Q: What is the law on wearing camouflage clothing in Trinidad and Tobago?
A: It is illegal to wear or import any item of clothing resembling the uniform of the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force...
Summary Offences Act 1921, as amended
Summary Offences Act 1921, as amended
98. (1) A person not serving in the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force
shall not wear, without the Minister’s permission, the uniform of any member of
that Force, or any dress having the appearance or bearing any of the regimental
or other distinctive marks of any such uniform: This enactment shall not
prevent any person from wearing any uniform or dress in the course of a stage
play performed in a place duly licensed or authorised for the public
performance of stage plays, or in the course of any bona fide military
representation.
(2) Any person who contravenes this section is liable to a fine of two
hundred dollars.
(3) Any person not serving in the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force who
wears, without the Minister’s permission, the uniform of any member of those
Forces, or any dress having the appearance or bearing any of the regimental or
other distinctive marks of any such uniform, in such a manner or under such
circumstances as to be likely to bring contempt upon that uniform, or employs
any other person so to wear that uniform or dress, he shall be liable to a fine
of four hundred dollars.
219. A person, other than a member of the Defence Force, who without
lawful excuse (the proof whereof shall lie on him)—
(a) wears the uniform or any portion of the uniforms of a member of the
Defence Force; or
(b) wears any costume or any article of clothing or apparel so closely
resembling the uniform or any portion thereof of a member of the Defence Force,
as may cause such person to be mistaken for a member of the Defence Force, is
liable on summary conviction to a fine of one thousand dollars and to
imprisonment for eighteen months.
213. Any person who—
(a) imports or brings or is concerned in importing or bringing into
Trinidad and Tobago any prohibited goods, or any goods the importation of which
is restricted, contrary to such prohibition or restriction, whether the goods
are unloaded or not;
(b) unloads, or assists or is otherwise concerned in unloading any goods
which are prohibited, or any goods which are restricted and are imported
contrary to such restriction;
(c) knowingly harbours, keeps or conceals, or knowingly permits or
suffers, or causes or procures to be harboured, kept or concealed any
prohibited, restricted or un-customed goods;
(d) knowingly acquires possession of or is in any way knowingly
concerned in carrying, removing, depositing, concealing, or in any manner
dealing with any goods with intent to defraud the State of any duties thereon,
or to evade any prohibition or restriction of or applicable to the goods;
(e) is in any way knowingly concerned in any fraudulent evasion or
attempt at evasion of any import or export duties of Customs, or of the laws
and restrictions of the Customs relating to the importation, unloading,
warehousing, delivery, removal, loading and exportation of goods;
(f) sells, offers for sale or exposes for sale any goods which he knows
to be prohibited or restricted, shall, notwithstanding sections 248 and 249,
incur a penalty—
(i) on summary
conviction in the case of a first offence, to a fine of fifty thousand dollars
or treble the value of the goods, whichever is the greater, and to imprisonment
for a term of eight years;
(ii) on summary
conviction in the case of a second or subsequent offence, to a fine of one
hundred thousand dollars or treble the value of the goods, whichever is the
greater, and to imprisonment for a term of fifteen years; and
(iii) on conviction
on indictment, to imprisonment for a term of twenty years.
So let me get this right … it is illegal to wear any item that you’ consider to be ‘camouflaged ‘?
ReplyDelete..just to remind you.. your police defence force is issued with DPM 95 camouflage Disruptive pattern material year 95 ..( a 20 year old out of date camouflage that has been superseded by MTP and crye precession multicam by the US and the UK land forces and many other NATO members ) .. that is by your words "resembling " your countries chosen camouflage patten . now if i was to wear black combat pants , which are the chosen camouflage of the British SAS and SBS in terrorist hostage rescue situations in the UK and globally .. do you consider these illegal in your territory ? or if I was to wear a set of sand coloured combat pants as which US wear in combat operations in Iraq and other theatres of operation like Syria , will I expect these to be demanded by your police defence force for me to remove in public ? ( i may have to choose then to wear underwear as to prevent from a going commando in a public situation! ) look ... your policies regarding visitors wearing camouflage are not only a national disgrace , but a point by which visitors choose not to visit and spend money in your territory .
I'm not sure I understand your grievance; it says nothing about what a person "considers". The law is clear:
Delete"having the appearance or bearing any of the regimental or other distinctive marks" of the uniform of OUR army (see pic in body of post).
I had an ERDL Woodland backpack (black and green), which in no way resembled their stupid-ass DPM 95, as it had no yellow or sharp ends in the patterning, and they confiscated it, so I had nowhere to put my belongings. Stupid-ass laws of theirs
DeleteSo basically a yes or no answer, is it illegal to wear US Army BDU's or any camouflage that does not resemble the Trinidad and Tobago Regiment or US Marines MARPAT ( Desert Camo)?
