car cigarette lighter

[jesbud69]

Howdy

I recently purchased a car cigarette lighter from the US.

Alas, for some reason customs wouldnt allow it .

Would anyone have some idea why?

[4channel]

Thanks dvd.horder. I didn't realize that lyndal1838 had also mentioned Global Shipping until some time after I posted. The bit I said about the electric guitar being confiscated by Pitney Bowes (Global Shipping owners) was told to us in the buying forum by padi*0409 about 3 years ago.

Because the OP hasn't come back yet to expand yet on what was said, it's hard to determine what went down and if it was customs or Pitney Bowes that were behind the confiscation.

I've had a bit of a look on line to see if there are any clues to why a car lighter would be confiscated. Is there a danger factor? In my time I have seen the push-in part of the lighter pop out and land on the floor of the car. I have a vague recollection of one landing on the seat or by my knee. Could it be a bit of a safety thing with the old lighters? There are some car lighters with the socket and insertion part that have a cord with USB plug on the end. Surely that's not an issue.

There are also some gun shaped car cigarette lighters like the one I'll try to show here or elsewhere  (due to this annoying invalid html message coming up) . I presume that it would be mounted on the area between the 2 front seats if the car has bucket seats. Or maybe on the dash. Anyway, that's probably stretching it a bit. I'm thinking that the OP may be talking about the traditional lighter.

One other fleeting thought I had was if the lighter had come from a care with a positive grounding. But would that be an issue and would it be picked up on by whoever has the say whether an item comes into the country or not. I don't know.

Below is an interesting article about this from Moss Motoring.

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Negative-Ground Lighter Socket in a Positive-Ground Car

October 1, 2012

I recently installed a cigarette lighter in my 1960 big Healey, in preparation for a trip that would need my Garmin and cellphone charger. I used the large hole where the windshield washer hand pump used to go (I had replaced that with an electric pump and pushbutton switch). Then it fortunately occurred to me that reversed polarity from the positive ground would likely be fatal to such things. Although reversing polarity in these cars is easy when they are stock, I have a positive-ground fuel pump and Pertronix ignition, and replacing them with negative-ground units would be expensive. (And I can’t use Moss’ new LED brake lamps either!)

To read more please click on the below link

https://mossmotoring.com/negative-ground-lighter-socket-in-a-positive-ground-car/

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I have to confess that I've never thought about the polarity issue with a lighter from a car with a different polarity set up. It would be a reckless thing to think ... "Oh it doesn't matter. Just connect it as you would any car lighter with the grounding being negatve". t's obvious that polarity is an issue! I once fixed a car radio for a guy . The radio had to be grounded positive. Some wierd old thing that had a harness and the monophonic radio could be taken out and used in the home. Pretty cool for the time!

Anyway, we'll see if the OP comes back with some more info to give us a better picture of what took place.

[countessalmirena]

Customs may be concerned as per the following legislation:

4S  Importation of lighters

             (1)  Subject to subregulation (2), the importation into Australia of a lighter is prohibited unless:

                     (a)  the person importing the lighter has:

                              (i)  completed a statutory declaration stating that a certificate of compliance, within the meaning of the American Standard, has been issued in accordance with that standard; and

                             (ii)  produced that statutory declaration to the Collector; or

                     (b)  the Minister has granted a permission in writing for the lighter to be imported.

             (2)  Subregulation (1) does not apply to a passenger, 18 years or older, importing no more than 5 lighters on a ship or aircraft.

             (3)  A permission granted under paragraph (1)(b) may specify:

                     (a)  the conditions or requirements to be complied with by the holder of the permission; and

                     (b)  the time, being a time either before or after the importation of the goods to which the permission relates, at or before which the condition or requirement is to be complied with by the holder of the permission.

             (4)  If the holder of a permission granted under paragraph (1)(b) is required to comply with a condition or requirement and the holder of the permission fails to comply with the condition or requirement, the Minister may, by writing, revoke the permission.

             (5)  In this regulation:

American Standard means the Consumer Product Safety Standard for Cigarette Lighters (16 CFR 1210):

                     (a)  set out in Part 1210, Title 16 of the Code of Federal Regulations; and

                     (b)  published in the Federal Register of the United States of America, Vol 58, No. 131, on 12 July 1993.

