The Customs Department will begin charging commercial importers for not using electronic options to declare incoming goods.

The new fees will be levied through the Customs Department Act 1952 and the Government Fees Regulations 1976.

Starting this fall, any Bermuda Customs Declaration (BCD) submitted on paper will incur a manual data inputting fee. The fees are to be charged to the declarant at a rate of sixty cents (60¢) per record on each BCD submitted.