Page 47 - Jamaica Post Office Guide 1938

52 OVERSEA M AILS: CUSTOMS DUTIES.
Each parcel must be plainly directed, such directions setting forth the name and full
address of the person for whom the parcel is intended. A parcel must not be posted in a
letter box but must be taken into a Post Office and presented at the counter to the Postmaster
or person in charge.
A certificate of posting will be given to the person posting a parcel but no liability
attaches to the Post Office in respect thereof.
Parcels should be securely and substantially packed with due regard to length of journey,
conditions of transit, climatic conditions, &e.; e.g., cardboard or ordinary brown paper
is not in general sufficient packing for parcels sent to places abroad. Light and bulky
articles should be packed in strong wooden cases. In some cases seals may be found
necessary; if wax is used it should be of the special quality which will withstand a hot
’
climate Parcels to U.S.A. may not be sealed.
A parcel may not contain dangerous articles, perishable articles, articles likely to injure
other parcels, or the officers of the Post Office, liquids, unless securely packed in proper
cases and surrounded with absorbent material, or any contraband articles or substances.
The rules fo r the m ode o f packing sam ples containing liquids,
oils, etc., as set out on page 46, must be strictly adhered in
every detail. A parcel must not contain another parcel or other postal packet
intended for delivery to a person other than the addressee of the first named parcel.
If on examination of any parcel there shall be found in or with the same any letter or
communication of the nature of a letter such paper or communication will be withdrawn
therefrom, and will be forwarded to the addressee thereof; or, if it be not addressed, to
the addressee of the parcel in or with which the same was found enclosed, and the said
letter will be surcharged for delivery at the unpaid rate of postage.
Parcels redirected from one country to another will be charged a fresh postage at the
rate payable to the country of destination.
Parcels containing coin, anything made of gold or silver or other precious articles cannot
be forwarded to a country participating in the insurance scheme except the parcel is insured.
Parcels containing articles of an aggregate value exceeding £50 will not be accepted for
transmission. This does not apply to insured parcels (for the limit of the value of which
see pages 62 to 72, col. 6).
Parcels are delivered in Kingston if addressed to a place within the house delivery
limit by letter carrier; if beyond such limit, at the Parcel Post Office; in the country
across the Post Office counter.
The amount of duty assessed on any such parcel must be paid before delivery, or before
the delivery of the parcel from the custody of the Post Office.
All complaints relating to Customs duty on parcels should be addressed to the Collec­
tor of Customs, Kingston, as the Post Office has no control in the matter of duty. The
declaration and duty-label must accompany the complaint.
Custom s D uties (Im port)
An ad valorem duty is levied on the majority of articles imported into the island by
the medium of the parcel post. The general rate of ad valorem duty is 20, 25,
and 30% and the preferential rate is 15%. Shoes and articles of apparel from non-
preference countries are also subject to a specific duty—shoes, 1/- to 3/6 per pair;
apparel, 1/- to 12/- per doz. articles. The preference of 15% is given to goods which
are the produce and manufacture of the following countries of the British Empire which
is held to mean and include—the United Kingdom, the British Dominions, territories
administered by or under the authority of a Dominion Government including territories
administered under a Mandate, India, Southern Rhodesia, all Colonies and Protec­
torates, the Mandated territory of Tanganyika, the Cameroons under British Mandate,
and Togoland under British Mandate.
Goods imported from the above named countries must be accompanied by a certificate
of origin and of British manufacture, in order to secure the preferential rate of duty. If
desired, the certificate may be enclosed in the parcel, and a note to this effect made on
the Customs declaration. It must be distinctly understood that goods mailed by parcel
post in any of the above named countries, which are not accompanied by the necessary
certificate of British manufacture, will be assessed at the general 20,25. 30% and not
the preferential rate (15%) of duty. The following is the form of certificate of British
manufacture required on parcels for Jamaica:—
“ I, the undersigned, do hereby declare that, to the best of my knowledge and
belief, the contents, of this parcel are—
(a) (if not a manufactured article) the growth or produce of*................................