Chamber CEO: Move against illegal traders

A person importing alcohol illicitly can earn $1 million from just one shipping container of bottles by evading import duties, Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce CEO Gabriel Faria warned on Wednesday.

He gave a presentation at a webinar on the subject of illegal trade organised by the British High Commission.

He said TT loses $100 million annually in public revenue due to smuggled goods and counterfeit items.

Giving insights from his own career in the legal alcohol sector at Carib Brewery, he reckoned 22 per cent of imported spirits in TT had been illegally imported. Faria lamented that illegal importers who pay no duty undercut the legitimate importers and significantly affect them.

"We need stronger borders and more punitive measures," he implored. "We must pursue wrongdoers. Illegal trade really distorts competition in the market. Compliant businesses are unable to compete."

Faria said individual consumers were also put at risk by dubious imports.

He said a lack of action had created a sector of errant traders, which in turn created a ripple effect in the society as such operators who pay no taxes, no NIS and no PAYE. They could also damage the reputation of imported products, he added.

"We are glad the Ministry of Trade has taken up this challenge. We must identify the enablers of the illicit trade and take action."

Faria urged that bar owners who knowingly sell illegally-imported beverages should lose their liquor licences.

However, he revealed that the individuals who were today involved in the illegal trade in alcohol were the very same people who did so 30 years ago when he worked in the legitimate alcohol sector.

"If we took action, we could deal with this quite simply," he said.

Earlier Faria had lamented a seeming lack of political will so far to tackle the problem, although he was now glad the Ministry of Trade was setting up an Illicit Trade Task Force.

He said pharmaceuticals posed the major threat of being counterfeit goods, while alcohol and tobacco were the products most subject to evasion of import duty.