Missions Shipping

HAITI'S CUSTOMS OFFICE:

Autorité Portuaire Nationale (APN)

Boulevard La Saline,

Port-au-Prince, Haiti - PO Box 616

Téléphone: (509) 22-23-2440

Fax: (509) 22-21-3479

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CUSTOMS PROCESS OF IMPORTING HUMANITARIAN AID INTO HAITI

Note: It is important to realise that there are always two components to importing humanitarian goods: Obtaining a Duty and Tax Exemption AND Customs Clearance.

General Information

* Due to the earthquake, the mainCustoms Office has relocated. It is no longer located in the centre of town but in the Customs Building located near the Seaport of Port-au-Prince Port (APN).

Registration

* IIn order for an organization to qualify for a duty and tax exemption on the importation of goods into Haiti, they must first be a registered entity within the country. This is done at the Ministry of Planification for NGOs and at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for UN organizations. Organizations who are not currently registered in the country may be able to seek the assistance of the Direction de la Protection Civile (DPC) or registered partners with clearing their goods.

* If an organization is currently registered in the country, they should not be clearing their goods via the DPC but via a Customs Broker on their own accord.

Duty and Tax Exemption

* Once registered, in order to qualify for subsequent duty and tax exemptionson the importation of goods, all organizations (NGO and UN) must first present themselves to the Direction Generale de Impots (DGI) and make an application for a “Quitus Fiscal”. This document must be renewed quarterly and is certification from the tax authority that the organization is in good financial standing with the Government.

* Afterwards, organizations must present themselves to the Ministry of Finance main office and make an application for a Demande de Franchise Authorization. This Authorization will allow an organization to submit a Demande de Franchise upon importing items into the country. It usually takes approximately 2 days to obtain this authorization.

Importing Goods

* In order to import humanitarian goods into Haiti, the minimum required documents for Customs purposes include the following:

* Declaration Form*

* Packing List

* Bill of Lading/Airway Bill

* Freight Certificate

* Declaration of Value or Invoice

* Gift Certificate (if applicable)

* Vehicle Title (if applicable)

* Certificate of Origin(if applicable)

* Phyto-sanitary Certificate(if applicable)

* Relevant ministry certificates (i.e. Ministry of Health certificate for medicines, Ministry of Agriculturecertificate for seeds)

These documents must be ORIGINALS, often even stating ‘ORIGINAL’ on the document. “Non- Negotiable” documents, even if they are signed, are not considered originals and are not sufficient.

It is preferable, however, to obtain copies of the needed documents in advance of the arrival of the goods as, with a Customs Broker, the process can be started with copies. Originals will have to follow shortly after arrival. This is particularly important when importing by road.

* For overland transport, a single declaration form can list multiple truckloads as long as it is accompanied by the proper documentation (see above). This applies even to split shipments as long as each convoy has copies of the required paperwork. The declaration form needs to be completed and certified by a Ministry of Finance-registered Customs broker/entity in possession of a valid ID number (or via the DPC).

Vehicle Importation by non-registered organisations

If non-registered organizations wish to import vehicles this may be done via the DPC or registered partners. Note that, if seeking the assistance of the DPC, the DPC may wish that the vehicles be handed over to them or to another local entity upon the organization’s departure from the country. These arrangements should be determined and agreed upon in advance.

* Once the Customs required documents are collected, the following two additional documents are also needed in order to apply for and avail of a duty and tax exemption on the imported goods.

o Quitus Fiscale

o Demande de Franchise Application

All of them together (Customs documents in the previous bullet point and the two notated above) must be first submitted to the Ministry of Finance (MoF).

* The MoF will review the claim/file, verify the Quitus Fiscale and certify the Demande de Franchise against the earlier-mentioned authorization (see bullet point 5).

* The Ministry of Finance will then forward all documentation to the Customs Administration for final clearance.

* The same above process applies in order to import organizational support equipment (computers, office equipment, etc.). However, as these are not considered humanitarian goods, duties and taxes may apply and/or, in the case of the DPC importing, they may not be willing to do so behalf of non-registered organizations and/or may place stipulations on the importation (see Vehicle Importation by non-registered organizations above).

Assistance

* In the event that commodities need to be cleared in an exceptionally urgent manner, there is a Cellule D’Urgence office located in the Customs Building. A broker/organization may be able to avail of their services or present their case directly to the Director General of Customs.

Custom Brokers

* Please refer to the following link for a list of Haitian Customs Brokers provided by the Haiti Customs Department.

http://www.logcluster.org/ops/hti10a/list-of-haitian-customs-brokers

List of Custom Brokers

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