Can anyone explain to me where I can find the various tariffs for importation of various goods into the Bahamas please. I know that there is a book for purchase...but at 300 large ones...that is just a rip off. Is there nowhere online where those tariffs are posted. Maybe someone has got a copy and managed to scan it onto their comp. and can post them on the net. I was just told today when picking up a shipment that 2 years ago was duty free, 6 months ago had a 35% duty now is slapped with 220%...whaddaheck :realmad: is that...220%????

Also, I need to know, where exactly in the law on-line, posted by Bahamas Gov., I can find where it says the stuff about the high water mark when it comes to beach access. I think I heard one time that it actually is further up on land than that. The width of a horse cart above high water mark actually. Would appreciate ref. where to find that written in the Bahamas Law.

Bee Safe

Can anyone explain to me where I can find the various tariffs for importation of various goods into the Bahamas please. I know that there is a book for purchase...but at 300 large ones...that is just a rip off. Is there nowhere online where those tariffs are posted. Maybe someone has got a copy and managed to scan it onto their comp. and can post them on the net. I was just told today when picking up a shipment that 2 years ago was duty free, 6 months ago had a 35% duty now is slapped with 220%...whaddaheck :realmad: is that...220%????
Also, I need to know, where exactly in the law on-line, posted by Bahamas Gov., I can find where it says the stuff about the high water mark when it comes to beach access. I think I heard one time that it actually is further up on land than that. The width of a horse cart above high water mark actually. Would appreciate ref. where to find that written in the Bahamas Law.
Bee Safe
Tariffs
http://laws.bahamas.gov.bs/statutes/statute_CHAPTER_295.html

Please note that these are very much out of date following the recent budget!
You would need to contact the Customs department to actually check.

Tariffs
http://laws.bahamas.gov.bs/statutes/statute_CHAPTER_295.html
Please note that these are very much out of date following the recent budget!
You would need to contact the Customs department to actually check.

either that or contact a customs brokerage and they'd be able to tell you how much duty a particular object is

Does anyone know where the law about beach access below the high water line can actually be found? I have searched everywhere I can think of and it is stated as law all over the place but I cannot find which act/law it is part of.

Also, I need to know, where exactly in the law on-line, posted by Bahamas Gov., I can find where it says the stuff about the high water mark when it comes to beach access. I think I heard one time that it actually is further up on land than that. The width of a horse cart above high water mark actually. Would appreciate ref. where to find that written in the Bahamas Law.
Bee Safe

Well, when I was young, I always heard two conflicting stories.

15 feet back from high water mark.

High water mark.

The people who spoke of the 15 feet tossed about the term "Queen's Highway"...

Sorry, I can't actually help, but perhaps it may help in your search.

all the best,

drew

I have it. Received it many years ago from Graham, Thompson & Co.
The ownership of the foreshore, which is that part of the land which lies between the high and low water mark of ordinary tidal flow and is vested in the Crown or government of the Bahamas.
An owner of land, whose proprty abuts the sea is entitled to access and regfress to and from the sea where his land is in contact with the sea. This is known as riparian rights. An owner of land in this situation, however, only has control over access above the highwater mark.
This right of access, however, must not interfere with the publics right of navigation which exists in the water on which the owners land abuts as all waters which are tidal and in which navigation is possible are subject to a public right of navigation and no act by a private person may destroy this right.
The public's right of navigation is not a statutory right, it is a right given by the common law (the unwritten laws) which extends to the whole space over which the tide flows. It is not a right of property, but a right to pass and repass, and remain for a reasonable time, a right to anchor and fix moorings, without liability for payment of a toll. It does not, however, include the right to land persons or goods on the foreshore without the permission of the owner.
You should be aware that the right of navigation may only be removed by Act of Parliament, government order or by natural causes rendering navigation impossible.
The public, on the other hand, has no right to passage along or across the foreshore except insofar as this passage may be ancillary to its right of fishing or navigation or in respect of a law fully dedicated right of way from one place to another over the foreshore. The public has neither a right to stray or a right of recreation on the foreshore and has no right to wander about at will on the foreshore and therefore could be considered as trespassing if no permission has been obtained from the owner.

I have it. Received it many years ago from Graham, Thompson & Co.
The ownership of the foreshore, which is that part of the land which lies between the high and low water mark of ordinary tidal flow and is vested in the Crown or government of the Bahamas.
An owner of land, whose proprty abuts the sea is entitled to access and regfress to and from the sea where his land is in contact with the sea. This is known as riparian rights. An owner of land in this situation, however, only has control over access above the highwater mark.
This right of access, however, must not interfere with the publics right of navigation which exists in the water on which the owners land abuts as all waters which are tidal and in which navigation is possible are subject to a public right of navigation and no act by a private person may destroy this right.
The public's right of navigation is not a statutory right, it is a right given by the common law (the unwritten laws) which extends to the whole space over which the tide flows. It is not a right of property, but a right to pass and repass, and remain for a reasonable time, a right to anchor and fix moorings, without liability for payment of a toll. It does not, however, include the right to land persons or goods on the foreshore without the permission of the owner.
You should be aware that the right of navigation may only be removed by Act of Parliament, government order or by natural causes rendering navigation impossible.
The public, on the other hand, has no right to passage along or across the foreshore except insofar as this passage may be ancillary to its right of fishing or navigation or in respect of a law fully dedicated right of way from one place to another over the foreshore. The public has neither a right to stray or a right of recreation on the foreshore and has no right to wander about at will on the foreshore and therefore could be considered as trespassing if no permission has been obtained from the owner.

Now, I am no lawyer, but if what you have posted is the law, then we do not, at least the way I read it, have the right to be on the beach below the high water mark for recreational purposes, which would include, I assume, all of the normal beach activities..

Tariffs
http://laws.bahamas.gov.bs/statutes/statute_CHAPTER_295.html
Please note that these are very much out of date following the recent budget!
You would need to contact the Customs department to actually check.
the website is out of date for a couple years now.

Now, I am no lawyer, but if what you have posted is the law, then we do not, at least the way I read it, have the right to be on the beach below the high water mark for recreational purposes, which would include, I assume, all of the normal beach activities..


As I stated, I received it from Graham, Thompson & Co. I re-typed it word for word so I could post it. I mentioned that I received it many years ago. Its dated 1995 and it says RE: Concerning the rights of access and ownership to beaches, property privacy.

"The public has neither a right to stray or a right of recreation on the foreshore and has no right to wander about at will on the foreshore and therefore could be considered as trespassing if no permission has been obtained from the owner."

I find these lines, in what you say is written word by word from the Thompson company, highly interesting. This would mean that all beachfront properties in the Bahamas do have the right to stop or chase off people walking along the beach and/or putting down a towel for a little sunbathing in front of their property. The area known as the area between high and low water mark.:tdown:
This contradicts the "Common Law" that every person in Bahamas has access to all beaches as long as they do not trespasse a private property to reach the beach. Quite unbelievable really. I will therefore not be able to walk the entire lenght of the beach at Love Beach in NP for example. Wow. The reason I grought this up is because I was in front of the Nirvana place there the other weekend and was chased off, not only once but twice :dgi:. First from right infront off the place and even after having moved to the very side someone came and chased me off so we had to sunbathe where there were only rocks and no sand. I understand privacy but this is completely wrong in my opinion. I will certainly not recommend the beaches of Bahamas under these circumstances. The Carribean is larger than just Bahamas.:tdown: