The post from Chris reminded me, Dan. You will need to contact the Trinidad & Tobago Film Company as you will need a licence to film and a temporary import licence for your equipment. Email
[email protected] and they will send you the necessary information and forms.
We have to go through it on every visit because the customs officers are like bees to honey when they see our equipment flight cases. You have to submit a form listing all the equipment you are bringing in. On arrival, Customs check (well, sometimes) the serials numbers listed. They are then supposed to check the equipment on departure, to ensure that you are taking it all back out of the country.
When we arrived in Tobago two months ago, we went straight through the red channel, bypassing the dreaded queues for the scanner. Our cases had come off quickly and we were hopefully of being one of the first out of the airport. Sadly, customs hadn't received the necessary form from Head Office in Trinidad.
Earlier that day, I had received an email from the Film Company confirming that all the necessary paperwork had been done and the licence/permit issued. This wasn’t good enough for the Customs Officer. He said we could leave with our normal luggage, but the flight cases would have to remain at the airport until we produced the necessary forms. As it happened, I did have several hard copies of the form. However, he wouldn’t accept these because “they hadn’t come from the right source”. Chicken and egg!
Much frustrated, I telephoned the Film Company from the Customs Hall. They contacted customs Head Office, who relayed a message to the officer via myself and the Film Company, telling him to get someone to answer their office telephone and to switch on their fax machine. They had been trying to contact send the form all day, but couldn't get a reply. So, the officer (local head of department) went and switched on the fax personally. Ten minutes later, he came back with two blank pieces of paper. I put money on it that the toner had run out. So, he telephoned Head Office, who told him to manually list the make, model and serial numbers of every piece of equipment in the flight cases. Sense prevailed; he agreed to use the original copy of the form that I had sent to the Film Company and which he should have received via his Head Office. He never even looked at the equipment, but just stamped the form and gave me a copy which we were supposed to present for checking on departure. That’s another story for another day.
A couple of beastly cold Stags later, I had cooled down enough to laugh about the situation. It was just SO Tobago.
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