I hope those custom ladies don't stop me this time.

Remember, last trip I had all kinds of "gifts"
that I was bringing to friends and family.
The 1st immigration lady talked and talked and chatted me up for a long time.
She looked at my passport like 6-8 times. :-(

Then I stopped to get a Duty free bottle of Rum.
Got to the luggage area and only my 2 bags were sitting there all by there lonesome.

I grabbed the 2 bags and wheeled them to the custom line.
As I looked ahead, there they were.
The Custom Agents.

4-5 custom ladies with nothing to do in a small group just talking.
(everybody had already passed")

As I approached one of the ladies looked me up and down.
"why so many bags????" she asked
"How long are you staying???"
Uh, uh uh, uh I....I
"OVER There Mon, You need to get in the "to declare line" she said.

But I only have....
"OVER THERE MON!!!!" this time she yelled, kind of loud, really made her point.

The locals returning in front of me had all kinds of stuff to declare.
But, all ended up well.
No extra money was charged.
Just lost time.

But, still, I don't want to go through that "to declare "line again.

I have always entered Jamrock without a shake down. I sure hope that continues. :)

It was my first time ,
But, I did get away with 15 years of gifts.
:-)

Everything I carry in is for personal use.

Cap

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Craig123

I have always entered Jamrock without a shake down. I sure hope that continues. :)

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Craig,

It is not a "shakedown", but called duty you pay on bringing in items to a country not for personal use that will remain in that country. All countries do it. There are legal business importers that pay duty to bring items into the country to sell, it makes no logical sense to allow visitors to do the same thing without paying the same or higher duty. Business is business.

This is nothing unusual.

Customs has never asked me how much money I'm bringing in, or whether I'm planning to leave it in Jamaica. :) And money seems to be the perfect gift! Putting additional cash into the Jamaican economy (or any economy) has a multiplicative effect, while giving people things that they could otherwise buy locally has the opposite effect. If there were things that were actually impossible to get in Jamaica it might be different, but if it's hats, shirts, lighters, etc. better to help people buy them locally.

Of course, paying the duty is just another way of putting money into the Jamaican economy.

wrt,

Money is the perfect gift! It allows the gift receiver to purchase what they need the most and it really does help out the local economy by supporting the local businesses!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Rob

Craig,

It is not a "shakedown", but called duty you pay on bringing in items to a country not for personal use that will remain in that country. All countries do it. There are legal business importers that pay duty to bring items into the country to sell, it makes no logical sense to allow visitors to do the same thing without paying the same or higher duty. Business is business.

This is nothing unusual.

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Geez thanks for pointing that out. I would never have guessed. Now that I know that, I'll be happy to get "selected". :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Craig123

Geez thanks for pointing that out. I would never have guessed. Now that I know that, I'll be happy to get "selected". :)

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Craig,

You are an experienced traveler. And when people hear about a ""shakedown", a form of extortion comes to mind.

There are thousands of first time visitors who read this Board weekly, many who have never traveled internationally and experienced Customs. I have to consider this when posts are made so they can be helpfully informed.

When you use the word "shakedown" for the Customs inspection, you can be misinforming others. I dont think you appreciate how many PMs and emails I get when misleading statements are made like this. First time international travelers have many questions.

I answered your comment in a way so that the first time visitors will understand that there is no shakedown and why Customs inspections exist. This hopefully also prevented some of the private messages and emails I would have received.

If you do get "selected" and are doing nothing illegal, then you have nothing to worry about here.

I think things are changing in Jamaica and I think it's going to be harder to get things into the country than before. The Jamaican government has recognized that many of it's people are living abroad and many taxable items are coming into the country through baggage and over sized baggage.

This is what happened to us;
We wanted to bring a bicycle down as my wife rides every day. West Jet web site says a boxed up bike will be no problem as long as the linear dimensions (H + L + W) =118 inches or less. We bought a bike at Canadian Tire and left it in the box, partially assembled. Linear dimension was 92 inches. We called West Jet to advised them of the over sized bag and they said, no. Initially we were told it was because of the small 737 planes West Jet fly's and they couldn't accommodate over sized baggage. This we later found was not true. I called Air Canada and they said a boxed up bike would be absolutely no problem, so we booked with Air Canada. After talking with some friends in Jamaica, doing some considerable research, and finally talking to someone at West Jet that knew what they were talking about, we found- big problem. The no over sized baggage is a Jamaican government rule, not airline policy. The government calls it an embargo. Jamaica, Trinidad, and Dominica are the only countries that have this embargo and because of the taxable items entering the country and not claimed. Baggage coming into Jamaica must be 62 linear inches or less even through the rest of the world is 118" The only exception to the rule is golf clubs.

What this boils down too, I don't know, but I would suspect the government recognizes the lost income and are clamping down on over sized and excessive baggage. I would expect more checks at customs and people with excessive baggage will be checked more. Just my opinion though, and I don't don't agree with Rob. Tax on items entering the country is a hug source of income for the government.

shake-down - "a thorough search".

Don't make it more than intended.

shakedown - "an act of swindling someone or extorting money."

Hmmm......... more than one definition. To be less ambiguous, I should have said. "People generally don't look forward to thorough searches." I apologize.

As Cap says, "Everything I bring down is for personal use". It can't be held against me (because of old age) that I sometimes forget to bring it back! ;)

Seriously, I agree that any baggage suspected of containing dutiable items should be searched and charged as appropriate.

I send barrels down and they all go through that same process. This is the only way that the government can get a benefit from cheaper goods shipped into the country and help the Jamaican businesses compete with the rest of the world.

I don't necessarily like it but I do understand why they need to do this plus it does screen out some illegal items like seeds, weapons etc..

Peace and Guidance