I am writing this while I am on the phone to a customs officer in Australia.
His english isn't very good and he does not have the faintest idea of what I need, nor does it help that I have told him exactly which form I need.
Now the phone rings beetween offices while he fumbles around on the other end.
A recorded message with soft jazz music it telling me
"Customs uses a number of measures to prevent terrorist and weapons of mass destruction from entering Australia" in a soft and happy voice.

In the end he was not able to give me the form and suggested I ring the police.

I didn't realize it had gotten this bad.

Express
Easier to just go to their website and lift the forms from there.
Any email queries I have had are usually handled promptly and to the point.
APB

Two recent experiences I've had with Aussie customs.

1. Had an unchambered, unthreaded barrel shipped from the US to Bob de Vries. Does not require the B709A. Customs asked for one anyway. When querried they insisted the barrel was threaded and required the form. This got me going a little and I ended up calling the US manufacturer to find out why they threaded the barrel. De Vries sent Customs the form they wanted. When it finally arrived of course it wasn't threaded at all. What a waste of time!

2. Had a shipment of components sent from the US. I always knew that it would require the B709A but what Customs listed on the notice didn't correspond with my order. Finally sorted that out. When I tried to pay the GST the only bloke who could deal with it was on holidays. No-one else at the mail intercept office could help, it was all too complicated! Another week's delay.

I fly in and out of the country with firearms every year. Trying to get the paperwork done is just getting to be a circus.

So Joe, your frustrations with Customs are definately shared here.

When I imported a bolt action the Customs people were clueless. They had put me on to the firearms " expert", who thought the receiver was the action and I did not have ann import permit for the bolt!
It took a lot of work to convince them that the action was a bolt plus receiver.
Mark

i havent had any problems with them as they know me now,after importing over 5000proj last year they just groan when they see me...i think there are a few anti gunners there
daniel