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By Alric Lindsay

According to the Customs Tariff (Amendment of Schedule 2) Order, 2024, published on November 29, 2024, the Cabinet has amended the schedule of duty-free items to allow travellers to import baggage and household items with a higher dollar value between December 2024 and January 2025.

Before the Order was made, the Customs Tariff Act (2023 Revision) allowed returning residents to bring “dutiable personal and household goods (not including merchandise) at the discretion of the Collector, up to a value of CI$500.”

When the Order comes into force on December 1, 2024, residents returning from an overseas visit during the period commencing December 1, 2024, and ending on January 6, 2025, will be able to bring dutiable personal and household goods (not including merchandise) at the discretion of the Director, up to a value of CI$1,000.

Note to readers:

The Customs Tariff Act (2023 Revision) outlines items subject to duty and which items are duty-free. The relevant sections state as follows:

Duties of Customs charged

3. (1) There shall be charged, collected and paid through Customs to the Treasury upon goods imported into the Islands and enumerated in Schedule 1 the several duties therein specified.

(2) The goods enumerated in Schedule 2 shall be admitted into the Islands free of duty subject to such conditions as may be imposed by the Cabinet or the Collector, as the case may be.

The power of the Cabinet to amend the list of duty-free items is contained in section 7 of the Customs Tariff Act (2023 Revision). This states: