Q: Can anyone import goods into the DR?
A: Yes. A private person may import goods if they are for personal use. If the quantity and nature of these goods indicate that they may not be for personal use customs will (in most cases) require that a legally established company be the consignee. You MUST be at least legal resident to have a shipment cleared on your behalf; Customs will require your ID number (cédula). For businesses the Tax Contributor Number (RNC) is required.
Q: What documents do I need to import goods into the DR?
A: It depends on the type of goods you will be importing. In general ALL shipments will require the following:
*Commercial Invoice
*Bill of lading or Air Way Bill
*Consular Invoice
*C1 (optional)
Some shipments may require special permits and documentation. For example, to import cosmetics, medicine and food you will need permits from the Health Department (Secretaría de Salud Pública), these means that there is additional procedure outside the Customs clearance that have to be followed PRIOR to the arrival of the shipment. You must know that not everything can be imported into the DR. Please consult a customs broker if you are not sure about the goods you are importing prior to the actual shipment taking place.
Please be aware that ALL documents MUST be original and printed on original stationery (not photocopies, no faxes). Customs frowns upon the use of handwritten documents, the more official-looking the documents are the least problems you may have. If you have lost the documents or they haven’t arrived on time you will only be able to clear your shipment if you present at customs a bond for the value of the merchandise. Customs may still decline to let you take your goods.
Q: What is a Consular Invoice?
A: By law the shipper must summit an original commercial invoice to the Dominican consulate closest to the point of shipping.The consulate will issue a Consular invoice this document is needed to clear the shipment in the DR. The fee that the consulate charges varies depending on the location. In absence of a Dominican Consulate in a radius of 100 miles to the shipping port the shipper must require the local chamber of commerce to issue a letter stating that there isn’t a Dominican consulate within the required distance. Although the law states that a Consular invoice is needed for any shipment worth US$100.00 or more, in the practice it is only needed for shipments worth US$1000.00 or more. If the consignee cannot produce the Consular invoice at the time of clearance customs will fine the consignee. At the moment the fine is about RD$6500.00
Q: What is a C1?
A: If the importer buys the dollars to pay for their shipments from a bank, the bank will issue a document stating that you bought your dollars there, this document is a C1. The bank will charge 4.75% of the amount of US$ bought, this accounts for the Currency Exchange Tax (Comisión Cambiaria). This money goes to the central government. If you bought your dollars from any other source then (since you cannot produce the C1) Customs will charge the 4.75% along with the rest of the duties and taxes.
Q: What is the typical procedure to clear a shipment at Customs?
A: You, or your broker on your behalf, must fill out a form (Form. 3480) declaring the details of the shipment (Shipper, consignee, commodity, total FOB, freight, insurance, etc). This document along with the documents listed above will be presented at the Customs office of the port/airport of arrival. A Customs officer (Verificador) will be assigned to inspect the shipment and confirm the veracity of the information declared in the Form. 3480. ALL shipments are inspected. Once the shipment is inspected the form goes to the Assessment Department (Valores), this department will check the prices that you declared (your prices may or may not be accepted as true and will be readjusted by customs) and calculate the amount of duties and taxes to be paid. After paying these you can withdraw your goods from Customs.
You must make your presentation no later than 10 days counting from (and including) the arrival date. Failure to do so will result in heavy fines.
Although this is a basic review of the procedure in reality is DOES NOT work so simply. Consult your customs broker for details.
Q: What should I expect to pay?
A: There isn’t a “flat” tax in the DR, so duties can go from 0% to more than 100%, it depends on the commodity that you are importing. Duties and taxes are calculated on a CIF basis. Only insurance bought from Dominican companies are accepted at customs for the purpose of calculating taxes. If you cannot produce your insurance policy at the time of clearance Customs will assume 2% of the FOB value as cost of insurance. Taxes and duties are paid in RD$ at current exchange rates.
Besides duties, certain taxes and fees are also paid at the time of clearance:
*Comisión cambiara (see C1 above): 4.75%
*ITBIS: 12%
*Selectivo al consumo: 20 - 40% (luxury goods and alcohol)
*Warehousing (Portuaria): calculated on the basis of weight and days at port.
If you are importing full container loads (FCL) you will have to leave a deposit of RD$38,000.00 per container to guarantee that they will be returned clean and in good condition within 14 days of arrival to port. For each day after that US$100.00 per container will be deducted from the deposit. This is not paid to the government but rather to an association of shipping lines.
Q: Are there exception to the rules?
A: Yes, certain businesses and commodities are treated in a different manner. Manufacturing Free Zones companies for example are exempted from paying duties and taxes (some fees apply). There are many other exception to the rules, please consult your custom broker for details.
Q: What are the major ports and airports in the DR?
A: The largest airport in the DR is AILA (SDQ), near Santo Domingo followed by La Unión (POP) near Puerto Plata and Aeropuerto Internacional del Cibao (STI) near Santiago.
The most important port in the DR is Rio Haina. Rio Haina Oriental is operated by the government, Rio Haina Occidental is operated by Maersk/Sealand. Puerto Plata is the second largest. Other ports are Boca Chica (west of Santo Domingo), San Pedro de Macorís, and Manzanillo. There are a few other ports that don’t have regularly-scheduled lines going in or out.
If you need shipping assistance, please email us at BankerTrust@gmail.com or visit our web site at http://www.banker-trust.com/Dominican_Shipping_Cargo.html
