DEEMED an essential commodity used by all women for most of their lives, at least one supplier is calling for a complete removal of levies on menstrual products, which continue to drive up prices and weigh on affordability for some users.

With Jamaica said to be among the first countries in the Americas to have removed general sales tax, or GCT, on menstrual products such as pads and tampons in 2012, other duties or fees related to the import of these products, Jamaica Customs Agency however said, remain payable. Advocates, in calling for a complete removal of these duties or fees, believe such a move could help ease the financial burden placed on some of the most vulnerable members of the society who have to use these items.

Sanitary napkins and tampons, which are listed among the items exempt from GCT under the Additional National Code (ANC) Y07, currently attract a duty rate of approximately 20 per cent.

Dr Chris-Ann Simpson-Harley, a medical doctor and local developer for the Woman’s Touch line of products, in recently calling for a removal of all fees and duties on items, told the Jamaica Observer during an interview that a rollback could see products being sold at more affordable price points.

“These products, like many other basic food items, are necessities which I believe, at no level at all, should be taxed as they are things women who have to deal with. A natural bodily function such as menstruation monthly will need — not want — [menstrual products]. Import taxes are a bit much, and since we don’t manufacture these products locally, for those of us that operate a business in this space, we have to try and sustain our operation as we balance how products can be offered at rates that women can afford while continuing to keep the business viable,” she said.

Nothwithsantding the challenges of sourcing products overseas and getting them on the shelves of popular retailers, Simpson-Harley said she still tries to keep the price of her items at midpoint.

At present, the average cost of pads and tampons in Jamaica ranges from $300-$2000, with $600-$1200 being charged for some of the most popular brands. At these rates, a single female is likely to spend in excess of $3600-$24000 or $7200-$14,400 annually.

Harley, through her Woman’s Touch brand founded over eight years ago and distributed by Facey Commodities, currently offers a growing number of menstrual and other feminine care products marketed as a healthier option — offering 100 per cent cotton-based, chemical-free solutions designed to suit a range of sensitivities.

The distinguished obstetrician gynaecologist (obgyn), in bemoaning the challenges faced by small entrepreneurs like herself who have to deal with these taxes, said operators in an essential industry which is globally lucrative can at times feel daunted.

“In Jamaica it’s not the easiest thing to grow a small business, worsened by the fact that as small entrepreneurs you also have to compete against more established brands which tend to have larger marketing and funding budgets. Therefore, being heavily taxed as a small business does not present the easiest path for growth, even as we continue to be hampered by the current economic environment in which we operate,”Simpson-Harley reasoned while making a fresh appeal for the Government to do more.

“It’s probably one of those things which may not change for a while as it requires some amount of political willpower, but we continue to call on the powers that be to make the necessary change in policy — and rather sooner than later,” she stated.

With the Government over the last nine years continuing to affix no new taxes in national budgets, some advocates believe they should now begin to look further into how a shedding of this duty on menstrual products could be implemented.

Efforts to get a comment from Minister of Finance Fayval Williams on the issue yielded no result as calls to her cellphone at the time of writing this article went answered. Finance spokesperson and her Opposition counterpart Julian Robinson, in viewing the calls for removal as justified, said the matter is one worth looking into if the People’s National Party is to form the next Government and he becomes finance minister.

“I believe the removal is justified.What Government would have to, however, do is to ensure that the savings from the removal are passed on to customers and not absorbed by retailers and wholesalers who would make large margins,” he said.

Similarly, his parliamentary colleague and female advocate Lisa Hanna, who has in her own way long championed the issue, remains in full support of a removal.

“Let’s remove the import tariffs or duties on this commodity and other basic essentials that the population must consume. Maybe we can increase the taxes on Viagra to supplement the loss of revenue? Alternatively, we can use the duty to provide free packs of feminine napkins to our girls in our schools,” she said in a commentary piece published in this newspaper late last year.

For her part, activist, founder, and executive director of the Her Flow Foundation Shelly-Ann Weeks, in sharing similar sentiments as Robinson, told Sunday Finance that with period poverty being a very real phenomena with which a lot of Jamaican women and young girls grapple, anything to aid a reduction in cost will be greatly welcomed.

“The only challenge I have is that if it is to be taken off I would also want them to get the buy-in from distributors to ensure that the discount in cost will be passed on to customers,” Weeks said.

She further said that with the price of menstrual products, which she religiously tracks, having increased exponentially over the last three years, any opportunity for saving must be to the benefit of the consumer.

“We once had products that could be bought for under $100 but currently there is not one brand for which this can be found because of the increase on prices. So, if there is going to be a removal of the duty, for it to have any real effect I’m stressing that the discount must be passed on to end-users so as to ensure that they can benefit from cheaper prices for products,” she stated. She further noted her appreciation of an alternate situation whereby the duty is collected and used to fund meaningful initiatives, including a current push by her foundation which has been championing the need for period products to be made available to students as part of the State-led PATH benefits.

Her Flow Foundation, which since its inception is said to have distributed over 10 million menstrual products to women in need, currently works with schools and other vulnerable groups across society. The entity is largely funded by a number of international donors, local corporate entities and Diasporians.

SIMPSON-HARLEY…import taxes are a bit much, and since we don’t manufacture these products locally, for those of us that operate a business in this space, we have to try and sustain our operation as we balance how products can be offered at rates that women can afford while continuing to keep the business viable

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