The Senate last Friday passed the bill amending the Registration of Business Names Act, which prevents local businesses from any form of advertising without being registered with the Companies Office of Jamaica (formerly the Office of the Registrar of Companies).

The bill was passed without any amendment despite objections from Opposition members Senator Anthony Johnson, the Leader of Opposition Business; and Senator Dorothy Lightbourne that the provision would create hardships for very small businesses.

Lightbourne said that small business persons, like housewives operating from their homes to supplement the family income, could be prevented from advertising their businesses, although their returns are very low.

She said that the Senate, in passing the amendment, should ensure that the minister of industry, technology, industry and commerce takes these small businesses into consideration in setting the threshold.

“They would not be able to advertise, and it could create hardships and I don’t think that we can close our eyes to that,” Lightbourne insisted.

But Senator A J Nicholson, the Leader of Government Business, who piloted the bill, felt that there was no need to change the amendment.

“In recent times, we have heard a lot about the protection of little people, which is good, but what this bill is about is to protect members of the public from persons who conduct business who are not registered,” he said. “Whether they are big or small, if they are not registered, they are not allowed to advertise.”

Senator Johnson noted that the provision also referred to any individual, and could also affect someone who wished to sell cheap items, like cookies, which could add to an amount above the threshold after several transactions.

He said that the Senate should take into consideration how the amendment may be interpreted by the court in the future.

But Government member Senator Delano Franklyn said that the Opposition could not have its cake and eat it.

“We are moving more and more into a regulated world or society that is here in Jamaica and that is outside Jamaica,” he said. “The aim of this Act, as I understand it, is to try and ensure that we do things in keeping with the modernisation of Jamaica.”

“The intent of the bill is that, if you are running a business, you register that business. If you are not able to register that business, then you ought not to be able to advertise,” Franklyn added.

The Senate eventually passed the bill without any changes.

The bill was passed in the House of Representatives on October 3, the day the Opposition walked out of the chamber to reveal the Trafigura affair at a press briefing in their conference room.

The bill, which will return to the House of Representatives today for final approval, is the result of recommendations arising from a comprehensive review of the Registration of Business Names Act conducted by the Office of the Registrar of Companies, which administers the Act, in consultation with the Small Business Association and the Bar Association.

It will amend the principal Act to: recognise electronic registration; require the registration of business names by companies; increase penalties for breaches; require proper names for firms, traders and individuals; disclose information to the Commissioner of Inland Revenue; make it obligatory to register as a precondition to advertise; and set a sales threshold for registration.