Ethiopia and binoculars (4 Viewers)

[dalat]

Hi, any experience with binoculars and Ethiopian customs? I was just surprise reading in the Swiss embassies travel info that binoculars need to be registered. Is there a risk that they might be confiscated?

I plan to travel to Ethiopia for work. I will not go birding there, but I plan to do so right after on my next station in Rwanda. So while I won't need the bins in Ethiopia, I'd like to take them with me for Rwanda.

Florian

 

[Mono]

The UK Government advice is "binoculars cannot be imported to Ethiopia without prior approval ".

Reading various recent accounts, folk seem to have their binoculars confiscated on arrival, to be returned to them on departure, having to pay a storage charge. There is one account of a party managing to get their binoculars into the country but it took many hours of haggling and form filling spread over several days and the paying of an import fee of 40٪ of their value!

Of course none of the offical Ethiopian websites mention any of this!

 

[dalat]

to be returned to them on departure, having to pay a storage charge.

This would work for me, although still a hassle...

 

[Xenospiza]

This work for me, although still a hassle...

Jurek mentioned this as well. He could give details.

 

[AveryBartels]

My personal experience from March 2019 was fine. Both myself and my friend who arrived they day before me had no issues with our binoculars at customs.

 

[jurek]

I was on an organized tour in November, and we had a special representative from the ministry of tourism coming with a temporary import permit. Still, it took few hours and a strong no to get our bins.

However, if you are really serious, PM me.

 

[Butty]

it took few hours and a strong no to get our bins

What's a 'strong no'? And do you mean get your bins into the country and with permission to use them? - or get them back at the end of the trip having been deprived of them in the meantime?

However, if you are really serious, PM me.

Could you just say here what happened? I'm sure there are lots who would like as much info as possible on how likely they are to be able actually to see birds after they've committed weeks of their time and paid thousands of ££/$$ to get into the country,
If commercial, what company organized the tour?

 

[jurek]

What's a 'strong no'? And do you mean get your bins into the country and with permission to use them? - or get them back at the end of the trip having been deprived of them in the meantime?

Rockjumpers. Despite the representative from the ministry, the custom man still wanted to keep the binoculars. However, we firmly objected several times and finally got them. They are a bit flexible when faced with polite determination.

By the way, Ethiopia really shot itself in the foot. For few binoculars, they discourage whole tourism, and those few tourists who come will take the big foreign travel agencies, rather than directly local companies.

If you are going to Ethiopia and want more info, please contact me PM

 

[Butty]

Very very scary. And presumably means that, even if you do get your bins into the country, you're open to having them confiscated at any time if you accidentally bump into officialdom.
If this is really how it is, I could easily see tour companies cancelling tours and taking that financial hit rather than waiting for a tour to hit such a disaster in-country and then maybe facing even bigger claims for refunds/compensation. At the very least, they would have to be warning clients in advance that there is no guarantee that they would actually be able to bird on their birding tour!

 

[jurek]

Very very scary. And presumably means that, even if you do get your bins into the country, you're open to having them confiscated at any time if you accidentally bump into officialdom.

Here I don't think so. Nobody cared afterwards.

 

[Butty]

Why would they care?! - their trip (as it happened to turn out) worked out fine! 🙄
Or do you mean that no officials cared about your bins after that? Well that's good to know but it's certainly no proof that it couldn't happen if it's a formal part of the country's rules and regs.

 

[jurek]

do you mean that no officials cared about your bins after that?

That is what I meant. In fact, we once ran into lots of police because some important official arrived in the same hotel but nobody cared at all.

 

[Brummie]

I live in Addis and can confirm that this is a thing. I think it became an issue in the last couple of years due to the war in Tigray, as binoculars are considered to have potential military utility. I don't know if it will get better as the peace process continues - these things often have a life beyond their original design.

It's not a problem for me personally, as I have a diplomatic ID, so my bags aren't searched on arrival. But I wouldn't recommend others to bring in expensive optics. Also, I wouldn't recommend bringing any new-looking electronics or gadgets as you may be charged extortionate import duties.

However, I can confirm that using binoculars once already inside Ethiopia shouldn't be a problem (probably not wise within active conflict areas, though).

 

[DMW]

I live in Addis and can confirm that this is a thing. I think it became an issue in the last couple of years due to the war in Tigray, as binoculars are considered to have potential military utility. I don't know if it will get better as the peace process continues - these things often have a life beyond their original design.

It's not a problem for me personally, as I have a diplomatic ID, so my bags aren't searched on arrival. But I wouldn't recommend others to bring in expensive optics. Also, I wouldn't recommend bringing any new-looking electronics or gadgets as you may be charged extortionate import duties.

However, I can confirm that using binoculars once already inside Ethiopia shouldn't be a problem (probably not wise within active conflict areas, though).

You could do a roaring trade in binocular rentals - bring in a dozen high end pairs in your diplomatic bag, and rent them to tour groups...

 

[Brummie]

You could do a roaring trade in binocular rentals - bring in a dozen high end pairs in your diplomatic bag, and rent them to tour groups...

Currency and import controls present lots of juicy opportunities for those with the privilege to evade them (much more so than binocular rental). That's why those in power are typically so reluctant to let go of them.

 

[jurek]

That's how Ethiopia keeps itself in poverty. Confiscating tourist binoculars at customs brings maybe few 1000s to few bureaucrats. But it kills wildlife tourism sector worth 1,000,000,000s. Neighbouring Kenya lives off wildlife tourism.

One collects many such stories when travelling in Africa. I guess African bureaucrats are not more selfish or immoral than European ones. But I don't know why African ones don't put themselves in positions which allow growth of the rest of the country.

 

[Jeff Hopkins]

FYI, I'm scheduled to go on a trip to Ethiopia with Rockjumper in November. They've specifically asked for the model and serial numbers of the binoculars and camera which I intend to bring with me. Their ground agent will get pre-approval to bring them into the country and provide the info to customs. FWIW, I've asked for a copy of the paperwork and also a contact number for the ground agent in case something gets screwed up.

I also asked about bringing a laptop and they said bringing in a single laptop is allowed without pre-approval.

 

[Butty]

I'm scheduled to go on a trip to Ethiopia with Rockjumper in November . . .

Long time ahead... but it would be good if you could post your eventual immigration/bins experiences here post-trip 👍🏻

 

[Jeff Hopkins]

Long time ahead... but it would be good if you could post your eventual immigration/bins experiences here post-trip 👍🏻

I certainly will.

FYI, Rockjumper told me today they do not get a copy of the paperwork, so I will not have that with me. But they will provide contact info for the ground agent in case something goes wrong.

Additionally, they said that they have had three tours since early 2022. Their comments:

Things were far more complicated when we ran a tour in February 2022 a few months after the end of the most recent civil war. Since then, Forrest’s tour in late 2022 had no issues. David’s tour in early 2023 had some of the guests’ binoculars confiscated because the documents never made it from down the line at customs – but this was resolved and returned.

Not sure I like that last one, but it is what it is.

 

[Tomeitsparadise]

Rockjumpers. Despite the representative from the ministry, the custom man still wanted to keep the binoculars. However, we firmly objected several times and finally got them. They are a bit flexible when faced with polite determination.

By the way, Ethiopia really shot itself in the foot. For few binoculars, they discourage whole tourism, and those few tourists who come will take the big foreign travel agencies, rather than directly local companies.

If you are going to Ethiopia and want more info, please contact me PM

I tried to PM you, but not sure if I did it right. We are going there in a months time. Would love advice