for that. For instance: a porcupine quill may seem such an innocent find, but the animal is under protection. Bringing that along from a safari, one must show up at a local state agency and apply to bring it along. Upon arrival into Estonia, licence for import must be acquired.
Concealing contraband
People are inventive. As we know, only two packs of cigarettes may be carried across the border. Thus, this guy had stuffed the rest in a cake.
Such cheats are caught in various ways – the person may be familiar from a former encounter, or a product will look suspicious. Thus it is X-rayed and insides will show. An interesting idea was a jerrican built as a suitcase – to carry vodka.
«If a vehicle is rebuilt to bring products like with double walls or floor, the vehicle is confiscated. On certain conditions it is possible to get it back if it can be restored to its earlier self. As a rule, however, it will not be returned,» says Mr Miksjuk.
Tax and Customs Board wants all to know that while at some market place in Thailand, just to make sure, people better call their info phone back in Estonia to get some initial details on whether it is a good idea to buy the thing or would it rather lead to trouble. Also, when in doubt about what and how much to bring along and carry out while travelling, better speak to the embassy where they provide better information than websites.