importing to St Lucia

[emnick]

I need to upgrade my alternator and its just easier to buy one while I am home and bring it out with me to St Lucia when I go back in January.

What is the procedure? Should I just put it in my suit case and take a chance or declare it... if so does anybody know what duty should be paid or when and how .

Thanks for any help... Happy Christmas all

 

[TQA]

You are allowed goods to the value of 250$ US

Just make sure you have an invoice showing the value.

Otherwise you need a customs agent to do the paperwork. There is a good guy who works out of the marina offices in Rodney Bay.

 

[macd]

Most countries allow duty-free import of parts for ships in transit, but the rigmarole often requires an agent and wouldn't make financial sense for a single alternator, so TQA's first suggestion is the obvious one to follow. Confirmation of that here (but note the 'once per year' caveat):
https://customs.gov.lc/travellers.php

I wonder what Monkok Latix did to so outrage St. Lucia. Ventilated condoms?

 

[Bajansailor]

This thought crossed my mind - if you presented an invoice for (eg) GBP 80 from an obscure electrical repair outfit in England for repair work carried out to your existing alternator which you took home with you, and this invoice had a nice red 'PAID' stamp on it, would that be acceptable to the Authorities?

 

[emnick]

Thanks for that but I think a 10,000 dollar US fine! and they keep your item(s)(I thought similar!

 

[jdc]

This advice isn't specific to St Lucia but in the last 2 years I imported yacht spares into Brazil, French Guyana, Grenada and St. Lucia. None v expensive, the most being an item worth ~$500 into Brazil. In all cases when hand carrying items I went through the 'Something to Declare' customs door, and presented the item(s), receipt and boat details. And asked what duty if any is applicable, and smiled and was friendly and prepared to wait (and pay up ceerfully if need be: I wouldn't contemplate VAT fraud here at home, and it's no different abroad).

In all cases they were anxious to find the minimum tafiff (zero in Grenada and St Lucia) that I had to pay - and it was never more than any other legit method, eg Fedex, would have cost. One thing which did make a difference in French Guyana, and might work elsewhere, was to have a letter from the marina the boat was in, addressed to the customs, stating that the boat is indeed at their facility and they expect you to re-export it and the spares you are bringing. In french this is an 'Attestation de mise à bord'.

The thing is to think yourself into the shoes of the customs person. What would make their life easy and not get them into trouble or involve lots of tedious paperwork? They need a receipt of course, they need to understand the category of item, and if considering allowing you to import duty-free for a yacht in transit they'll need proof that the yacht is there, is in transit, and that you are the owner or at least crew. Can you prove all these at the airport, in a queue, without obliging the customs officer to get on the 'phone or call a superior? Actually to prove that the boat was in transit, and I was the owner and skipper, was difficult as I'd left the papers and SSR on board - luckily I had photocopies wirh me.

 

[Bobc]

Take it, declare it, and most probably they will just wave you through. That's what happened when I took a load of engine spares and an Epirb.