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Welcome to the Vanuatu Department of Customs and Inland Revenue (DCIR) Newsroom. This section includes a wide variety of news from DCIR including media releases and publications.

They say things move slowly with “island time” in the Pacific, however the Customs Division of the Department of Customs and Inland Revenue with its impressive track record of reform and modernization has blown this hackneyed assumption out of the water.

As part of its effort to facilitate trade, FR8 Logistics has successfully developed a proprietary software for the automatic uploading of DHL airway bills directly into ASYCUDA World, without any manual data capturing at all.

The Vanuatu ASYCUDA World system has now been made even easier to access by its users. Thanks to months of commitment by the Project Team to work on this initiative which will see the Vanuatu system be one of the most trusted and secured ASYCUDA World platforms in the World.

Three crews of a foreign vessel were penalised by the Customs in the Port of Luganville for not complying with the Customs laws. On Friday 17th March, the Customs Officer on night duty intercepted a smuggling of a package containing Chinese foodstuffs and Chinese Brand cigarettes by the Chinese crews.

The VAT Office previously had discussions with aid donor representatives and advised them of the correct VAT procedures relating to their projects. This article provides a summary statement of those discussions and also reviews the recent amendment to the Value Added Tax Act 1998 No.12 of 1998 [CAP 247] (“the VAT Act”) relating to the term “approved aid project”. The policy summary of the discussions held was as follows.

Yesterday marked an important day for the Department of Customs and Inland Revenue (DCIR), when the Director, Benjamin Malas signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Gabriel Gauchet, President of recently formed Vanuatu Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association (VCBFA).

The Honorable Minister for Finance and Economic Management (MFEM) signed on Thursday 5th January 2017 the Ministerial Order to introduce the new Customs Harmonised Coding System the HS 2017.

Since, most tour operators are generally registered for VAT purposes, however many suppliers of tourist services are not. This has created some confusion about the correct VAT treatment of such supplies when supplied through a tour operator. 

The Revenue Review Committee wishes to inform the General public that there will be another General Public Session Next week Thursday 20th of October 2016 at the National Convention Centre. The Presentation will commence at 9:30am and include plenty of time for Question and Answers.

In a joint statement today, the establishment of the Vanuatu Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association was announced by the Acting Deputy Director Customs, Department of Customs and Inland Revenue, Mr. George Pakoa, and the President of the newly formed Association, Mr. Gabriel Gauchet.

The implementation of ASYCUDA World in Vanuatu is more than a modernization project. It is an opportunity to bring about further reform to Vanuatu Customs to efficiently meet its national objectives of collecting revenue, protecting borders and facilitating trade. This week we bring you two of the major reforms currently being carried out in Vanuatu Customs.

In a press statement issued by the Ministers for Internal Affairs and Finance, they have announced the outcomes of Council of Ministers Decision 18 of 2016, to transfer the Immigration primary line function from the Vanuatu Immigration Service (VIS), within the Department of Internal Affairs to the Department of Customs and Inland Revenue (DCIR).

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