AN INTERESTING LEGAL QUESTION: Any Belizean lawyers on this board or any govt. official should be able to look this one up quickly in the customs codes (as should anyone who has access to the published Belizean statutes regarding customs laws, such as a customs broker):
DO GOVERNMENT ENTITIES PAY DUTY?
I never heard of any country where a branch of the government must pay customs duty when it imports items for the public.
IS BELIZE AN EXCEPTION? If not, it would seem to me that if the RECIPIENT of an otherwise dutiable item is a GOVERNMENT entity (such as the Ambergris Caye or Caye Caulker Town Board), it is EXEMPT from paying such duty.
Otherwise, you would have the absurd system of the public health dept (or ministry or whatever they call it) purchasing medical supplies and having to pay duty to itself. As another example: Does the BDF pay duty when the US govt donates anti drug weaponry and surveillance equipment that we all ready about? I would be real surprised if that occurred.
Did the British and US military contingent pay DUTY to the Belizean govt. on those 1,000 blankets, and other things it brought? I think not. I don't think it even occurred to anyone at customs to ASK FOR PAPERWORK! I would suspect the answer to all of the above is no.
Now, if GOVERNMENT ENTITIES do not have to pay duty on things that they import, it seems to me that all we need do is LABEL the cartons of relief supplies as belonging to the Town Board and there should be no more delays and demands for duty. If that is correct, the town board should quickly fax the names of the people who are bringing in these supplies so that there is a letter on file (with copies to the people bringing it in) documenting that the stuff belongs to a branch of government.
We need to start thinking out of the box here. If someone wants to send me a copy of the codes (send it as a file attachment or if you don't have it resident on your computer, fax it to me at: 510-405-2016 and I will review it, though it would certainly be best for a Belizean lawyer to do this. I would also want to see the codes that state what the status of the town boards for Ambergris Caye and Caye Caulker are as governnment entities.
Also what exceptions to duty are there for charities, non profits, etc. if any?
AmbergrisCaye.com 
