Nedd advice on sending & picking up barrels

[SweetSue]

I am not sure what works with regards to the $500 exemption - if you did not have unaccompanied luggage, how would that have changed things? I thought that the exemption was for residents & citizens, or am I mistaken? I am not prepared to take up residency just yet but I would love to be able to send down at least one or two barrel per year of misc. items to make life a bit more convenient - especially power tools, clothing, certain food items, etc. I know many things can be purchased on the island but between the cost AND the inconvenience of getting around to shop, sometimes it is just easier and more cost effective to bring certain things down with me.

With regards to the value assigned to your goods, how did you handle that? It seems that the value assigned was much less than what you actually spent. Is there any way of knowing in advance what the duty fees are likely to be?

Did you have to deal with customs directly or did the agent handle all of that? What was the process at the wharf like? I think I would have needed something a little stronger than a Red Stripe after all was said & done.

I have a TRN - would I do better to ship to myself or to a JA national? Would it behoove me to get a Jamaican driver's license as well?

Thanks for sharing. I wish you all the best with the completion of your home.

[Tom Hudson]

To answer your questions below:

I know other non resident, non citizens who have brought TV's down and not paid duty on them. I don't have a code section to refer you to to confirm this, but it applied to me and I paid no duty on my carried on TV in its original box. The values assigned to my goods were done by the customs officer. I've had people say that most barrels are valued at an amount that will create $5,000J of duties unless they are clearly more valuable items in your barrel.

You have to deal with customs directly at the Wharf. I've been told that you can use a customs broker to handle that for you, but I have no first hand knowledge of the cost of their services. I beleieve they are set up for commercial activities, not personal stuff.

I highly recommend that you use a qualified Jamaican resident to clear the items for you. In my case, we labelled the barrels with my name and/or my Jamaican friends name. Make sure your name is the exact same as on your passport/TRN. Do not use nicknames. I had to pay $600J to have my documents amended for Tom vs Thomas.

I am not sure what works with regards to the $500 exemption - if you did not have unaccompanied luggage, how would that have changed things? With regards to the value assigned to your goods, how did you handle that? It seems that the value assigned was much less than what you actually spent. Is there any way of knowing in advance what the duty fees are likely to be?

Did you have to deal with customs directly or did the agent handle all of that? What was the process at the wharf like? I think I would have needed something a little stronger than a Red Stripe after all was said & done.

I have a TRN - would I do better to ship to myself or to a JA national? Would it behoove me to get a Jamaican driver's license as well?

[SweetSue]

@ TOM: Sorry to sound obtuse - what do you mean by "qualified" Jamaican resident?

[Tom Hudson]

Someone with a valid TRN, transportation to pick up the barrel, and, most importantly, has cleared items before and knows all the in and outs/do's and dont's

@ TOM: Sorry to sound obtuse - what do you mean by "qualified" Jamaican resident?