Section 38 of the Customs and Excise Act, 2010 provides that any goods specified in part A of the Eighth schedule are prohibited imports and the importations thereof is prohibited from all places or from any country or place.

The main Articles which are Prohibited on Importation and for which Officers always must be Alerted are as Follows:

1. Counterfeit or non-standard coins or currency notes

2. Indecent articles (pornographic materials)

3. Firearms and ammunitions of all types and other articles having appearance of lethal weapons. (unless properly licensed)

4.Illicit drugs

5. Expired foods (liquids, soluble & medicine)

6. Waste and sludge deposits

7. Any organic phosphorus compounds

8. Any good that have been imported with the aim of breaching another’s intellectual property rights

9. Asbestos in all forms

10. Ivory, Articles of ivory, wild animal skins, snake skins and articles made from turtle shells and wild plants

11. Plastic bags

12.Any other good the importation of which is prohibited under any international convention to which The Gambia is a signatory

13. Live fish other than live fish indigenous to the Gambia except under license issued by Ministry of Fisheries.

14. Any goods certified by The Gambia Bureau of Standards as not meeting the standards set by the Bureau

Restricted Imports

Section 38 of the Act provides that any good specified in Part A of the 8th schedule are restricted goods and the importation thereof is restricted.

1. Firearms (unless properly licensed)

2. Machines for duplicating keys

3. Handcuffs except under a licensed issued by Minister of Interior

4. Tear gas

5. Most live birds (and their eggs) and animals from the African countries are subject to strict control. Ivory, articles of ivory wild animal skin, snakeskin and articles made from them.

6. Camera drones must be cleared by the Ministry of Information and Communication.

7. Military gear

8. Plastic bags

9. Live fish other than live fish indigenous to the Gambia except under license issued by ministry of fisheries.

10. Camera drone must be clear by the Ministry of Information and Communication.

Personal Allowances

Part B of general exemptions: Passengers’ baggage Item 6 sub section 8 calls for personal allowances:

• These are allowances giving relief from duty granted to all persons entering the Gambia, whether passengers and crew of ships or aircraft or travelers across the land boundary and includes Gambian nationals returning from a visit abroad.

The allowances per person are as follows.

• 200 sticks of cigarettes or 50 cigars or mixed pro rata e.g., 100 cigarettes and 250 grams tobacco
• 1 liter of spirit or 1 liter of wine (or 24 cans of beer)
• 2 mobile phones
• 500 ml Perfume
• 1 personal laptop
• 1 radio together with a binocular and camera