What are Commercial Goods?
Commercial goods are goods that are sold or traded or intended for sale or trade-in the normal course of a firm’s business, or customarily used by the general public or offered to it for lease, license, or sale
Goods can be classified as being commercial if they fall into any of the following categories:
- They are imported for business purposes.
- They are imported for resale.
- They are samples imported for business purposes.
Goods may be entered for the following reasons (Sec 38 (3) of the customs act)
- For warehousing, if so eligible;
- For home use, if so eligible;
- For transit or transshipment; or
- For temporary importation
What are the documents needed to import commercial goods?
- Shipping documents (Bills of Lading / or Airway Bills).
- An authentic invoice from the supplier.
- Import permits or licenses, where applicable.
- An Original Certificate of Origin, if the goods are being imported from a country with which Dominica has a Trade Agreement, and for which preferential duty treatment is being claimed.
- NB - Other documents in relation to the importation of the goods may be requested
What are the payment options for clearing commercial goods?
- Cash
- Debit or credit cards
- Business or bank certified cheque’s
- Pre-payment account
- Direct Bank Transfer through the National Bank of Dominica
What are non-commercial goods?
Non-commercial goods are goods that are occasionally imported by a traveler or by a resident for their personal use
Importation of non-commercial goods shall be governed as follows:
- Obtain from the shipping agents who notified you of the arrival of the packages the ASYCUDA Waybill which gives release of the packages to you.
- Present the ASYCUDA Waybill to the relevant Port Office for payment of a tailgate fee.
- Present the ASYCUDA Waybill with the Tailgate Receipt to the Port Officer at the prescribed cargo shed who will locate the packages for you.
- Request the assistance of Customs stationed in the cargo shed who will then examine the contents of the packages with your assistance.
- The Customs Officer will record his examination on the ASYCUDA Waybill which will be handed over to you.
- The ASYCUDA Waybill should be taken to a Customs Cashier where the duty payment payable by you will be calculated and collected.
- Upon payment, with the receipt in your possession, return to the Shed where the packages were examined and present the receipt and other documents to the Customs Officer.
- After processing by Customs, present the Customs Release to a Port Officer who will then prepare a Gate Pass releasing the packages from Port’s Charge to your care.
- On exiting, the Port’s Gate Pass will be verified against the packages by security at the exit point