5th December, 2013
Attorney General’s Chambers
TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS CUSTOMS (AMENDMENT) BILL 2014 ARRANGEMENT OF CLAUSES CLAUSE
1. 2. 3. 4.
Short title and commencement Interpretation Section 115A amended Section 116 amended
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TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS A PROPOSAL FOR A
BILL FOR AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND THE CUSTOMS ORDINANCE AND FOR CONNECTED PURPOSES.
ENACTED by the Legislature of the Turks and Caicos Islands.
Short title and commencement 1. This Ordinance may be cited as the Customs (Amendment) Ordinance 2014 and shall come into operation on such day as the Governor may appoint by Notice published in the Gazette.
Interpretation 2. In this Ordinance the “principal Ordinance” means the Customs Ordinance.
Section 115A amended 3. Section 115A of the principal Ordinance is amended – (a) in subsection (1) by substituting the concluding paragraph with— “shall keep or cause to be kept in the Islands, in English and in the US currency, all documents, books, records, including computer records; and any information relating to those goods, for a period of not less than five years from the date of import, export or carriage coastwise of those goods.”; and (b) in subsections (2) and (3) by repealing “$5,000” and substituting with “$10,000”.
5th December, 2013
Attorney General’s Chambers
Section 116 amended 4. Section 116 of the principal Ordinance is amended— (a) in subsection (1)(a) by repealing “as the officer” and substituting with “as the Collector”; (b) by repealing subsection (2) and substituting with— “(2) The Collector may— (a) take possession of and retain any document, book or record or other information presented in connection with any entry or required to be produced under this Ordinance; and (b) require evidence to be produced to his satisfaction in support of any information provided by virtue of this Ordinance in respect of any goods imported, exported or carried coastwise, or in respect of which any repayment of duty is claimed.”; (c) by inserting after subsection (2) the following subsection— “(2a)Notwithstanding subsection (2), where the Collector requires original invoices or certificates of origin, or both, to be produced for imported or exported goods, the Collector may— (a) require such invoices or certificates of origin, or both, to be submitted in duplicate; or (b) retain the originals if such invoices or certificates of origin, or both, are not submitted in duplicate.”; (d) in subsection (3) by repealing “$5,000” and substituting with “$20,000”; and (e) by inserting after subsection (5) the following subsection— “(6) The Minister may by Order prescribe the type of documents, books, records and information to be kept under this Ordinance, and the form and manner in which they are to be kept.”. ________________________
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PASSED by the House of Assembly this
day of
2014.
………………………….. Tracey Parker
………………. Robert Hall
Clerk to House of Assembly
Speaker
5th December, 2013
Attorney General’s Chambers
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM The Customs (Amendment) Bill seeks to provide further provisions to enable a post clearance audit to be conducted on goods subjected to importation, exportation, carriage coastwise, loading or any transaction under the Customs Ordinance. The provisions were included by Ordinance 27 of 2010 where section 115A was included to provide for record keeping and section 116 to enable customs officers to have access to such records for purposes of post audit clearance. The Bill enhances the provisions on record keeping and powers of customs officers to acquire such records to carry on a post clearance audit. THE BILL. Clause 1 and 2 provides the short title, commencement and interpretation provisions of the Bill. Clause 3 amends section 115A by repealing and substituting the last paragraph in subsection (1), by including that the records shall be kept in the Islands in English and in the US currency. Subsections (2) and (3) are amended by increasing the fine. Clause 4 amends section 116 in subsection (1)(a) by removing the requirement of furnishing information in the form and manner to be by an individual customs officer, and to state that it is to be determined by the Collector. The section is also amended by expanding the powers of the Collector at subsection (2) to include powers to take possession and retain all documents and records kept as provided in subsection (2). Subsection (3) is amended by increasing the fine for contravening the provisions on record keeping or allowing access to the customs officers to conduct post clearance audit. The section is further amended by inserting subsection (6) which empowers the Minister to make an order to provide for the type of documents and records to be kept, and the form and manner in which they are to be kept.
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