The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) yesterday ruled in favour of the Barbados government in relation to the tax attracted by imported cement products, finding that the regional cement manufacturers had several years’ notice that the nation would be reverting to the regional tariff of 5%.
This ruling was made with regard to the consolidated matters of Trinidad Cement Limited and Arawak Cement Limited vs. The State of Barbados, and Rock Hard Cement Limited vs. The State of Barbados and The Caribbean Community (CARICOM).
A release from the CCJ pointed out that in 2001, CARICOM’s Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) granted Barbados an exemption from the regional Common External Tariff (CET) of 0-5%, allowing the State to apply taxes of 60% to categories of cement described as ‘other hydraulic cement’. It explained that the tariff is intended to offer goods produced and distributed in the region an advantage over imported ones.