You ship to Grenada by ocean LCL or FCL into the Port of St George's or by air into Maurice Bishop International (GND): LCL from Miami takes about 7 days, and cargo clears Customs and Excise on ASYCUDA World with CARICOM CET duty, a 6% service charge and 15% VAT. St George's, run by the Grenada Ports Authority, receives effectively all containerized, LCL and breakbulk cargo for a three-island state (Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique), and cargo for the two smaller islands clears there and moves on by inter-island vessel. Demand rests on two anchors most Caribbean markets do not share in the same proportion: a hotel and villa sector concentrated on the south coast at Grand Anse and Point Salines, and St George's University, whose True Blue campus pulls in a steady flow of furniture, equipment, lab supplies and student provisions. Those consignees buy below container volume, which makes Miami consolidation the default mode.
LCL from Miami reaches St George's in about 7 days, air freight to Maurice Bishop International takes 1 to 3 days, and Asian cargo needs 35 to 50 days through a transshipment hub.
| Route & mode | Indicative cost | Transit | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miami to St George's, ocean LCL | About $1,095 for 5 CBM / 1,500 kg (IWF published LCL rate, September 2026; excludes destination duties, taxes and local charges) | About 7 days (CFS Miami to port) | Retail, hotel and university supplies under 15 CBM |
| Miami to St George's, ocean FCL 20ft / 40ft | On request | 6 to 12 days, depending on direct or relay sailing | Full loads of food, building materials, FF&E |
| Miami to Maurice Bishop International (GND), air freight | On request | 1 to 3 days, depending on flight connections | Lab and medical supplies, spare parts, urgent cargo |
| China / Asia to St George's, ocean (via transshipment) | On request | 35 to 50 days, depending on the feeder connection | Furniture, fixtures, hardware, consumer goods |
| Europe (UK / Netherlands) to St George's, ocean | On request | 10 to 16 days on the direct UK and Netherlands service | UK and EU goods, vehicles, machinery |
Rates move with fuel, season and space. Treat the table as a planning tool and request a firm quote.
Shipping to Grenada takes eight steps, from HS classification to release at St George's.
Most of those bookings start in Miami.
US cargo for Grenada is consolidated in Miami and sails to St George's in about a week. Vendors deliver to the Miami CFS, where freight is received, measured and documented, then loaded to sail to St George's directly or via a relay port. On the IWF consolidation service, a 5 CBM / 1,500 kg shipment moves FCA Miami CFS to St George's in about 7 days, at about $1,095 (IWF published LCL rate, September 2026; excludes destination duties, taxes and local charges).
Most Grenadian importers ship below container volume: a hotel ordering replacement linens and kitchen equipment, a supermarket topping up dry goods, a contractor bringing in fixtures. Consolidating those purchases into one Miami booking produces one bill of lading and one customs entry in St George's, which keeps broker fees and port charges under control. Container shipping to the Caribbean covers the move to full 20ft and 40ft containers once a regular flow passes 15 CBM, or when the cargo is heavy enough (tiles, cement products, beverages) to justify a dedicated box.
Air freight lands at Maurice Bishop International Airport (GND) at Point Salines, a few minutes from the True Blue and Grand Anse areas. Book air freight to the Caribbean for laboratory and medical supplies, equipment parts and anything with a hard deadline such as a hotel reopening date or the start of a university semester. Shipments must still be quoted on Incoterms that match who pays freight and insurance, because Grenada values imports on a CIF basis whatever term the seller used.
Asian and European orders follow longer routings.
Asian cargo reaches Grenada only through transshipment, while Europe has a direct fortnightly liner service to St George's.
Asian cargo reaches St George's in 35 to 50 days port to port, depending on the hub connection. Containers from Chinese ports transship at a hub such as Kingston, Cartagena, the Panama Canal ports or Caucedo, then continue on a feeder vessel through the Eastern Caribbean. Our dedicated post on shipping from China to Grenada covers that lane in depth, including sourcing patterns and container choices.
For importers that do not fill a container, LCL shipping from China to Grenada is the practical tool: pay by the cubic meter and let the forwarder handle the hub connection. An alternative that works well for hotels and the university is to route Asian purchases into Miami and merge them with US-origin goods, so a full room package (case goods from Asia, mattresses and electronics from the US) arrives in one consolidated shipment and one entry. Check mattresses, aluminium windows and doors, paint and galvanized roofing sheets against Grenada's import licensing list before ordering them from any origin.
Europe has a direct link to Grenada through Geest Line, which runs a fortnightly direct service from Portsmouth (UK) and Vlissingen (Netherlands) to St George's and quotes about 10 days from Europe. Plan on 10 to 16 days port to port once loading cut-offs and port time are included. From the UK the service handles dry, reefer, LCL chilled and breakbulk including out-of-gauge cargo; from Vlissingen it runs a full container service and vehicle exports. That suits UK food brands and right-hand-drive vehicles. The same European service makes shipping to Barbados a useful comparison for buyers supplying both islands. Larger carriers also connect European cargo through Caribbean transshipment hubs.
Every lane discharges at the same Grenadian gateways.
Grenada has one commercial cargo port, St George's, plus smaller Ports Authority facilities and two airports.
