Despite yesterday’s assurance by Technology Minister Phillip Paulwell that Dr Omer Thomas would “correct” recent assertions that the Caribbean Cement Company was a major importer of cement, up to press time last night the Bureau of Standards head had not spoken on the matter.

The bureau is an agency of Paulwell’s ministry.

The bureau’s information manager, Norman Hall, said late yesterday evening that his agency was “still in discussions with the CCC” and would issue a statement at the end of the talks. He did not indicate when the talks would end.

But while speculation swirled about whether Thomas would back down, or defy his minister, the Cement Company said it was “seeking legal advice on possible action”.

Speaking on the Power 106 evening current affairs programme Nationwide on Tuesday, Thomas maintained that he had evidence to verify that the company had imported cement this year and also said the company had run into problems with the bureau because of a failure to meet labelling standards.

If Carib Cement imported cement this year it could hurt their ongoing case for a tariff hike on imported cement. The company’s rivals Mainland International and Arc Systems, have suggested that the local company was not always able to produce enough of the product to meet local demand, indicating that there was indeed room in the local market for other imported brands and that a tariff would create a shortfall.

Yesterday, the Cement Company said Thomas’ comments were not only “misleading, erroneous and strike at the integrity and reputation” of the company but also “unbecoming of one holding public office”.

According to Paulwell, Thomas’ comments about the importation of cement had been based on faulty information that came out of the Customs Department.

“I think he (Thomas) will be correcting that today. He was using data from Customs that was not correct,” Paulwell said at a function at the Terra Nova Hotel in Kingston. “The information that came from Customs was not verified, the data was inaccurate. We have ascertained that no cement was imported by Carib Cement in 2003.”

This is the latest twist in the controversy surrounding the government’s recently aborted attempt to raise the duty on imported non-Caricom cement from 15 per cent to 50 per cent. The government, which said it wanted to protect the local manufacturer, backed down after an outcry from some members of the industry who argued that the high duty would create a monopoly and ultimately hurt the local construction sector.

On Tuesday, the Anti-Dumping Subsidies Commission recommended a 25.83 per cent hike in the duty on imported cement, stating that it was necessary to “initiate an investigation in respect of alleged injurious dumping into Jamaica of ordinary Portland grey cement”.

In response, cement importers, Arc Systems and Mainland International, said they could not compete if the duty on cement importation is increased and that it will give CCC a virtual monopoly to produce and import cement.