Customs Tariff Act 1970

[10 July 1970]

[preamble and words of enactment omitted]

Interpretation

1 In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, —

"bill of entry" means a bill of goods entered at the Custom House;

"bonded warehouse" means any warehouse licensed by the Col lector of Customs for the deposit of dutiable goods on which the duty has not been paid;

"goods" includes all kinds of articles, wares, merchandise, natu ral products and livestock;

"importer" includes the owner or any other person for the time being possessed of or beneficially interested in any goods at the time of importation thereof, and any person who signs as authorized agent on behalf of any such person as aforesaid any document relating to such goods;

"Minister" means the Minister of Finance;

"litre of alcohol" in relation to the alcoholic content of any liquor shall be calculated from readings obtained using a Gay Lus sac hydrometer;

"transhipment" with its grammatical variations and cognate ex pressions means the transfer either directly or indirectly, of any goods from any aircraft or vessel arriving in Bermuda to an aircraft or vessel departing to a place outside Bermuda;

"unit of classification" means the unit of quantity of goods of any description to be used in the bill of entry;

"unit for duty" means the unit to be taken for the purpose of as sessing duty upon goods of any description, and includes value;

"value" in relation to any goods means the value of those goods ascertained in accordance with the provisions of section 24 of the Revenue Act 1898 [title 14 item 10].

Import duties

2 (1) Subject to subsection (2) and section 5, on goods imported
into Bermuda or taken out of bond from any bonded warehouse in Bermuda there shall be im posed such duties, if any, as are respectively specified under the heading "Rate of Duty" in the First Schedule, calculated by reference to the unit for duty specified in relation thereto.

(2) Notwithstanding subsection (1), and without prejudice to section 5, where a person (whether ordinarily resident in Bermuda or not) imports, by aircraft, any goods for personal use into Bermuda and the goods accompany that person, there shall be imposed on all dutiable items comprised in those goods, other than items in respect of which the rate of duty is 0.00% or 33.5%, duty at the standard rate of 22.25%.

[Section 2 amended by 1994:8 effective 23 February 1994 and by 1995 : 12 effective 15 February 1995]

Export duties

3 On the goods specified in the Second Schedule there shall be imposed, when such goods are taken out of bond or otherwise exported or transshipped as ships' stores, such duties as are respectively specified in that Schedule.

Refund or drawback of duty

4 (1) The goods specified in the Third Schedule shall not be sub ject to refund or drawback of duty.

(2) The goods specified in the Fourth Schedule shall be subject to such drawbacks of duty as are specified in that Schedule.

Duty free goods

5 The goods specified in the Fifth Schedule shall not be subject to duty under this Act except as specified in that Schedule.

Minister may issue certificate of exemption for ship or aircraft tem porarily imported

6 (1) The Minister may, on such conditions as he may determine, issue a certificate exempting from duty any aircraft or vessel temporarily imported into Bermuda which would otherwise be dutiable under the provisions of this Act if he is satisfied, on written representation being made to him, that —

(a) the aircraft or vessel is intended to remain in Bermuda for a period not exceeding three months from the date of importation thereof;

(b) [deleted by 1983:8]

(d) there are special circumstances which warrant the issue of a certificate.

(2) There shall be payable in respect of the issue of a certificate under subsection (1) such fee as may be prescribed for the purpose un der the Government Fees Act 1965 [title 15 item 18].

Payment of duties

7 Import duties imposed on any goods under this Act shall be paid by the importer or consignee of the goods to the Collector of Customs or other proper officer of the Customs Department and export duties simi larly imposed shall be paid at the time when the bill of entry, or transhipment bill of entry, as the case may be, is presented to the Collector of Customs, or other proper officer of the Customs Department, to the use of Her Majesty, Her heirs and successors, for and towards the sup port of the Government to be applied for such purposes as from time to time are authorized by the Legislature.

Proportional application

8 In every case in which a specific import duty is imposed accord ing to a specific quantity the duty shall be deemed to apply in the same proportion to any greater or less quantity.

Calculation of duty on composite article

9 (1) In this section "composite article" means an article which includes two or more components in respect of each of which duty is im posed under this Act at different rates.

(2) Where a composite article is imported, taken out of bond, exported, transhipped, or shipped as ships' stores, the composite article shall, for the purpose of calculating the rate of duty falling in the circum stances to be paid thereon, be treated as if it consisted solely of the com ponent in respect of which is imposed the higher or, as the case may be, highest rate of duty:

Provided that where any component of a composite article does not constitute a substantial portion thereof that component shall, for the purpose of calculating the rate of duty to be imposed on the composite article, be disregarded.

