Re: Stopped at the boarder

[Enzo Michelangeli <enzo@ima.com>]

On Tue, 1 Aug 1995, Richard Martin wrote:

> Until a few years ago, carrying software across the border from the states
> to Canada, one would only pay duty on the value of the media. Canadian
> Customs regulations did not recognise any value in the information
> contained on the floppies. I haven't actively exported/imported software
> in this manner recently (well, I carried 2.6ui to Mobile and back without
> realising it (or, indeed, ever putting it in a drive) and so broke ITAR)
> so I'm not sure how things stand currently.
> 
> I think they might actually have been convinced of the value of software.
> [Department of External Affairs and International Trade has been, as noted
> earlier. Danger of software, at least.]


As far as I know, under current GATT regulations software is not
considered a commodity, and therefore its import does not attract customs
duties. However, I'm not sure about the actual behaviour of the US
customs; from recent cases I can confirm that in the European Union and
South Africa that rule is respected.