Shipping Barrels to Barbados — What to Know First

Barbados receives barrels through Bridgetown, on sailings from New York, Toronto and Miami. The Bajan diaspora ships heavily at Christmas and Crop Over — book those sailings early.

Duty, VAT, and the returning national

Barbados Customs assesses duty plus 17.5% VAT on the customs value of the contents. Barbados also runs a returning-national programme with duty concessions on household effects for Bajans moving home — a genuine, documented regime, but it applies to the person moving, not to a barrel a relative sends. Companies that blur that line get barrels assessed in full at the port.

Storage at the port warehouse is charged while a barrel waits, so tell your family the arrival window as soon as you have it. As always: full price in writing, the arrival side estimated honestly, and your tracking number on the receipt so you can watch the steps on our tracking page.