Press Release

Operators of Private Bonded Warehouses are hereby advised that in keeping with the new provisions under Section 6 of the Customs (Amendment) Act 2014, effective immediately, duties will be levied at the rate of duty prevailing at the time the goods are being removed from the warehouse and not at the time the goods are entered for warehousing, as was previously the case.

Additionally, Section 7 of the Customs (Amendment) Act 2014 provides that the value of the goods (in Jamaican Currency) is determined by the use of the applicable Exchange Rate at the time the Declaration removing the goods from the Private Bonded Warehouse, is registered with ASYCUDA World.

CEO/Commissioner of the Jamaica Customs Agency (JCA), Major (Ret’d) Richard Reese, stated that these new provisions are in keeping with current international standards and practices that will make the Agency compliant with the latest World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) Trade Facilitation Agreement. The new provisions also standardize the rules applicable to goods under Suspense Regimes.

He further noted that with the new provisions, no preferential treatment is given to warehouse operators who would previously have had a competitive advantage over other importers who do not place goods in a Private Bonded Warehouse.  As such, he noted that, “everyone is now operating on a level playing field.”

In the meantime, updates to the ASYCUDA World System now require that all Customs Brokers must download and install the C87 EELS Broker Application Ver. 2.1.0.7. from the CASE web portal prior to submitting their C87 Declarations to the JCA.

It must be noted however, that all C87 Declarations lodged prior to this update are available for review, payment and subsequent release of cargo if they are free of discrepancies.

Customs Brokers and importers are invited to contact the JCA’s ASYCUDA World Helpdesk at 750-3030 or 922-5140-9: ext. 3127, 3133, or 3143, if they have any questions or are experiencing any challenges.