Archived Articles

The Director of Customs and Inland Revenue Department, Mr. Benjamin Malas and the Attorney General, Mr. Arnold Kiel Loughman has signed a historical secondment agreement.

The Customs Division is currently conducting a bonded warehouse operation. There are two main reasons for this operation.

The former students of Malapoa College who are currently employed by the Department of Customs & Inland Revenue expressed their vote of appreciations to the College through their contributions.

The Rates Taxes Office would like to inform the general public that it will only issue: 

1. New License on the completion of 3 month’s (minimum) as a leaner driver.
2. Public Vehicle Drivers Permit after 12 months the Driver’s License was issued. 

Following the conclusion of the National nCEN training on 6th July 2016, Vanuatu Customs now joins Fiji Customs as the only two Customs Administrations in the Pacific region, and only 20 others in the World, to have implemented this Customs intelligence system.

Vanuatu participated in the WTO Advance Course on Trade Facilitation at the WTO head quarter in Geneva, Switzerland.

Rates and Taxes Office acknowledges that this year most vehicle owners have been compliant with their annual road tax and would like to thank them for doing the right thing in respecting the laws of Vanuatu.

As part of the continuing consultative process between Customs and Customs Brokers, information sessions on the revised process for duty exemptions were provided to Brokers in Santo on 15th February 2016 and in Vila on 11th March.

As we begin this New Year, 2016 many new businesses and investors coming in are establishing and setting up in the country and many will eventually fall within the VAT registration requirements.  Due to that, the VAT Office would like to remind all approved licensed businesses to apply and lodger their application for VAT registration with the VAT Office for VAT through a prescribed form. 

Due to popular demand of Customs Brokers by Principal Customs Brokers and Traders in both Port Vila and Luganville. Customs has conducted trainings in these two major centers to about 60 interested participants.

Port Vila Customs has penalized a local airline company for breaching paragraph 32(2)(a) of the Customs Act.

VAT Office is reminding all VAT registered persons to do the right thing during this festive season.

An Officer of a Shipping Agent in the Port of Luganville had been penalised by Customs Officials for not complying with the Customs laws.

On the 27th of November 2015, the magistrates court in Port Vila punished a naturalised citizen of Vanuatu for importing money in excess of vt1,000,000 into the country without declaring it to Customs.

In a small, but significant ceremony on Monday 19th October 2015, the Director of Customs and Inland Revenue, Mr. Benjamin Malas, and UNCTAD representative, Mr. Renaud Massenet, signed the project document for the deployment of ASYCUDA World in Vanuatu.