When we arrived in Trinidad we thought we'd be here for 3 months to undergo some warranty repairs and be on our way... 10 months later, we're still here!
Spending all this time in Trinidad has meant we've developed a pretty good understanding of how things work around here, from the best places to shop to the location of nearby swimming holes. One thing we're always getting asked is how to import things into the country, so to help out we've collated our knowledge and experience into this single post.
CONTENTS:
Do I need to pay tax on Yacht in Transit goods?
Keeping it simple, the answer is no. In Trinidad & Tobago you can import Yacht in Transit goods without having to pay any import duties or taxes. Compared to the processes we had to go through in Europe, it is much simpler and cheaper.
Yacht in Transit goods in Trinidad & Tobago
What's considered a Yacht in Transit item is generally up to the interpretation of the customs officer, but usually includes boat parts, marine equipment, materials for boat repairs, fixing and fixtures, safety equipment and spare parts. Here's a few examples of things we imported.
Yanmar parts for our marine engines
Dowsil 795 for fitting windows
plumbing fittings
solar panels
power tools and accessories
gel coat
antifoul
hatches
a new mast (Yes, you read that right! See the delivery here)
Things we had to pay tax on were obviously not for the yacht, for example bags of coffee beans and some new workout shorts.
Getting YIT goods to Trinidad
There are 3 ways your goods can arrive in Trinidad.
air mail
by sea
in checked bagged or hand luggage
The process is slightly different for each method, so let's go through our experience of them one by one.
Importing Yacht in Transit items by airmail
When your items arrive in Trinidad they will touch down at Piarco International Airport. From there the goods are transferred to a customs bond and you need to clear and collect them, they will not be delivered to the yard. There are two areas with customs bonds for cruisers to know about.
Airport customs bond
Chaguaramas customs bond
Items that go to an airport customs bond
At Piarco International there are a few customs bond warehouses, including Swissport and Caribbean Airlines. We've found that most Yacht in Transit items stored at the airport were taken to Swissport.
When you get notification that your item is at Swissport you need to attend their office at the airport in person to present your documentation and clear the item.
The documentation you need seems to vary slightly depending on which officers are working, and the airport do ask for more documents than the customs office in Chaguaramas does. It's best to overdo it on the paperwork to avoid hassle.
This is what I would take:
The notification slip that your parcel is at Swissport
Yacht registration (original & copy)
Passport (original & copy)
Your Customs and Excise Division Marine Pleasure Craft Declaration Form
A letter from the captain accompanied by a photocopy of their passport authorising the crew member to collect the goods
A letter from the shipyard stating that the boat has been hauled and is currently being stored there (I've only been asked for this at the airport, never at Chaguaramas)
UPDATE: I recently went to Amerijet at the airport and the requirement from customs there was to have a letter from the shipyard stating that the boat has been hauled and is currently being stored in the yard, and for that letter to be stamped by Chaguaramas Customs before you go to collect the package.
During the clearance process you may need to pay a storage fee and not all places have working card machine, so taking cash can be a good contingency. It's likely the customs officers will want to open the box and inspect all goods inside. Once they're satisfied and the paperwork is complete, you'll be issued a slip of paper directing you to attend the Chaguaramas Customs Office Bond within the next few hours.
Tips for YIT shipments at Piarco International warehouses
Here's a few things to keep in mind about Yacht in Transit items at Piarco Airport.
Wait times at Swissport can be incredibly long so it's best to get there when it opens and make sure you have everything you need with you. My longest trip there had me leaving the marina at 6.30am and returning at 4.30pm.
Most customs warehouses have a dress code that requires you to wear pants and enclosed shoes. I often take pants with me and change into them when I need to.
When we were in Trinidad all UPS packages went to Swissport because they did not have a Trinidadian brokerage department. As a result we avoided using UPS as our courier.
Chaguaramas Customs Office
All airmail packages eventually pass through the Chaguaramas Customs Office where they have a small customs bond.
Some packages you need to clear at the airport and bring there yourself while others are delivered directly there by the courier. In general this is dependent on whether the courier has their own customs broker. When we were in Trinidad, DHL and FedEx packages went directly to the Chaguaramas Office.
Items from the airport
If you've come from the airport you need to present them with the airport slip and show them the items. They'll sign off on it and you're free to go with your newly imported goods.
Items that were directly delivered to Chaguaramas
If your items were delivered directly to the customs office you need to go to the desk and give them your boat name and paperwork.
This is the paperwork I take:
Your passport
Boat registration paperwork
Letter of authorisation from the captain for me to collect and a photocopy of the captains passport (they don't always ask for it)
Once I've been asked for the invoice; I didn't have it and it wasn't an issue anyway.
They'll bring out the item and have a quick look at it. Once that's done I sign the book to say I've taken possession and with that, the goods are imported. Usually the whole process for items taken directly to the Chaguaramas Customs Office takes less than 10 minutes.
