Ramsaran Dairy Products files lawsuit over forex scarcity

DIRECTOR of local beverage producer Ramsaran Dairy Products (RDP) has been permitted to challenge his inability to source foreign exchange to import paper-based cartons for a new water product.

On July 19, Justice Joan Charles granted leave to Rajnanan Ramsaran, founder of RDP, to pursue his challenge against the State after his requests for foreign exchange were refused.

In previous correspondence, before the application was filed, Ramsaran’s attorney Richard Jaggasar rgued that foreign exchange in Trinidad and Tobago were not being equally distributed.

In a freedom of information request, he said his client wanted the policies surrounding the distribution of foreign exchange issued by the Central Bank which governs the distribution of foreign exchange at the commercial banks.

He pointed to at least four companies which, he said, did not appear to be faced with similar difficulties accessing foreign exchange.

Jaggasar said RDP has contributed to the local economy, providing jobs and locally made products which are packaged in paper-based cartons. Other locally-based producers, the letter said, predominantly package their products in plastic packaging.

“ It is universally acceptable that plastic is bad for the environment and degradable and/or reusable substances are preferred the world over.”

The letter pointed to a large distributor as an “example of the unequal distribution of wealth and resources.

“To put it plainly, some companies appear to be gaining liberal access for foreign exchange while others are being unjustly denied equal and fair treatment.

“...Moreover, it is noteworthy that while some of the companies are mere agents or redistributors of imported materials, Ramsaran Dairy Products is a locally-based product which means investments and revenue will circulate in Trinidad and Tobago.

“Whereas the agents and redistributors only drain our nation's foreign exchange reserves and limit local growth and development. In that context we argue it may actually be better to revise the current policy to consider investment growth and local product development.”

In March 2023, Ramsaran sought information from the Central Bank on the distribution of foreign exchange between 2015-2023.

An extension to provide a response was sought until April 2024 but there was no formal request or acknowledgement so a pre-action letter was issued, followed by the judicial review claim over the failure to respond to the freedom of information request.