Disposable lighter means a flame producing device that is designed:

                     (a)  to light cigarettes, cigars or pipes; and

                     (b)  to be discarded when its fuel supply is exhausted, or to incorporate a separate container of fuel that is designed to be discarded when empty.

lighter means a disposable lighter, novelty lighter or refillable lighter.

Minister means the Minister administering Part 3‑3 of Schedule 2 to the Competition and Consumer Act 2010.

Novelty lighter means a flame producing device that is designed:

                     (a)  to light cigarettes, cigars or pipes; and

                     (b)  either:

                              (i)  to have an entertaining audio or visual effect (other than producing a flame) (for example, playing musical notes or displaying flashing lights); or

                             (ii)  to depict or resemble, in physical form or function, an article commonly recognised as appealing to, or intended to be used by, a young child (for example a cartoon character, drink, food, gun, musical instrument, toy, toy animal, vehicle or watch).

refillable lighter means a flame producing device that:

                     (a)  is designed to light cigarettes, cigars or pipes; and

                     (b)  is designed to be refilled with fuel; and

                     (c)  has a customs value, determined under section 159 of the Customs Act 1901, of $5 or less.

- Customs (Prohibited Imports) Regulations 1956

[instylecollectables]

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@countessalmirena wrote:

Customs may be concerned as per the following legislation:

4S  Importation of lighters

             (1)  Subject to subregulation (2), the importation into Australia of a lighter is prohibited unless:

                     (a)  the person importing the lighter has:

                              (i)  completed a statutory declaration stating that a certificate of compliance, within the meaning of the American Standard, has been issued in accordance with that standard; and

                             (ii)  produced that statutory declaration to the Collector; or

                     (b)  the Minister has granted a permission in writing for the lighter to be imported.

             (2)  Subregulation (1) does not apply to a passenger, 18 years or older, importing no more than 5 lighters on a ship or aircraft.

             (3)  A permission granted under paragraph (1)(b) may specify:

                     (a)  the conditions or requirements to be complied with by the holder of the permission; and

                     (b)  the time, being a time either before or after the importation of the goods to which the permission relates, at or before which the condition or requirement is to be complied with by the holder of the permission.

             (4)  If the holder of a permission granted under paragraph (1)(b) is required to comply with a condition or requirement and the holder of the permission fails to comply with the condition or requirement, the Minister may, by writing, revoke the permission.

             (5)  In this regulation:

American Standard means the Consumer Product Safety Standard for Cigarette Lighters (16 CFR 1210):

                     (a)  set out in Part 1210, Title 16 of the Code of Federal Regulations; and

                     (b)  published in the Federal Register of the United States of America, Vol 58, No. 131, on 12 July 1993.

Disposable lighter means a flame producing device that is designed:

                     (a)  to light cigarettes, cigars or pipes; and

                     (b)  to be discarded when its fuel supply is exhausted, or to incorporate a separate container of fuel that is designed to be discarded when empty.

lighter means a disposable lighter, novelty lighter or refillable lighter.

Minister means the Minister administering Part 3‑3 of Schedule 2 to the Competition and Consumer Act 2010.

Novelty lighter means a flame producing device that is designed:

                     (a)  to light cigarettes, cigars or pipes; and

                     (b)  either:

                              (i)  to have an entertaining audio or visual effect (other than producing a flame) (for example, playing musical notes or displaying flashing lights); or

                             (ii)  to depict or resemble, in physical form or function, an article commonly recognised as appealing to, or intended to be used by, a young child (for example a cartoon character, drink, food, gun, musical instrument, toy, toy animal, vehicle or watch).

refillable lighter means a flame producing device that:

                     (a)  is designed to light cigarettes, cigars or pipes; and

                     (b)  is designed to be refilled with fuel; and

                     (c)  has a customs value, determined under section 159 of the Customs Act 1901, of $5 or less.

- Customs (Prohibited Imports) Regulations 1956

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It may have something to do with #1 only because a car cigarette lighter has nothing to do with any kind of fuel as it works off 12volt socket.