Documentary requirements
Fax signatures are not permitted on original documents. As the time taken for cargo to reach Fiji from Eastern Australia is relatively short, it is essential that documents necessary for clearing the goods through customs be dispatched in time to effect prompt clearance. It is suggested that delays in clearance can be minimised by:
- Posting a copy of the invoice directly to the customer together with name of ship and intended date of departure (this would enable the customer to carry out customs formalities with a bank guarantee in lieu of the bill of lading).
- Cabling or telexing advice of shipment with name of ship, goods dispatched and FOB or FOW (Incoterms 1990) value.
Commercial invoice
No prescribed form and an original and one copy is required by Fiji Customs. The importer may request additional copies, and must include the following details:
- Date and number of the invoice
- Name and address of the seller/consignor of goods
- Name and address of the buyer/consignee
- Name of the ship or flight number if known as the time the invoice is made out
- Country of origin of the goods
- Description of the goods, quantity, number of packages, marks and numbers of each package, the selling price and the terms of delivery (ex-factory, FOB, CIF etc. (Incoterms 1990))
All invoices (including copies) must bear the following declaration (with the relevant parts altered to reflect the details of the shipment):
'The buyer named in this invoice has purchased the specified goods from the vendor named herein for the amounts stated and no further payment either director indirect other than the costs, charges and expenses specified has been or will be made by the buyer in respect of the goods. The goods have not been sold to the importer but are to be imported for .................(appropriate details). The importer/buyer is (i) not associated in business with the seller in any way: a broker, agent, distributor or concessionaire for the seller/consignor; (ii) associated in business with the seller/consignor.'
Inclusion of a product's correct HS classification is not obligatory but is useful for clearance purposes.
Bill of lading/airway bill
No special requirements. To Order bills are acceptable.
Packing list
Packing lists are not compulsory, but facilitate clearance, required for all full container loads of cargo. Optional for loose air-cargo shipments.
Public health requirements
Importation of live animals or animal products listed below, all require an import permit:
- fresh/chilled/frozen and processed meats/poultry
- canned meat/poultry
- all dairy products
- semen
- feathers
- hides
- animal by-products (eg. tallow, biologicals)
Permits are issued by the office of:
Director of Animal Health & Production
Fiji Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries & Forest
PO Box 15829 Suva
An initial application for a permit must be made in writing and, if the application is approved, an Import Permit will then be issued - usually processed within two weeks of receipt. However, if an application is made for a product which has never been imported into Fiji, a Pest-Risk-Analysis will have to be undertaken, which takes a minimum time of 12 months.
Fruit and vegetables must be accompanied by an import licence obtained from the Chief Quarantine Officer, Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries & Forest, and must comply with specified health regulations requiring methyl bromide fumigation (see also 'Special certificates').
Agricultural seeds are allocated an import permit only after a sample representative of the batch proposed for import has been subject to testing by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries & Forestry.
Pure food ordinances govern the use of colours and preservatives, and the standard, composition and marking of food products.
Importation of the following drugs and their salts is restricted to the Government Pharmacist:
- morphine
- pethidine
- methadone
- phenadoxone
- tincture of opium
Pharmacopoeia is the legal reference for the standard quality and composition of all drugs.
Insurance
Normal commercial practice.
Weights and measures
The metric system.
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