Duties and Tax Exemption

Under article 115 of the finance law governing the 1993 budget, exemption from customs duty on imported equipment and rolling stock is available to Tunisians who have lived abroad on a continual basis for more than two years and who have invested in one of the activities listed in the investment incentives code upon definitive or provisional return to Tunisia.

For contact information regarding government custom authorities, please follow the link below:  4.1 Government Contact List.

Emergency Response

Exemption Regular Regime (Non-Emergency Response)

This information can be found in Tunisia Laws and TAX SYSTEM and Formalities register.

UN/Humanitarian imported commodities, are generally exempted from import duties and other taxes. Staff working in Tunisia are allowed to import a vehicle free of customs dues and also their personal effects.

Exemption Certificate Application Procedure 

In Case of importation authorized by the government of Tunisia, the UN or NGOs should present:

• Original shipping documents (invoice, bill of lading or airway bill, certificate of origin, fumigation certificate in case of food, lab test certificate, and packing list);
• Cover letter form the counterpart ministry stating the reason for requesting all type of dues exemptions to be addressed to Ministry of Finance;
• Authorized clearing agent to handle the process with the customs authorities.

Exemption Certificate Document Requirements

Customs Clearance

General Information

The customs tariff applied in Tunisia is the same as that of the harmonized system of Brussels. The normal level of customs duty is not higher than 25%. However, some goods are subject to much higher duty which is around 40 to 50%. Some products are not taxed at all or taxed at a very low rate (3.7 or 15%).

Customs Clearance Document Requirements

Transit Regime

Transit regime is Legal basis from the Articles 115 to 126 of the customs code. Order of the Minister of Finance dated 12/29/1955 regulating the conditions of application of the general regime of bail and transit. Transit is a suspensive system which essentially allows goods from abroad either to cross the customs territory without being subject to the payment of import duties and taxes applicable to products intended for the internal market, or to circulate in suspension of said duties and taxes between two offices or warehouses:

• between two border points.
• between a border point and an interior point.
• between an interior point and a border point.
• between two interior points.
• There are two forms of transit
• International transit.

Ordinary transit: Ordinary or national transit or internal transit allows foreign goods to move in Tunisia between two customs offices or between two warehouses in suspension of duties and taxes and prohibitions. Ordinary transit is a regime which allows the transfer of warehouse without changing the customs condition of the products. Indeed, the goods which stay in temporary duty-free warehouse, can be directed on another warehouse under a mode comprising the same advantages.

Formalities to be applied and the principle

• a departure office
• a destination office
• a deposit
• a principal
• bail or deposit
• customs monitoring of the goods
• a clearance then a raised hand, a discharge from the deposit

To be able to cross Tunisian territory, the transporter must subscribe a detailed declaration of type T (TE, TI) which means transport from one point to another in the territory and must indicate in the box reserved for the customs procedure the type of transit. to be performed using a 3-digit code.

International transit: In order to avoid the application of national legislation and each country's own rules on goods which cross several borders to reach their final destination, an international transit system has been put in place to allow goods in transit to keep the documents as well as the guarantees presented to the country of departure and to save all of these goods while avoiding handling during transport and to present them under intact seals to the customs administration of destination.

For Food Aid directed to other CO passing trough Tunisia, usually the transit procedure is chosen. The receiving CO, must assure that on the B/L accompanying the Cargo is stated “Cargo in transit to…”  In this way the receiving CO will pay only for the handling fees at Tunisia Port (usually lower than for food direct to Tunisia) and will obtain a Custom escort until the border. Then all the Custom Clearance procedures will be executed with the custom authorities of the receiving country. Normally neither Tunisia Country Office nor Regional Bureau of Cairo are involved in this procedure, as the operation is carried out by the Forwarding Agent charged by WFP receiving CO.

RESPONSIBILITY OF AVAILING TRANSIT GOODS TO CUSTOMS

The declarant shall commit himself upon requesting for transit operation to the responsibility of paying duty of transit goods, follow the prescribed custom routes for transit together with finally availing the transit the transited goods to customs office of destination and notify same to the office of departure. The carrier as well has to commit itself to customs for transiting the shipment to customs Transit and clearance control offices within a limited time and through prescribed routes by the freight declaration format transit manual.