As part of the Government’s efforts to alleviate the impact of external shocks on the Grenadian population, Cabinet has approved the adjustment of freight in the calculation of duties and taxes on imported goods to reflect 2019 freight costs.
The freight cap will be applied to the importation of all goods landed in Grenada during the period 1 October 2022 to 31 March 2023.
The implementation of the cap will see only minor changes in the current processes of Customs Brokers and Importers, who will follow existing processes in preparing the customs declaration.
Commercial Imports
For commercial imports, there will be a requirement to identify freight actually paid on the Valuation Note of the Customs Declaration.
Non-Commercial Imports
In the case of non-commercial imports, agents will input actual freight paid in the preparation of the Simplified Administrative Document (SAD). The Customs Computerised System, ASYCUDA World, will make the necessary adjustments and apply the reduced freight for the calculation of duties and taxes. All other clearance processes remain the same.
The Customs and Excise Division anticipates a seamless introduction of the freight cap and looks forward to the cooperation of the public.
The public is reminded of the legal obligations to make true and correct declarations.
GIS
I disagree with Charles etal. The comforts I have abroad I would like to have in Grenada or anywhere else I chose to live. Restricting my access to goods, for me, they are not luxury but necessary comforts. which I’m accustomed to. Having, these luxuries as you jealousy stated, do not hamper the benefits of those who cannot afford it. It encourages employment and thus benefit those less well off. Luxury of course is relative. The majority of people consider having motor vehicles as necessary evil whether they have one or not. Food, clothes, shelter, sleep, are the basic needs for survival. Anything else could be labelled luxury. What good would that do to our ‘have-nots’ if we were all discouraged from having goods because poorer people did not have them. The government has a responsibility to all its citizens and as such it must be seen to be fair to all. The people of Grenada had a choice; they have elected a different government, who has been in power for less than four months. Have patience and respect the views of the majority.
As a government, what you boasted as your greatest accomplishment so far is just a rehash of others’ previous efforts. The gap between what you imagined you are doing and what you have done is a clear indicator of your weakness.
Therefore, gloating over such accomplishments is frightening. The stop-gap measures and the misguided policies that you are trying to put in place will in no way strengthen the economy. Such policies will only enable the business class and not the poor because the nature of business is expansion and profit and not the upliftment of the working class. This being the case, you have done nothing.
The government should have stipulated specific basic items for concessions. Items that are considered luxury items should never get exemption.
Also, the government should examine items and areas in which the government can invest in locally to reduce importation. It’s no secret the food importation bill is high. This contributes to a poor balance of trade.
Alternative to wheat flour should sourced locally…..a massive investment is needed.
Grenada does not have Animal husbandry. A handful of cattle here and there….
Sad part is, the folks who import large amounts of goods/foods are rich folks. These same folks has controlled the importation of food for decades. To add, those folks are political donors of the major parties on the island.
So whoever wins election, nothing changes.
when you have person as the sole dealer/agent it stiffless competition.
Grenada does not manufacture cars, yet the environment and climate change were used as disguise to give the dealership of new cars preferential treatment and control of the market.
Is there a body with investigative powers to make sure the saves are passed on to consumers?
Handful of folks just got richer.
like me many returning Grenadians would like to bring non commercial goods to Grenada. At the port, these goods were charged at unreasonably high costs making it worthless to pay for them. Often the products brought in are not easily found or available in Grenada.
The result is no one benefits, neither the country or the individual. If, however, the charges are reasonable, then we all can benefit from paying fair freight charges. The individual get their goods and the government get the levied charges.
Completely irrelevant to Grenadians, as the importers will continue to gouge their retail customers, all government has done is increase profits for those importers.
Exactly….that is a very bad decision by Government