Exporting a rifle to South Africa?

I am new to the site. Just returned from S.A. Fantastic trip! I am an FFL here in the states and was wondering if someone could walk me through the actual process of exporting a rifle or rifles to S.A. ?

Thanks,
SeconHandLion5

Welcome to AH SeconHandLion5! By exporting, do you mean taking a rifle with you on a hunt or permanently exporting a rifle to South Africa?

Here are a couple of links in regards to traveling with firearms:
- Importation or Transiting Procedures Through Countries with Weapons & Ammunition
- Laws & Regulations for Hunters Traveling with Firearms and Ammunition or Bows and Arrows

Here is some info on export:
- http://www.africahunting.com/before-after-hunt/4676-rifle-tip-ph.html

Thanks Jerome,
Sorry, I mean permanently exporting sporting rifles. I am building a 458 African Express for a PH friend of mine in S.A. and I will of course need to be able to transfer it to him when it is done. It's very possible that there will be others to follow so I don't really want to use a service, as the fees they charge per gun would be prohibitive. Thanks for any help any one can give me.

SecondHandLion5

Exporting of firearms and even gun parts out of United States is controlled by the Department of Defense, not the Department of State. There is a special permitting process that must be followed. I know this because I've been considering getting one of these permits for my own business, I have spoken to several lawyers over the years about the process. I have also seen what happens when this process isn't followed, at a minimum the loss of the merchandise, and more often than not a criminal prosecution on the federal level.

This is best handled by an exporter, a company or individual that already has a DOD permit and can apply for a dealer in South Africa to take possession. Some companies have affiliates in both places so they are the best ones to streamline this process. I know there are sporting goods stores in Johannesburg /Pretoria that handle this type of thing, I'd suggest simply to check with them to see if they can help. Your professional hunter should know who to call or certainly will know someone that does.

This S.A. dealer must be willing to do the following...

Once in S.A., the firearm will then be subject to permitting to the new owner by the South African government, and the firearm must remain in the posession pf the dealer until the paperwork clears, a process that can take years. I think My PH told me it took him 3 years to get his last rifle.

These forms can be found here on the Professional Hunters Association of South Africa's website... Sect 16A PH Status

What surprised me about this whole process was the "motivation" that the pH must write, a document describing why this firearm is absolutely necessary to his collection and why other firearms in his collection would not serve the purpose of this new one. Thank God for the Second Amendment.

Hope this helps...

i remember talking to a dealer in the states about them exporting some stuff, and he said as they wouldnt be exporting that much it wasnt worth trying to get the export licence, as it cost usd $5000.00 per year if you wanted one. dont know how accurate this was but it must be more now as this was a few years ago....

spike.t said:

i remember talking to a dealer in the states about them exporting some stuff, and he said as they wouldnt be exporting that much it wasnt worth trying to get the export licence, as it cost usd $5000.00 per year if you wanted one. dont know how accurate this was but it must be more now as this was a few years ago....

Click to expand...

I believe it's around $2000 / year or so for the U.S. permit, but haven't checked lately. Once one procures this permit (few months) one must then apply for another permit to transfer goods to the foreign entity (weeks), under your permit. These are annual as well, and (according to my export attorney) may be applied for to cover a year's worth of exports to that entity. In other words, if you think you'll be exporting 20 rifles to them this year, apply for 30 just in case. You can then use the permit to export UP TO 30 rifles. (or in my case riflestocks). I believe you can have as many foreign-entity permits attached to your master permit as they will approve, no limit other than the approvals.

It's called ITAR: International Traffic in Arms Regulations. Even exporting one single-shot sporting riflestock is regulated under this. In short, mailing a baseball bat with a couple holes drilled in it, even to Canada, falls under federal international arms trafficking regulation.

Here's the link: US State Department - Policy - Directorate of Defense Trade Controls

That been said, most of the big-box gun parts retailers like Midway and Brownells have permits in place. So do many larger parts manufacturers, if you are on friendly relations with one of them as a gun builder, they may be able to help as well.