ReplyDeleteYour question does not make much sense. I have no idea what the US uniforms looks like, but for you to ask me if US uniforms are illegal in Trinidad and Tobago means that you did not read the first line of the blog entry/post.
DeleteMy question would be this, is it illegal for our police service to wear camouflage..
DeleteHi I would like to find out if real tree camo that hunters uses is illegal?
ReplyDeleteNo clue what you're talking about.
DeleteEvery type of camoflauge is illegal to them. Even digital US cammies like Desert MARPAT and UCP.
DeleteThe law says anything resembling the military uniform. The military uniform is camouflage. Whether its digital camo or outdated camo black camo blue camo. The law is clear anything resembling camo is illegal. The police arrest and the magistrates fine. So wear it at ur own risk. The pattern does not matter neither color. Camo is camo in the eyes of the law
ReplyDeleteI think it is a matter of interpretation where mossy oak and real tree is concern does the T&T Regiment wear those patterns I don't think so.
DeleteWhat are the colors of the Trinidad and Tobago regiment and wat camp colors are considered legal since there are camo colors like yellow,pink etc
ReplyDeleteyou have no idea what is warn and where we wear it and its not meant to be for public knowledge what colors we wear and where it is warn the law says dont wear it so don't where it. as for the idiot who is talking about the US and camo i am certain your immigration has a travel advisory so if you lost your bag its your own dam fault prohibited goods is prohibited its that simple do you think your customs will allow me to enter your country with prohibited goods you all are acting like blasted children why is it so important to do something your not suppose to do what real value does wearing camo bring to your life i for one is a member of the national security effort and let me say if i see you with camo your going to face the courts
Deletebush lawyers end up in jail
DeleteDear Mr Nelson, the word is "worn", not "warn" and in the context of clothing, the word is "wear", not "where" - both of which you repeated in your comment. I don't usually publish comments where there is no punctuation, but as a member of the T&T regiment, I just had to.
DeleteThank you so much for standing up to be the paragon of the illiteracy that runs through our protective services.
What the acy says about an acting member of the defence force wearing camp
ReplyDeleteThe authorities truly believe that they can DO whatever they want, when they want because we are supposed to be stupid Trini's at all times.
ReplyDeleteDefence Act Ch 14:01” Sections 219
Summary Offences Act Ch: 11.02” Section 98 (1) and (3).
Both cover the same ground.
So......since when did our TTDF, TTPS, TTCG ever use or wear light brown, blue, yellow or even pink DPM (Disruptive Pattern Material) in the course of their duties as stated in section (a) of the Act and even moreso how can someone mistake a man, woman or baby wearing pink DPM as a member of the Defence Force as stated in section (b).
Is it just because it is DPM?
Well what about the woodland DPM's that hunters use?
And are you that stupidly silly not to know what woodland camo or DPM looks like and are our local citizens so ignorant or illiterate so as not to be able to tell the difference between the legitimate uniforms worn by their respective force and the people who wear a single item made from DPM. Are the defence forces capabilities so limited so as to not catch those purporting to be legitimate when in fact they are illegitimate.
What happened in 1984 with the larceny of regimental uniforms, compelled the then line Minister of National Security to issue a legal notice, because of our so called ignorance of determining who is friend or who is foe (the bandits who stole the uniforms).
Customs Act Ch 78.01 Section 213
Now the Comptroller of Customs has attempted to take it step further with the attempt to use the Legal Notice 33 of 1984 by the then line Minister of National Security and Section 213 of the Act, to say that items made with camouflaged material or surface covered in camouflage are a prohibited items.
According to the Customs Act Ch 78.01 Section 44 - ONLY the President by Order, can add a prohibited item to the current list in the Act .
Now according to Section 45 of the Act, it lists the prohibited items and therein, there is no listing of camouflaged items to be found.
Now it can get confusing with Section 4 of the Act and what shall be deemed acts of Comptroller and wonder if this is where the gray line is drawn.
Can the Customs Comptroller place an item on the prohibited list without a signed Presidential Order and not have it amended and posted. If so... then we deserve what we get.
A Newsday story of June 30, 2010 by Alexander Bruzual further relates that Magistrate Marcia Murray upheld the submission of Dale Marthis that his possession of camouflage pants and jacket were not contrary to the Defence Force Act.
Hi I would like to find out if real tree camo that hunters uses is illegal? real tree camo is a suit with trees printed on it or tree leaf ??
ReplyDelete"It is illegal to wear or import any item of clothing resembling the uniform of the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force..."
DeleteAnything else is legal.
