I'm wanting to take a Thermal Scope with me to Zim at request of my PH. I'm not exporting but for personal use only. What I've read some people have had no issue, others varied. What's the general take here? Thanks in advance.

Thermal devices are typically covered by ITAR regulations and cannot be taken out of the country (for any reason) without extensive paperwork. That generally is true for night vision, although after Biden left >10K NV rigs in Afghanistan that seems moot. Likewise, when I was at Customs/Border Patrol Thursday to get a 4457, they had a notice posted that one needs an export permit to take a suppressor out of the country. This area is so cloudy and complicated that one likely needs legal counsel from an attorney familiar with ITAR, exports, and the like.

I believe that England has it covered.

The Location of departure and arrival will make a difference on what customs does.

For a New items like a Nikon & Leica cameras, i was asked where I purchased it. I was on top of this as I did have a 4457 for each item. I had visited with customs before I traveled to Africa the first time and it was suggested that I have a 4457 for the items..

If the item you are taking was manufactured in the USA, I was told you do not need a 4457. However if the item is made out of the USA you would need a 4457.

Sometimes, it is less trouble to leave it home.

No ITAR products out of USA, good luck getting permit .

Which countries are you flying through to get to Zim? If you have a few hours in the UK or possibly South Africa you can easily arrange to collect one there as not all countries have such stupid gun laws as the USA. There are no restrictions on things that can't kill people like sound moderators or thermals.
I don't think there are restrictions on bringing a thermal into the States, only taking one out. Import tax?

quote:

Originally posted by England:
Thermal devices are typically covered by ITAR regulations and cannot be taken out of the country (for any reason) without extensive paperwork. That generally is true for night vision, although after Biden left >10K NV rigs in Afghanistan that seems moot. Likewise, when I was at Customs/Border Patrol Thursday to get a 4457, they had a notice posted that one needs an export permit to take a suppressor out of the country. This area is so cloudy and complicated that one likely needs legal counsel from an attorney familiar with ITAR, exports, and the like.

Don't even try to bring a suppresor into Canada.

quote:

Originally posted by England: Likewise, when I was at Customs/Border Patrol Thursday to get a 4457, they had a notice posted that one needs an export permit to take a suppressor out of the country.

It's kind of sad that this was posted at a CBP office being it is not correct. I do question the statement (not made by England) about not being able to "export" an ITAR item, a firearm is an ITAR item and can be taken and brought back, so why not a thermal scope? In my mind you're not truly exporting anything if your bringing it back, but I also do not fully understand the laws in this area.

CBP at DFW told me ITAR applied to thermal scopes and also to some conventional Nightforce scopes, permit required.

Many different scopes are covered under ITAR.

I thank everyone for their input. I believe I'll forget it for several reasons.

I went through the red tape.

Per US Department of State, Zimbabwe is a country that you are not allowed to take one.

While I certainly think that they can be carried in and more often than not no one would notice it, and further that many of them are made in places that don't follow our rules, in any case, its not worth the potential downside to violate US law.