Caribbean Compass Yachting Magazine December 2016

RECENT CHANGES
IN CARIBBEAN
YACHT-RELATED
REGULATIONS
“For a crew that is constantly on the move in the Caribbean, our biggest problem
revolves around the local governments: dealing with disorganized authorities and
forever-changing policies, regulations and rising fees.” So said Chelsea Pyne when
asked in the September 2016 issue of Compass, “What do you see as the single biggest
problem facing cruising sailors in the Caribbean today?”
To try to ameliorate this problem as the new sailing season starts, we’ve rounded
up some of the recent changes in regulations that affect yachts moving around
the Caribbean.
More positive changes are underway, and we’ll cover them as they appear over the
horizon. Other sources of updates on rules and regulations in the Caribbean are
Noonsite (www.noonsite.com) and Chris Doyle’s website (www.doyleguides.com).
GICHUMBI
entry and exit) but the point is that slowly but surely Trinidad & Tobago is moving
towards the implementation of much friendlier yacht-related procedures. We’ll keep
you informed.
DECEMBER 2016 CARIBBEAN COMPASS PAGE 8
Trinidad & Tobago: VAT Dropped, Six-Month Stay Now Automatic
Donald Stollmeyer, CEO of Power Boats, reports: In its Budget Presentation in
September, the Government of Trinidad & Tobago proposed to make foreign yacht
services VAT-exempt as from the first quarter of 2017.
This means VAT will no longer be charged on docking, hauling and launching services,
storage and other on-land services, as well as on all repair services.
Since the imposition of VAT in February 2016, the Yacht Services Association of
Trinidad & Tobago (YSATT) has worked assiduously to persuade the government that
the imposition of VAT on services provided to foreign yachts would do more harm
than good to the economy of T&T. The removal of VAT is welcomed by all industry
stakeholders who feel strongly that it was improper for Trinidad & Tobago to charge
a local tax on what is essentially an export service.
YSATT has also been actively working to improve T&T’s tedious yacht entry and
exit procedures, and in November it was confirmed by senior Immigration officials
that all visitors arriving on yachts will be granted an automatic six-month stay when
they arrive. The same period will be granted to friends visiting the yachts.
On top of this, I had a very productive meeting with senior Customs officers in
November, at which it was agreed that all FedEx, DHL and UPS packages for yachts
will now be sent from Piarco Airport directly to Customs/Chaguaramas for collection
by the yacht.
With the removal of VAT and the introduction of other regulations that will better
facilitate foreign yachts, YSATT looks forward to a substantial increase in foreign
yacht visits in 2017.
There are other positive considerations in the pipeline (such as the Single Form for
Trinidad & Tobago has not only cured the VAT hiccup of recent memory, but has
gone further to support its yacht-service industry with positive changes in
Immigration and courier-delivery procedures
BVI: All Ashore on Entry, Get Permit to Work on Others’ Boats
A longstanding requirement for all visitors to the British Virgin Islands to present
themselves to Customs and Immigration upon arrival began to be enforced more
vigorously in September. This was a surprise to many arriving by yacht, who were
accustomed to the routine of only the skipper going ashore and clearing all crewmembers
and/or passengers before the others came ashore.
BVI Commissioner of Customs, Wade Smith, explained that in the past, Customs
officers have used discretion and have been lenient in allowing only boat captains to
disembark vessels and to take with them all the passports to declare the passengers.
(See full statement at www.bvi.gov.vg/media-centre/hm-customs-protecting-bordersand-safeguarding-tourism.)
However, after conducting random audits they had identified
that some captains were not accounting for all the passengers on the vessels.
—Continued on next page