Restricted goods imported free of duty for United States Authorities post exchanges

10 Section 7(2)(b) of the Customs Duty (Special Remission) Act 1951 [title 14 item 16] shall not apply to any goods which have been the sub ject of a remission order made under section 2 of that Act, being goods which are subsequently acquired or intended to be acquired by
the United States Authorities for the sole use of or sale to institutions or per sons referred to in section 19(1)(c) of the United States Bases (Agreement) Act 1952 [title 7 item 41]:

Provided that:—

(a) any such goods before being acquired as aforesaid shall be labelled to the satisfaction of the Collector of Cus toms; and

(b) such goods shall be deemed to be "restricted goods im ported free of duty" within the meaning of that expres sion in section 90 of the Revenue Act 1898 [title 14 item 10], and shall be subject to the provisions of that section as though they had been imported free of duty.

Surcharge on certain goods

11 (1) The duty imposed on alcohol and alcoholic beverages and tobacco and tobacco manufactures specified in Section Four of the First Schedule taken out of bond from any bonded warehouse in Bermuda shall in every case be in creased by a surcharge—

(a) for any time during the period of two years next after the goods were placed in bond, of two and one-half per centum of the duty so imposed; and

(b) for any time after that period, of five per centum of that duty.

(2) [deleted by 1985:11]

(3) [deleted by 1985:11]

(4) All provisions of law relating to the circumstances in which duty is imposed, the payment and collection thereof, the refund draw back, penalties and legal proceedings in respect thereof shall apply in like manner to the surcharge imposed under this section.

[Section 11 amended by 1994 : 10 effective 14 February 1994]

Minister of Finance may vary Schedules by order

12 (1) Subject to subsection (2), the Minister may by order pub lished in the Gazette amend the First, Second, Fourth and Fifth Schedules.

(2) Nothing in this section shall authorize the Minister to im pose or cancel any duty or vary the rate of any duty.

(3) In this section "amend" means revoke, replace, add to or vary.

[Section 12 amended by 1994 : 10 effective 14 February 1994]

Counteraction of diversion of duty concessions in certain cases

13 If a person who has imported goods into Bermuda with the ben efit of a duty concession or exemption granted by a provision of the First or Fifth Schedule desires to divert, or diverts, that concession or exemp tion by using the goods in a manner, or selling or otherwise disposing of them to a person, not sanctioned by that provision, section 14 shall have effect in relation thereto.

Obligation to repay duty

13A (1) If a person who has imported goods into Bermuda with the benefit of a duty concession or exemption described in section 13 desires to deal with the goods in any of the ways specified in that section, he shall make application in writing to the Collector of Customs ("the Col lector") with a view to paying the outstanding duty in respect of the goods; and such a dealing as aforesaid is hereafter in this section re ferred to as an unauthorized disposal of goods, and the word "disposal" shall be construed accordingly.

(2) The Collector shall be bound to grant every application made to him pursuant to subsection (1) without delay in writing, but ev ery such grant shall have attached to it the condition that the person making the application must pay the Collector the outstanding duty be fore the disposal is made.

(3) The relevant provisions of section 89 shall apply mutatis mutandis in relation to an unauthorized disposal of goods done in contravention of subsections (1) and (2) of this subsection as those provisions apply in relation to a case where restricted goods imported free of duty are used or otherwise dealt with as described in section 89(3) (a), (b) or (c).

(4) In this section-

"the 1898 Act" means the Revenue Act 1898 [title 14 item 10];

"the relevant provisions of section 89" means section 89(3) to (9);

"section 89" means section 89 of the 1898 Act.

(5) For the purposes of this section—

(a) "duty" includes any surcharge; and

"outstanding duty" means the amount of duty payable in respect of items chargeable to duty as being items not elsewhere stated in the Section of the First Schedule
under which the goods were entered for purposes of duty, less any duty already paid in respect of the goods;

(b) where the goods in question are goods in respect of which duty is charged on the basis of their value, the value of the goods shall be taken to be that value which the Collector places on goods which in his opinion are goods of a description, age and condition similar to the description, age and condition of the goods in question at the time the disposal is made; and

(c) the rate of duty to be taken for the purpose of calculat ing outstanding duty is the rate in force at the time the disposal is made.

[Section 13A amended by 1990:14 effective 21 February 1990; and by 1994:10 effective 14 February 1994]

Repeals

14 [omitted]

Commencement

15 [omitted]

[this Act was brought into operation on 1 August 1970]

FIRST SCHEDULE
Import Duties
[omitted]

SECOND SCHEDULE
Export Duties

(This Schedule shall not be applicable to goods landed in Bermuda from a vessel in distress and re-exported subsequently in the same vessel or to goods taken out of bond under subsections (3) and (4) of section 36 of the Revenue Act 1898.).

[omitted]

THIRD SCHEDULE
Goods not subject to refund or drawback of duty.
[omitted]

FOURTH SCHEDULE
Drawback in relation to imported goods
incorporated in goods manufac tured in Bermuda.
[omitted]

FIFTH SCHEDULE
Table of Exemptions from Duty
[omitted]

[Amended by:

Bermuda Consolidated Legislation

Customs Tariff Act 1970