Based on the supplemental budget signed into law on Sunday, 30 days after the effective date of the Act, “every non-Palauan passport holder departing from the Republic shall be assessed an environmental protection departure fee.
Exempted from paying the green fee are Palauan passport holders, diplomats, transiting passengers, master pilots and other crew members of any vessel or aircraft operating in Palau.
Tourists visiting Palau have to pay additional US$15 departure tax which started last year.
The $15 covers the environmental protection green fee and the money generated from the collection will be earmarked for the operation of the Protected Areas Network (PAN) Act.
Palau receives over 80,000 tourists a year, due to the new law, visitors in Palau will not pay a total of $35 as departure tax. The current departure tax is $20.
Toribiong proposed that non- Palauan passport holders also pay additional $15.
His justification for the proposal was to avoid confusion among the airline personnel who had to check work permits of departing passengers causing a long queue at the airport.
Palau has at least 6,000 foreign workers in Palau.