This real funny the person who informing the public doesn't even know what woodland camo is !!!!!!!!! That in itself shows how unsuited the individual is for their current job. That is the reason we abide by the international standards and regulations when screening.I realized this is a very corrupted country, there are many instances where people were recruited under falsified documentation and certificates. Some people are permanently employed having only cxc passes while some people have multiple degrees and extensive education competence and training and wont even be considered... highly corruptible governments should also be illegal
ReplyDelete100% correct, but is a sad reality that this country face...
DeleteThere is a world of difference between illegal and unlawful, but be that as it may, laws such as this are just plain dumb. First of all, Trinidad does not own the copyrights to those fatigues, and the government has no business telling citizens what they can and can't wear. That's just petty, and no doubt, it will then lead to what you can and can't say. The intent of the law should be to prevent someone from impersonating a member of the armed forces, and how do you do that? It's childishly simple. If you, as a Police see someone in the full uniform of the TT Military, then ask them if they are on duty, or in the military? If they say yes, ask them for ID. If they don't have ID and unable to prove otherwise, then they can be fined, or arrested for impersonating a member of the military. But, you should have no right to walk up to someone and demand they undress themselves. You don't own that Human, and the government certainly should never be allowed to take your property away without just compensation and further to this, their actions should be considered theft, when they say they have a higher claim to your private property then you do. These people are worse than overzealous, die hard Chinese Communists.
ReplyDeleteI don't mean to be disrespectful but I often wonder how sometimes some people like the Syrian race can walk through westmall or down Charlotte street without any officer or army personnel telling them take it off and also embarrassing them but if a black man such as myself was to wear it another black brother would well we know. And thing is their are so many criminals out there doing real crimes what can I do with a little colour. And this is going to remain this way for as long as we know it because no 1 would think this law is so stupid it should change.
ReplyDeleteI have a bag that looks camouflage.. But my clotting is the complete opposite.. Would the relevant authorities confiscate my bag because of its colour?
ReplyDeleteTonight (July 30,2016) the Piarco Intl The customs and Excise confiscated the equipment bag swimming bag , black and grey camouflage cargo pants and Neon green and blue cargo pants from two minors boys. The boys have travelled to POS with these very same items over the past 4yrs , this is incredible minors(Jamaicans) going to a swim meet with their stuff and customs officers harass and confiscate items that could in no way be any threat to a society on a downward slope .OMG
ReplyDeleteTrinidad and Tobago is being run by idiots. I apologise on behalf of my compatriots.
Deleteis a camo backpack illegal in trinidad or not
ReplyDeleteI want to buy a watch that has a camouflage band would that breach the law? It would be going far for a police to tell you about it but strictly speaking would something like that be illegal?
ReplyDeleteTo the person that asked about the watch, I purchased a camouflage g-shock watch from Amazon. It was seized at customs, only the band was camouflage. They could have easily just taken off the band and given me the watch but they refused.
ReplyDeleteStupid ppl yes
DeleteI ordered a Ps4 controller and its in desert camo will it be confiscated at customs?
ReplyDeleteIs a PS4 controller considered clothing?
DeleteI'd like to ask about Bape jackets. A Bape jacket is an urban clothing that comes mostly in camouflage patterns. But, there has been some that has been colored to colors like purple, red, blue etc. Would it still be considered illegal if they had a camouflage pattern but just colored differently?
ReplyDeleteAnother question. Bape jackets usually have a design on it (The ape mascot or a shark face) would the police/military complain about it if it carries these visible designs on it even if it has a different color camos?
ReplyDeleteHello, even leggins can't use? Or a sports pants white with a little details of camo on the knees?.
ReplyDeleteThnks
hi if i am a cadet can i wear camouflage
ReplyDeleteIs bape camo legal?
ReplyDeleteI'd just like to mention that an American colleague had a camouflage patterned cooler bag confiscated at customs this week. I checked with him and he assures me he wasn't planning on wearing it...
ReplyDeleteLess than two weeks ago my 6 year old son had bright orange camo shorts confiscated at the airport in Trinidad - colour is clearly irrelevant.
ReplyDeleteAlso unless the Trinidad military employ 6 year olds in orange shorts the suggestion it to prevent people imitating soldiers is complete bunkum.
There are other colours in the same camouflage look like red and blue etc are those also illegal?
ReplyDeleteI am on vacation in tt I didn't know como is illegal to wear in this country but was just 1 short pants I had in my suitcase and I pass in with it I am thinking if I can take it back with me or dump it.can anyone advice me.
ReplyDeleteWould you believe me when I say customs has even seized camouflage toy cars also? Yes it true
ReplyDeleteIs a red tee with stripes of red black and light green camouflage illegal with the brand of the tee printed at the front?
ReplyDeleteI can't create a proper visual from your description... but I will say that avoiding all camo is probably the safest option.
Delete