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1.
Exports of
Goods from Samoa
Under the Exchange Control
Regulations 1999, all net proceeds from the sale of exports must be
repatriated to Samoa and sold to a commercial bank. Failure to
comply with this Regulation is an offence and may result in the
Central Bank refusing the certification of the Export Form E and or
fine.
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2.
Basic
Objective Exchange
control procedures covering proceeds of exports have the objective
of ensuring that:
- exports are sold for their proper
value; and
- proceeds of sales are returned to
Samoa and accrue to official foreign exchange reserves
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3. General
- Export
Entry Form/ Export Form E
Exporters are
required to complete, in four copies, a Customs Department export
entry form and an export Form E (obtained from Central Bank of
Samoa) declaring the cif value of goods to be shipped. These export
forms together with supporting documents (bill of lading/ airway
bill and commercial invoice) must firstly be presented to the
Central Bank of Samoa.
- Certification of Export Form E
A Central
Bank officer will certify the form E to confirm that cif value
declared reflects the prevailing overseas market price and correct
volumes of goods to be exported. He may amend the cif value declared
if appropriate.
After
certification of the export Form E (by the Central Bank officer),
the two (2) copies of the export Form will be retained by the
Central Bank the remaining two copies are for the Customs Department
and the exporter.
- Cargo
Manifests and Export Price Lists
The Central
Bank will use cargo manifests (from Shipping Companies) and the
export price lists from the Department of Trade, Commerce and
Industry for verification of export consignments and values.
- Fish Exports
(i)
Provisional Export Entry
For
fish exports, exporters must complete in quadruplicate a provisional
export entry for fish. The four copies of this provisional form,
together with supporting documents (bill of lading/ airway bill and
commercial invoice) must firstly be lodged with the Central Bank of
Samoa for clearance (in consultation with the Fisheries Division)
before lodging with the Customs Department to facilitate a shipment
of fish consignment.
(ii)
Export Entry
Within
30 days from the date of shipment of a fish consignment, a fish
exporter must then complete an export entry and an export Form E (in
quadruplicate), in respect of a particular consignment and submit
these to the Central Bank of Samoa, declaring the actual value of
the export consignment.
The
declared value on the export entry must be supported by proper
documentation from the importer confirming the actual value of a
consignment.
The
Central Bank of Samoa will certify the export entry before passing
it over to the Customs Department to clear the provisional account
and record the actual value of the export consignment.
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4. Realization
of Export Proceeds
Upon
the receipt of export proceeds in foreign exchange (in cash or
in the form of a bank cheque/ draft), the exporter is required
to lodge these funds (plus the copy of the export entry and
export Form E to which the funds relate) with his bank. In the
case where export proceeds are transmitted direct to his bank,
an exporter must reconcile with the bank the funds received
against respective consignment(s) should this be necessary.
The
commercial bank, after conversion of the foreign exchange
received from an exporter, will then certify the exporter's copy
of the export form together with its own copy. The copy held by
the commercial bank will then be sent to the Central Bank (it is
necessary for the amount actually received to be entered on the
reverse of the export entry form prior to certification). The
exporter must hold on to his certified copy of the export entry
for presentation to the Central Bank in the event that the
commercial bank's copy gets lost or does not reach the Central
Bank within the allowed period.
All
export proceeds should be received into Samoa and the foreign
exchange sold to a commercial bank as soon as possible, but no
later than two months from the date of shipment of exports to
countries other than American Samoa. For exports to American
Samoa, export proceeds must be realized within four weeks from
the date of shipment.
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5. Commercial Banks
Handling
Export ProceedsCommercial Banks are
required to return to the Central Bank respective export entries
(export forms) for export consignments that they have not received
export proceeds from (within two months for exports to American
Samoa and three months for exports to other countries) for
appropriate Central Bank action on the exporter.
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6.
Short
Shipment
If the amount
received is short of the declared value of the export consignment,
the Central Bank will require documentation from the exporter to
satisfactorily explain the shortfall.
It is recommended
that exporters should insist on a letter of credit being established
(particularly for large export consignments) especially in the case
of overseas importers whose payment records have been
unsatisfactory.
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7. Exports
Exempted from Exchange Control Procedures:
The export procedures
described above will not apply to exports of the following:
- goods included in
any single consignment exported by ship, aircraft or post, the
export value of which does not exceed ST$250;
-
gifts up to the
value of ST$500;
-
trade samples up
to the value of ST$1,000 exported without charge;
-
passengers'
baggage and household effects that are accompanied or
unaccompanied goods;
-
goods begin
temporarily exported for repair and return; and
-
stores and
equipment of a departing ship or aircraft for consumption or
installation on the ship or aircraft.
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