THE tourism sector is still seeking to have an additional 49 items added to the list of items that can be imported duty free under the Tourism Development (Amendment) Act (TDAA).
That’s according to Chief Executive Officer of the Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association (BHTA), Rudy Grant. Speaking at the BHTA’s Third Quarterly General Meeting held earlier last week at the Hilton Hotel, Grant said it has been more than a year they have been pursuing this effort, but have to date not been successful.
“Waiting for over a year is certainly a situation that is untenable and certainly a situation that is somewhat unacceptable. We have to seek to, not only get the additional 49 items on, but we have to conclude this matter and be able to have the full list to be allowed duty free access under the Tourism Development (Amend-ment) Act. When we had our meeting with the Minister of Finance, he in fact recommended that we should have a meeting with all the stakeholders and have that full list available and let us bring it to conclusion. We shall certainly be seeking, with the support of the Minister of Tourism and the Minister of Finance, to have that meeting and to bring this matter to a close,” Grant said.
Touching then on the National Social Responsibility Levy (NSRL), the BHTA head said that during discussions with the Barbados Revenue Authority (BRA) they confirmed that the NSRL does not apply to hotels and restaurants which receive exemptions of taxes and duties under existing legislation for items they are purchasing from local manufacturers. He noted that the BRA also gave the assurance that the new NSRL guidelines will be coming out shortly. His comments came as he revealed that the BHTA is working to get stand-alone restaurants access to the food and beverage concessions available under the TDAA, which now only restaurants attached to hotels are eligible for. At present, standalone restaurants can only access concessions for refurbishment.
“We have put the position that the criteria that presently exist for restaurants attached to hotels, is the same criteria that should be utilised for standalone restaurants and we are seeking to ensure that this is instituted. We have had meetings with the Minister of Tourism, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry as well. I am told that the mechanism for instituting this is being discussed, but I have again to tell you that from a policy perspective, there was no issue or concern with this measure by either the Minister of Tourism or the Minister of Finance,” he said.
Grant made the point that while the Tourism Development Act (TDA) and the TDAA provide significant benefits to the members of the BHTA, the operation of these laws are “really taking too long” to finalise.
“This is a time when we have to ensure there is greater swiftness, more effectiveness in actions, because as I have said before and I am sure we would all agree, this is a much more globally competitive industry. It is not simply that we are competing with our Caribbean neighbours; we are competing with destinations around the globe. If therefore we want to be competitive, we have to ensure that when the applications are made for concessions under the TDA and the TDAA that they are accessed in a very timely manner by our members,” he insisted. (JRT)