WESTERN BUREAU – Prime Minister PJ Patterson has urged members of the Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce (MBCC) to assist in the campaign against illicit and shoddy imports.

Unfair trade practices often resulted in the destruction of the revenue base and impaired domestic producers, Patterson warned in an address that was delivered by Transport and Works Minister Robert Pickersgill, to the Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce’s annual awards banquet at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Montego Bay on Sunday night.

“This leads me to the question of ethical business practices – a matter which this chamber must address head-on. Illegal and sub-standard imports undermine the revenue base and damage domestic producers. It also sows the seed for irrationality in trade policy by creating resentment on the part of domestic producers against imports, thus strengthening the lobby for protection,” he said.

“You, as members of the business community, must recognise the higher national interest that is at stake when illegal and substandard imports are rampant. I urge you to police your membership and take punitive action against those who are traffickers in such imports,” he added.

The Chamber president Winston Dear sided with the view of the head of government, urging that action be taken against the perpetrators.

“Jesus said give unto Caesar what is due to him. Something needs to happen to banish this illegal merchandising. The underground economy has to be dismantled. They can’t be ‘bandoolos’ for the rest of their lives,” Dear remarked.

While giving the assurance that no member of his Chamber was involved in the illegal racket, Dear promised to dismiss any such individuals found guilty of such practices. He has however reasoned that there was little or nothing the Chamber could do in the battle against such importers.

“We have no legal jurisdiction to control their activities. I don’t think it is a Chamber function. It is the informal sector that is involved in these kinds of activities,” he said. “The problem may be that some may slip through the ports and we have no control over the customs. We don’t have any jurisdiction to vet the items that come through the ports,” he said.

He has therefore passed the ball back to the government, saying it should bolster the security along the coasts in a bid to stem the flow of illegal contraband into the island.

“The coastline needs to be better patrolled, as this is an avenue through which some of the illegal items come in. We ask the government to tighten the coast. It is much too open. There is a need to intensify the surveillance of our waters,” Dear suggested.

He further suggested that it was the responsibility of each citizen to become more vigilant and report second-rate imports.

“The Bureau of Standards monitors the substandard imports but in our everyday lives we must monitor these items closely and report any suspicions we have to the Bureau,” he proposed.

Patterson also signaled the governments dedication to the open market system, reiterating the government’s stance to protect the domestic industries by way of trade legislation.

“While we remain committed to an open economy, we seek to provide legitimate protection for domestic industries through trade remedy legislation and enforcement of standards against unfair trade practices and substandard goods,” the prime minister said.

Former head of the government’s Revenue Protection Division (RPD) Mike Surridge has suggested that so deep was corruption in Jamaica that in 14 years no one had been jailed for defrauding customs, while people were imprisoned for breaking a window. He has contended that the ability to investigate freely and across-the-board had made the RPD very unpopular with the business sector in Jamaica. At the same time, he has singled out importers of liquor and cigarettes as among some of the more unscrupulous persons, whose activities were now preventing legitimate companies with import licences from selling their products.