Saint Lucia

All Border Regulatory Agencies (BRAs) impose fees & charges directly associated with the clearance of goods. Some of these fees & charges are contained within their respective legislations but are not routinely scheduled separately on agency websites. No standardised procedures are in place for publication, but some agencies publish their fees & charges through the gazette process or communicate them to the trading community through other means such as emails, notices or upon request.

Whilst some reviews are currently being conducted, the BRAs do not currently have processes in place to ensure that fees & charges are being reviewed regularly and are proportionate to the cost of the service being provided. Overall, the processes are not fully documented, formalized or consistent and need to be consolidated and streamlined to increase predictability and consistency. The Customs & Excise Department is in the process of reviewing some of their fees and charges that are scheduled within the Customs (Control and Management) Act which is available on their website.

Technical assistance is required to conduct a comprehensive review (inventory) of the fees and charges being applied by all BRAs and develop an overarching policy framework that provides consistency and transparency to the trading community. This review should aim to consolidate some of the fees & charges, draft standard operating procedures (for the review and publication of fees) and ensure the revised regime is communicated to the trade in an easily accessible manner. For Customs & Excise, particularly for Article 6.2, some form of cost analysis would also need to be conducted to ensure that all fees & charges are proportionate/commensurate to the cost of the service being provided.

It is considered that the current definitive dates provide adequate time for alignment.