The import licence, your TRN, and who imports the car

Every motor vehicle entering Jamaica needs an import licence from the Trade Board Limited, and it needs it before the vehicle ships. That one sentence decides the order of everything else you do. This guide covers what the licence is, what you need to apply, the difference between importing in your own name and importing through a dealer, and what happens when the order goes wrong.

Start with a TRN

The Taxpayer Registration Number is the identifier every part of the process runs on. The Trade Board wants it on the licence application, Tax Administration Jamaica issues the Tax Compliance Certificate against it, and the customs entry carries it. If you do not have one, or you have been abroad long enough to have lost track of it, get that sorted before anything else. A dealer importing on your behalf will ask for it at the first meeting.

The licence comes before the ship

Jamaica Customs is blunt about the order of operations: the vehicle must not ship until the licence is issued. The reason is simple. The licence is where the Trade Board checks that the vehicle is inside the age limit for its category and that you are entitled to import it. If that check fails after the vehicle is already on the water, there is no mechanism to fix it at the wharf. A licence refused after the vehicle has shipped is your loss.

So the sequence is: settle the category and the age with the Trade Board, apply for the licence, receive it, and only then let the exporter book the vessel. The Trade Board answers licensing and age-limit questions on 876-967-0507 and 876-967-0674. The age limits guide sets out the schedule the licence is checked against.

Individuals: two vehicles every three years

An individual importing in their own name is held to two vehicles every three years. That is the Motor Vehicle Import Policy’s limit on private importers, and it exists to keep the private route for private use rather than for trading. If you have brought in a car recently, count back before you plan another.

Importing in your own name also means the licence is in your name, the customs entry is in your name, and you engage the licensed customs broker yourself. It is entirely possible, and plenty of people do it, but it means managing the exporter, the shipping line, the inspection company and the broker directly.

Dealers: any category, any quantity, for resale

A certified dealer may import any category of vehicle, in any quantity, for resale. That is what certification buys. It does not buy an exemption from the age schedule: the policy binds dealers to it by name, and says that using a sub-dealer or a broker does not exempt anyone from it either. The difference between a dealer and an individual is one of volume, not of age.

Most vehicles now enter Jamaica through a dealer, either from the dealer’s own stock or as a special import the dealer sources for a particular customer. The Trade Board publishes the register of certified dealers, and this site carries a copy on the directory page so you can check any name against it before you hand over a deposit.

How a special import through a dealer works

In a special import, you pick the vehicle, either from an exporter listing you found or from the dealer’s own sources in Japan, and the dealer confirms availability and quotes a CIF price. The dealer then applies for the import licence in its own name and clears the vehicle on arrival. What you supply is your TRN, your ID and a deposit. Dealers commonly ask for half up front, with the balance of the vehicle price usually due before or when the car ships, and the customs duties, wharfage and the dealer’s own fee paid when the vehicle lands.

Because the licence and the entry are in the dealer’s name, the vehicle is assessed on the dealer rate sheet. Those are the rates this site prices with, and the dealer versus individual guide explains the distinction. The practical advice is the same either way: get a written quote that shows the dealer’s fee separately from the customs charges, so you can check the customs part against the calculator and know exactly what the dealer is charging for the service.

The Tax Compliance Certificate

Among the documents the broker needs to lodge the entry is a Tax Compliance Certificate from Tax Administration Jamaica. It is issued against your TRN and it says your tax affairs are in order. If they are not, the certificate is not issued, and the entry cannot be lodged. This is the document most often left until the vehicle is already at the wharf, and it is the one with the least room for a quick fix. Apply for it as soon as the vehicle ships, if not before.

The full document list

Whoever holds the licence, the broker lodges the entry with the same set of papers:

• The import licence, issued by the Trade Board before shipping.
• The title or export certificate. In Japan this is the export certificate produced when the car is de-registered.
• The bill of lading from the shipping line or agent.
• The supplier’s invoice, showing what you paid.
• The Tax Compliance Certificate.
• The Special Declaration, prepared by the broker and signed by you.
• The pre-inspection certificate for a used vehicle, issued by an approved inspection company in the export country before shipping.

When the order goes wrong

The failure that costs the most is the one the guide opened with: a vehicle that ships before its licence is issued and is then refused. The second is a vehicle that ships with a licence but on paperwork that does not match it, an engine size or a year of manufacture on the export certificate that differs from what was declared. The licence application and the customs entry both work from the certificate, so get the certificate, or at least the exporter’s transcription of it, before you apply, and make sure the two agree.

Before you apply

• Have your TRN, and confirm your tax affairs are current.
• Decide whether you are importing in your own name or through a dealer, and if a dealer, check the name on the register.
• Confirm the category and year of manufacture with the Trade Board.
• Get the licence in hand before the exporter books the vessel.
• Apply for the Tax Compliance Certificate early.

With the licence settled, the calculator gives you the customs charges to budget for on arrival.