Commercial Crafts
Commercial crafts mean any vessel (including lighters and barges, whether or not ship-borne, and hydrofoils), hovercraft, aircraft which is used in international traffic for the transport of persons for remuneration or for the industrial or commercial transport of goods, whether or not for remuneration.
Advance Notification of Arrival
All commercial crafts must enter Tonga at a designated Customs port of entry unless prior authorization has been given by Customs for it to arrive at any other place in Tonga.
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Ships: – at least 24 hours prior to arrival in Tonga; and
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Aircrafts:– at least 1 hour prior to arrival in Tonga
Advance Submission of Manifests
The person in charge (or agent) of an aircraft or ship bound for Tonga must submit in
advance all information relating to its arrival and any cargo, passengers and crew aboard the aircraft or ship.
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Ships: cargo and passenger manifests – at least 4 hours prior to arrival in Tonga; and
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Aircrafts: cargo and passenger manifests – at least 1 hour prior to arrival in Tonga
Temporary Admission
Means of transport for commercial use are allowed to be brought temporarily into Tonga without payment of import duties and taxes provided they are not used for internal transport in whilst in Tonga. They must be intended for re-export without the permitted temporary admission period without having undergone any change except normal depreciation due to their use, normal consumption of lubricants and fuel and necessary repairs.
Temporary admission granted by Customs shall be subject for a period of 4 months and be subject to strict conditions.
Extensions must be requested prior to the expiration of the initial 4months and may be granted up to a period of 12months in total.
Non-compliance with the conditions of any temporary admission will result in severe penalties and even seizure of your craft.