Tips for YIT shipments at Chaguaramas Customs bond
Here's some things to keep in mind about the Chaguaramas Customs Office.
When you go into Chaguaramas Customs Office the dress code isn't as strict as the airport warehouses; we've never had a problem with sandals or neat shorts and t-shirts.
The office is open 24/7 and there were no fees for collection out of hours when we were there.
Our experience of the officers there was generally very good, one of the best overall experience with a customs office I've had.
Airmailing large items into Trinidad
It's possible to air-mail large items into Trinidad if you're pressed for time and can't wait for a sea port shipment. We had a large shipment of materials airmailed from South Africa via DHL, and also used Compass Logistics and Marine to organise a heavy shipment from the US.
When large shipments arrive the freight forwarder often doesn't handle the clearance processes in Trinidad. Instead you or a broker will need to do the customs clearance and organise transport from the airport warehouse to Chaguaramas Customs then onto the yard.
Importing Yacht in Transit items by sea
Larger items and hazardous goods tend to arrive in Trinidad by sea.
During our time in the yard we had items shipped from the United States by Tropical Shipping and PAS Shipping. Both experiences were relatively smooth and we'd use either company again. They have weekly ships leaving from Florida that service Trinidad, with the transit time being around 6-7 days for both companies.
The port of entry in Trinidad for sea shipments is usually Port Lisas in Couva. Once your items are unstuffed from the container (the time for this can vary) you'll be notified by the shipper and its time to start the importation process. You can do this yourself or use a broker.
We chose to use a broker because in both instances the items were large and transportation to the shipyard needed to be organised as well. We provided the broker with the yacht registration, authorisation to clear, the commercial invoice, bill of lading and captains passport, and they took care of everything else.
For the first shipment we used PAS Trinidad as the broker since PAS USA were the shipper. After that we have used Christian Johnson who was recommended to us by Power Boats and did a great job every time we used him.
Importing Yacht in Transit items in your luggage
If you fly into Trinidad to go back to your boat you can bring Yacht in Transit goods in with your luggage. From our experience and what we've heard from others it's best to go overboard with the paperwork as the airport staff aren't always aware of the correct processes for a Yacht in Transit.
When we came in we had all of our Yacht in Transit items together in a single bag. At customs we proceeded directly to the red channel and declared we had items for a Yacht in Transit. Staff directed us to an office on the side where we had to present the bag and documentation. This is what I had ready for them in a single packet of printed documents:
Copy of the captains passport
Copy of the yacht registration
Printed copies of invoices for every Yacht in Transit item
A cover sheet summarising the items and values
The airport staff briefly flicked through the paperwork then wrote a slip for us to take to the Chaguaramas Customs Office before sending us to the exit.
After leaving the airport we had 2 hours to present to Chaguaramas Customs. By the time we arrived it was about 3.30am but happily one of my favourite customs officers was on duty. He took a quick look at everything, signed it off and sent us on our way.
Parcel forwarding services in Trinidad
An issue we ran into early on was wanting to import Yacht in Transit goods from the US but not having companies willing to send mail to Trinidad. The solution we found was EZone.
EZone are a parcel forwarding company who service a number of Caribbean Islands. They have depots in the United States, Canada and United Kingdom where you can have items sent to and they will forward them.
There was no fee to open an account, the forwarding fees were clear and because EZone staff understand Trinidad's Yacht in Transit process, we were able to submit our documents to them and they made sure all parcels were delivered to the Chaguaramas Customs for collection. You can opt into insurance which we think is worth it; one of our items was accidentally damaged and the insurance value was paid out with no issues.
While in Trinidad we signed up for Amazon Prime so the shipping to the EZone depot in Miami was free, offsetting the cost of the forwarding service to Chaguaramas. The only issue with this arrangement was that return shipping out of Trinidad is extremely expensive so if there's an issue with the order it's generally not worth returning for a refund.
How to address Yacht in Transit goods
All Yacht in Transit packages need to be addressed to the boat if you want to import them tax and duty free. This is the standard format:
Yacht in Transit 'BOAT NAME'
MARINA/YARD NAME
MARINA/YARD ADDRESS
In practice it would look something like this:
Yacht in Transit "BOATY MCBOATFACE"
Power Boats
Western Main Road
Chaguaramas
Trinidad & Tobago
Note that most of the shipyards don't have a street number and postcodes aren't widely used in Trinidad yet.
Summary
There might be a couple hoops to jump through but in general shipping into Trinidad tax free is relatively straightforward and well worth doing if you're going to be staying for a while.
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Does Trinidad only allow Yacht in Transit for boats hauled out of the water? That seems atypical yet some of what you've written seems to suggest that (ie the letter that one of the places wanted).
Thank you!