customs

jefgar, I've never heard about this and HOPE it's wrong but really have no clue. I'd think if we are all paying customs charges on items brought into the territory to another country people would be up in arms about it...

To echo what others have said, if taking jewelry (and other small valuables) with you on an airplane it is necessary to not only put it in your carry-on but to make sure that the carry-on fits in the overhead bin on all of your scheduled airplanes.

A friend had her carry-on bag & jewelry "disappear" when checked planeside.

I think Jefgar is right, I've brought laptops into the territory via DHL and had to go through the process. US Custom's collects duties but the rates are still basically based on the Danish laws. There have probably been some modifications over the years, but when I paid it they gave me a rate chart that referenced old Danish codes on it.

However G2G, we are not paying the duties to Denmark, the money stays here in the territory...its just that the rates that we pay are based on Danish law.

I think that this adds some urgency to get a VI Constitution in place I think as the agreement was only good for 100 years which means in about 8 years (2017) it is null and void.

Sean

The reason I ask about the jewelry is that several dealers consider St. Croix an "international" location (from Miami and Seattle) because they swear up and down that there has to be a customs declaration and that there will be duties to pay on my end. I'm trying to get together information before correcting their perceptions, but I wanted to make sure I had the facts, and naturally when dealing with any government entity facts are hard to come by. Sorry to have been a distraction in the thread, and thanks for the advice!

There was never an agreement between Denmark and the USA to collect custom fee's for Denmark. The fact that the territory was not considered to be a future part of the US is clearly shown in treaty provisions that both parties left the Virgin Islands outside of the US Customs zone and exempted it from the Jones Act Requirement, with respect to the absence of this law "The Virgin Islands are not considered US Ports". All Fee's collected Stay on the islands and they use the same fee structure as Denmark did. On the international stage the US Virgin Islands are a Non-Self Governing Territory, until that status changes via a constitution that does not supersede the US Constitution things will remain the same.8-)

We have new neighbors moving in down the hill from us (on STX). I drove by this morning and saw the awesome crew from Bob Lynch Trucking unloading a 40' container under the watchful eyes of a US Customs Officer. He looked bored!

Better to unload the container at the house and not the dock for the inspections.

When the territories were purchased, the government made certain concessions. They allowed the territory to maintain the import tax under Danish law......If you are bringing something to the territory from abroad, you are subject to taxes under public law 64. This is different from United States Customs law. That's why you are required to pass anything travelling from here to he states through Customs. Under Customs law, we are esentially a foriegn country because anything you import here, is imported under diffferent laws than if you brought it directly to the States.