Carriacou and Petite Martinique sit at the southern end of the Grenadines chain; the northern islands belong to a separate customs territory, covered in our guide to shipping to St Vincent and the Grenadines. Cargo arriving at any Grenadian gateway is released only after the ASYCUDA World entry clears.
Imports into Grenada clear through the Grenada Customs and Excise Division of the Ministry of Finance, headquartered at Burns Point on the Carenage, under the Customs Act No. 9 of 2015 and the Customs Regulations SRO 13 of 2018. Declarations are filed on ASYCUDA World, fully operational since 2017, and the Division publishes its administrative tariff, valuation rules and an HS classification tool through its business resources page. Several border agencies are connected to ASYCUDA World, but Grenada does not yet operate a full customs single window.
Customs processes a clean declaration in about one business day, according to the authorities' reporting to the WTO. Perishables can be released before a full declaration against a security deposit, with the entry completed within seven days. Under-declaration carries heavy penalties and seizure risk, so invoices must show real transaction values, because every tax layer is calculated from them.
Grenada taxes imports in layers on CIF value: CARICOM CET duty, then a 6% Customs Service Charge, then excise where applicable, then 15% VAT on the cumulative total.
Duty concessions for hotels, the university and approved investments are granted through specific incentive instruments, not automatically; the concession letter must be in place before the cargo arrives. After Hurricane Beryl struck Carriacou and Petite Martinique on 1 July 2024, the Ministry of Finance opened time-limited duty-free windows for relief goods, so check with your broker whether any reconstruction concession currently applies. The CET layer is common to CARICOM, so the same HS code carries the same base duty when shipping to Trinidad and Tobago, while the national charges on top differ; for a regional comparison of how these layers stack, see Caribbean import duties and taxes.
A Grenada import entry needs the CARICOM Single Administrative Document, a commercial invoice and the transport document, plus permits where the product requires them.
The licence and permit lines apply to a defined list of goods, set out next.
Most goods enter Grenada freely, but a defined list needs an import licence or prior permit, and some items are banned outright.
Below 15 CBM, LCL from Miami is the default for Grenada; above 28 CBM, a 40ft container wins on cost per cubic meter.
For Carriacou, most cargo is stripped in St George's and reloaded on an inter-island vessel, so the FCL saving shrinks for that final destination. Pack for the extra handling.
Hospitality and education drive most of Grenada's non-food imports. Resorts and villas at Grand Anse, Point Salines and along the south coast refresh furniture, fixtures and equipment on renovation cycles, and run steady replenishment of linens, amenities, kitchen equipment and food and beverage stock. St George's University adds a large, regular demand of its own: campus furniture, lab and medical teaching equipment, IT hardware and provisions for an international student population. Construction materials and food follow, with reconstruction on Carriacou and Petite Martinique after Hurricane Beryl adding demand for roofing, building supplies and equipment.
Exports are smaller but distinctive. Nutmeg, mace and cocoa are Grenada's signature agricultural exports, along with fish and fresh produce shipped to regional and US markets. Because the hotel sector and the university are the two most demanding consignees on this lane, our next guide covers supplying Grenada's hospitality sector and St George's University.
The right forwarder for Grenada holds, consolidates and documents cargo in Miami. A hotel package or a university order comes from up to a dozen vendors with different ready dates; a Miami warehouse that receives, checks and holds the pieces until the full order is complete saves a second entry and a second set of port charges in St George's. Interworld Freight was founded in Miami in 1992 and runs ocean FCL and LCL, air freight, Miami warehousing and customs coordination, with coverage on every major trade lane into the Caribbean. We prepare documents so the Grenadian broker can file a clean ASYCUDA World entry and coordinate onward moves to Carriacou. Review our Miami to Caribbean freight forwarding service and request a quote: we answer within one business day.
LCL cargo moves from the Miami CFS to St George's in about 7 days on the IWF consolidation service. Air freight to Maurice Bishop International takes 1 to 3 days, plus customs clearance.
IWF's published LCL rate for 5 CBM / 1,500 kg from Miami to St George's is about $1,095 (September 2026). That excludes duty, VAT, the Customs Service Charge and local port and broker charges. Full containers and air freight are quoted per shipment.
Imports pay CARICOM Common External Tariff duty, a 6% Customs Service Charge on CIF value, excise on specific goods and 15% VAT. VAT is charged on the CIF value plus duty, service charge and other taxes, so classification errors compound.
It is a 6% charge on the CIF value of almost all imports, including goods of CARICOM origin. Manufacturers importing raw materials pay a reduced 3% rate.
Customs processes a complete ASYCUDA World declaration in about one business day. Entries routed to inspection, missing permits or a late declaration add time, and port storage charges start after free time.
The Port of St George's handles virtually all commercial cargo. Cargo for Carriacou and Petite Martinique clears in St George's and moves on by inter-island vessel to Hillsborough or Tyrrel Bay.
Only for products on Grenada's licensing list, which includes several foods plus paint, galvanized sheets, aluminium windows and doors, and mattresses. Agricultural products also need Ministry of Agriculture permits and health certificates.
Yes. Asian cargo transships at a regional hub and takes 35 to 50 days. Small orders move best as LCL, or via Miami where they can be consolidated with US freight.
Photo: Port of St. George's, Grenada. Tony Hisgett from Birmingham, UK, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.