500 Pounds of Common Earth by Roman Vasseur
Roman Vasseur wrote:
Here is what happened: it seems the the driver/shipper from Romania managed
to cross both the Hungarian border and the Austrian Border acting as a
tourist and without having his cargo inspected. So it never got a T1 certificate
confirming its origin. The consignment, now in Vienna, is considered by
the shippers and customs as both non existent and illegal. The Eurotrack
people in Southend, who were expecting to receive the onward shipment
told me it was an 'object in limbo' because of its unwitnessed entry in
to the EU. The woman at Klusk Transport in Vienna is telling me that the
problem she is having is that, technically speaking, the consignment does
not exist and is therefore an 'illegal immigrant sitting in her warehouse,'
because it has not originated in the EU, nor is there any proof that it
originated from outside the EU. In her 14 years experience of moving goods
from Eastern Europe she has never known a shipment of this size to come
across the border without being stopped and inspected. When we discussed
whether the concern at customs might be that the earth was considered
an illegal import, I asked her to send just the box while the status of
the earth was decided. The earth could always be sent later. Her response
was 'No,' because the even crate has to be 'a something' and has to have
its origins classified if it is to travel within the EU. It is still 'a
nothing' and technically does not exist. It needs a name. It can not go
on to the UK without evidence that entered the EU at the Austrian border,
and so her suggestion was that consignment be shipped back to Hungary
by a separate company and then brought back across the border and inspected
by Austrian customs and issued with a T1. However, there may be a way
round it if we can organise air freight from Vienna to London. Don't ask
me how this solves the problem of the consignment's origins, identity
or existence, but they tell me it will work and only requires confirmation
from you that they can send the bill to ACI.
best R
The journey from Transylvania to London via Vienna was documented in a limited edition publication by Roman Vasseur. read more
The installation of this project at ACI represented change to the programme previously announced. read more
click here for detailed documentation on Roman's website
click for bigger pictures and captions
