I recently recived this letter from the Uk customs email team, read on.
Dear Sir, The revised guidelines to which you refer only apply to material showing consensual activity between adults and to those acts not considered obscene by the BBFC. Therefore it is unlikely that films will be seized with material containing depictions similar to those in videos certificated R18 by the BBFC. However I cannot comment on an individual film and I must warn you that certain acts are still considered obscene and liable to forfeiture.
Just to clarify things for myself I too wrote to my local customs and excise office and received this e-mail from them. It seems people in the UK finally do have human rights after all.
------------------------------------- Reply from HMCE was as follows:
You asked about importing R18 equivalent video and dvd material from overseas following the change in BBFC guidelines. Our view is that any material containing depictions of adults engaged in consensual sexual acts, which are not listed below, are no longer prohibited. The list includes:
These guidelines only apply to material showing consensual activity betweenadults. Any material showing activity involving children or animals is still considered obscene and liable to forfeiture.
I have also spoken to our people about the HMCE website. The site is due to be re-launched but we are having some technical difficulties. We hope it will be updated very soon; in the meantime the information above remains valid. -------------------------------------- Cheers.....
R18 is hardcore, some scenes are cut that are considered too hard but most of the content is still there. You can only buy R18 through a registed sex shop, this means you have to go there in person and buy it, they can not send it though the post as this is ilegal! This is a stupid law as you can legaly import porn but not buy it in yoyr own country! Also the sex shops can change you anything up £50+ plus just for a video (about$90).
The laws in this country are too old and want changeing very quickly.
R18 is the British equivalent of an 'X' rated movie in the United States. Not really equivalent to an 'NC-17' MPAA rating since R18 in the UK generally denotes explicit sex. Here's the description from the British Board of Film Classification:- Saki
R18 is a film classification here in the UK. In 1984, the Government introduced the Video Recordings Act to do away with "video nasties" such as The Evil Dead and I Spit On Your Grave. It gave the British Board Of Film Classification the job of classifying all movies and videos into four categories (U - Universal, PG - Parental Guidance, 15 - over 15's only and 18 - Adults Only). 18 rated movies were supposed to contain sex and horror. Horror films tended to go through uncut - except for the video nasties which were banned outright. Sex films were restricted to R equivalent - extremely softcore (because the Government has very strange ideas about sex and violence).
R18 was introduced a few years later as a lightening of the rules. The films allowed were still not hardcore, more likely R rated pictures uncut (!) The proviso was that they could only be sold through licensed sex shops. There are only 90 of these shops in the whole UK, and they are run by a man who if he doesn't have connections with organised crime it's only because he's too sleazy. The upshot is that R18 movies are usually very cheaply and badly duplicated and charged at prices between $100-$200 equivalent.
This year, more enlightened types finally allowed hardcore through at R18 rating. There's still the problem with the sex shops (which only the foolhardy would frequent. I went in one once and it was like being mugged). Luckily, as long as a movie doesn't contravene the R18 rules, you can import it from more enlightened lands (such as Canada), and that's why there are so many of us Brits hanging around here these days.
It's kind of weird here in Canada too. Here in the Province of Ontario, all the porn films on the shelves of the adult video store must have an Ontario Film Board sticker approving the film for release in Ontario. To get that sticker, the company that releases the film in Ontario has to PAY ( I think it's something like $2000) to the film board to review the film for any acts that are considered obscene here (degradation, rape, people pissing on each other, defecation, but fisting is legal). If there is anything in the film that is deemed obscene, it is edited out of the film by the film board. The video company can then run off their copies of the film off the edited version of the tape and release it to the public. DVD's are still mostly unregulated, but I have been told it is coming soon as well, the Government makes a killing off of this due to the fact that as a company releasing adult films you have to pay them to censor your movies, unreal is'nt it?
Relax ShiWarrior, you're getting your knickers in a knot over this R18 issue.
R18 is part of the UK film classification system and applies to the UK.
example: STAR WARS is rated U - this means the film (VHS/DVD or any other format) can be paid for and seen by everyone.
BLADE is rated 18 - this film can only be purchased and viewed by those who are 18 years old and over.
EuroAngels # 25 is rated R18 - this film (VHS/DVD or any other format) is ristricted , which means it can be viewed by those over 18 years old but can only be purchased from a licienced sex shop within the UK.
The law UK states that R18 films can not be purchased via mail order.
However - It is perfectly legal to buy hardcore films from outside the UK for your own viewing pleasure as long as the content does not contain acts that are classified as obscene by UK law (such as fisting).
Bottom line - If you order from the US, you should be fine because the content in US releases are not as extreme as some films released in Europe.
Prudes? Or sexually repressed by religious/political fanatics? Big difference! We basically have our laws because we have enough idiots that believe in it. I'm not sure I could say that about Thailand, for example.
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DenverDon Benevolent
Firmly Embedded in Depravity 5914 Posts 7/02
Posted - Oct 8 2002 : 2:15PM
aybesea said:Good point, and actually both of them. Prudes and religious/political fanatics.
Very Scary! I think I was born in Amsterdam in a previous life... now if I could only get back there. They seem like such a nice, moderate crowd... a MOR place for a MOR guy like me.
