Rarefied air of bipartisan criticism of Customs policy, tax system

Two Government backbenchers and the Leader of the Opposition, found themselves sharing the rarefied atmosphere of accidental bipartisanship on Tuesday as they challenged policies on import duties, the operation of the Customs Department and making more Barbadian goods.

Bishop Joseph Atherley, the lone Opposition parliamentarian in the 30-seat House of Assembly urged a desperate remodelling of import taxation to benefit consumers and increase business competitiveness.

He was joined by St Philip North MP Dr Sonia Browne who called for a greater effort to promote Barbadian manufacturing and agriculture, given the island’s excessive reliance on imports that are often subjected to high duties.

The two parliamentarians made similar calls for greater attention to domestic production as the House debated a new Customs Bill to repeal and replace the Customs Act.

Bishop Atherley agreed that the reworking of the policies currently governing the Customs Department is necessary but stressed that many Barbadians have grown exceedingly frustrated with the seemingly unbalanced way duties and taxes were handed out by the agency whenever goods are needed to be cleared.

Dr Browne said: “When the average Barbadian thinks of Customs, they think about the duties they have to pay when they import items. These days, we no longer enjoy being tourists when we travel overseas, but we spend most of our time shopping, whether it is for weddings, parties or purchasing school supplies. And the duties associated with some of these products are very high.

“For example, soaps attract a 40 per cent duty plus [Value Added Tax]; paper products (toilet paper and kitchen towels) 20 per cent plus VAT; diapers 20 per cent plus VAT; adults and children’s clothes other than T-shirts 60 per cent plus VAT; T-shirts 110 per cent plus VAT. And when it comes to food items, frozen and canned vegetables, you have to pay a 20 per cent duty plus VAT, while onions attract a duty fee of 216 per cent and tomatoes 119 per cent.”

Christ Church South MP Ralph Thorne declared: “One of the problems Barbadians have experienced over the years with the Customs Department is that they feel they are at a disadvantage when they do business with them. It is not because of the attitude of the workers, but the fact that they believe bigger business entities receive preferential treatment – it is a systemic problem more than anything else because traditionally it was only bigger companies that did business with Customs on a regular basis.”

Opposition Leader Atherley made clear that he personally did not hold the view of a corrupt Customs where deals with those who run larger businesses are often done at the expense of citizens at a lower economic scale. But he stressed that though the beliefs may hold no factual basis, the perception of such inequality must not be left to flourish.

Bishop Atherley said: “One of the realities in which we have to reckon, [is] that customs is reputed to be one of the most corrupt public agencies in Barbados. I am talking about perception… that which is perceived, if it is not countered effectively, it becomes the reality in so far as people are concerned.

“If Customs is at the forefront of revenue collection in Barbados, if customs is in the forefront of the defence of Barbados as with other entities, then we have to ask ourselves are they properly dealt with, treated, taken care of, remunerated. Now Government has to answer that because I think that corruption is given a rolled wicket, a good wicket on which to bat, when people in the front line of critical aspects of the life of this country are not properly remunerated, then the wicket is rolled for those who are of corrupt impulses to see them as a clear and primary target.”

While not commenting directly on the backbench MPs’ remarks, Bishop Atherley said the Ministry of Finance bears some responsibility for high duties.

He said: “We have a problem with our tax structure in Barbados in my view, and a lot of people point accusing fingers at the Customs Department in Barbados when it comes to duties and all kinds of tariffs and stuff like that… but the Customs Department is a creature of the Ministry of Finance as far as I am concerned, and therefore to a certain extent what happens to be the reality when you have to interface with customs, starts with policy emanating from Bay Street.

“Therefore, if you are going to reposition the Barbados economy, you have to look at the type of taxation policy that is emanating out of the bosom of Bay Street.”

Dr Browne said that agriculture is still looked down upon in Barbados as “something menial”, adding that “we must position our education system so that we can increase productivity in agriculture and manufacturing, and encourage research and development in these fields as well. That involves examining our export markets to determine what they need, and developing the know-how that will enable us to compete effectively in them, which may in some cases call for concessions on the importation of raw materials used in the manufacturing process”.

Regarding research and development, she said: “A friend of mine recently came to me with a watch that he invented, and a Swiss watch manufacturer has expressed an interest in producing it, but he does not have the funds to enable them to make a prototype of it.”

Thorne said that for Barbados and the Caribbean to truly benefit from global trading arrangements, it was important that they worked as a regional bloc rather than trying to go it alone as individual nations.

Even as he stayed clear from suggestions of corruption in the island’s border protection agency, he cited several past incidents over the years in which firearms, illegal drugs, and other forms of contraband were seized at the island’s main two ports of entry, the Bridgetown Port and the Grantley Adams International Airport. He then asked the Mottley administration to explain why no notable seizures have ever been reported to have occurred in other ports of entry on the island.

He noted a “peculiar” lack of reports on such issues given the high number of illegal items making their way into the island.

Bishop Atherley said: “We never hear of any incidents with reference to any misdoings, any attempted criminal activity, any unexplained activity at these other ports outside of the Bridgetown Port. Occasionally you hear about this discovery being made at the Bridgetown Port, you hear about this [person] being arrested at the Grantley Adams airport, but I do not hear of anything coming out of these other places of entry.

“I want to know if it is that there are no issues, or is it that the issues are not reported, or is it that we shut a blind eye or have a deaf ear to what is happening in these places. That fact that there are no reports to me is a very strange thing in the Barbados of today.” (DH/SB)

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