Customs Says Personal Effects" Barrels Will Cost $5,000 As Of Tuesday

Jamaica Customs reported Friday (November 27) that effective Tuesday (December 1), persons clearing barrels containing personnel effects will pay Customs $5,000 per barrel.
The Department said that this does not apply to commercial shipments. The fixed rate of $5,000 on items usually described as personnel effects does not include shipping, storage, wharfage costs or Queens’s Warehouse charges on overtime goods.
Customers have also been advised that any false declaration, and declaring commercial goods as personal effects, or attempting to evade duties, will result in a breach and possible forfeiture of the goods.
“Inefficiency in the delivery of goods from the warehouses cause some persons soliciting payments from importers to jump the line or to ‘locate’ barrels that are deemed ‘lost’. The Customs Department expects the management of the warehouses (Adolph Levy, Universal Freight, Kingston Wharves, Kingston Container Terminal, Seaboard and Port Handlers) to put proper procedures into effect, immediately, so as to minimise these unscrupulous persons from taking advantage of the public,” the release from Jamaica Customs said.