There continues to be lingering concerns among the business community about Government’s proposal to cap the cost of freight.
As a result, Comptroller of Customs at the Barbados Customs and Excise Department Owen Holder says he will be having a meeting with importers, traders and other industry stakeholders in coming days to hear those concerns and take them to the Ministry of Finance.
In her Budget presentation last month, Prime Minister Mia Mottley announced that effective March 15, the cost of freight would be capped at $7,350 per 20-foot container and $8,000 for 40-foot containers.
Since then some officials have been expressing concern about how it would be implemented and if it would affect costs of freight that falls below the proposed cap. Technical issues have also been raised.
During an information webinar hosted by the Barbados Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Wednesday, Comptroller of Customs Owen Holder sought to offer some clarification on the measure, which is to last until March 31, 2023.
Holder made it clear that capping the freight cost meant that those who were paying rates lower than the proposed rates would not be affected.
“Containers coming out of CARICOM will be lower [than the capped amount] and I am told by the President of the BCCI that there are freights coming out of the US that will fall below that figure. So any freight below the figures stated in the Budget will be used and anything above it will be capped at the amounts stated,” he explained.
However, in relation to concerns raised during the seminar about technical matters including having less than a container load (LCL) and whether freight would be calculated based on the freight that appears as part of cost, insurance and freight (CIF) invoice and carriage paid to (CPT) invoice, Holder said those matters would have to be discussed further.
At the same time, he did not recommend “fiddling” with the invoices.
“When the freight is clearly stated then you know exactly what you are supposed to do, and that has been the directive given. Where you know the freight you work the cap. If you do not know the freight then I really can’t advice that you meddle with invoices because you know the issue surrounding invoices and the value of goods,” he said.
“I think that calls for a sit down with the Barbados Customs Brokers [and Clerks] Association to see how we do that. However, I do not suggest that there be toying around with invoices . . . I therefore suggest that we have a meeting to discuss this to see how best it works out. Then I will have that discussion with the Ministry of Finance to give you the guidance necessary,” said Holder.
Chairman of the BCCI Custom and Trade Facilitation Committee Lalu Vaswani agreed there was a need for further discussion on the matter of the capping of freight costs, noting that since the March 14 announcement by the prime minister the BCCI received “quite a bit of feedback” from the business community. (MM)
