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NATIVE PRODUCE SHIPPED FROM OPEN PORT TO OPEN PORT
VIA A FOREIGN PORT OR PORTS.
Native goods may be sent under a duty exemption docum. it in the form of a duplicate Application, duly stamped, from one Open Port to another Open Port via a foreign port or ports under the following regulations:
1. Owners of steamers or agents of steamship companies wishing to clear a steamer from one Upen Port to another Open Port via a foreign port or ports shall declare to the Customs at the port of clearance the names of the foreign ports to be touched at, and shall also state in writing whether all the native produce declared for other Open Forts is to be conveyed to its destination without transhipment. Foreign ports thus touched at must be in âirect route between Open Fort of shipment and Open Port of discharge.
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N.B. - Vessels clearing in ballast from an Open Port to and Open Port are not allowed to proceed via a foreign port or ports for bunkering or for any other purpose, unless they have declared at time of clearance the name or names of the foreign port or ports at which they intend to call. Failure to do so will render the vessel liable to a fine not exceeding $500.
The above ruling does not apply to vessels which put into a foreign port in distress, but when the plea of distress is proffered, it should only be accepted when its authenticity can be vouched for.
2.
Should any portion of the native produce conveyed by a steamer from an Open Fort to another Open Port via a foreign port or ports be declared to be for transhipment to another steamer or to a junk at any foreign port touched at, then the steamship owner or agent, or the individual merchant concerned, shall on his declaration state into which type or vessel the goods are to be transhipped, shall give full particulars of the goods to be transhipped as to marks, weight, value etc., and shall also, if possible, state the name of the vessel into which the goods are to be transhipped for conveyance to their destination.
3.
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On receipt of such a declaration the Customs authorities at the original port of clearance shall take from the owner or agent of the steamer, or from the individual merchant concerned, a written guarantee, under specified penalties, that no repacking of the goods declared for such transhipment shall take place at any foreign port touched at.
4. Native produce declared for transhipment at a foreign port must be securely packed, and in such a manner as to be easily sealed if necessary, must be marked with a distinctive mark for each consignment preferably with the name of the firm to which the shipment is addressed, and must be numbered in such a way as to be easily identifiable. If necessary, the Customs may call upon the applicant to supply a signed weight memorandum showing the weight of each individual package in a given consignment. The Customs reserve the right to refuse this transhipment privilege if these conditions are not fully complied with.
5.