The Tribune

Bahamian businesses are continuing to monitor the fall-out from new and increased Customs fines on the air cargo industry, which has prompted some carriers to threaten to withdraw from this market.

“There’s been a lot of noise in the market about these Customs amendments. We are definitely monitoring the situation,” said one local businessman, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“I don’t think they have been very clear on this whole thing. There is certainly a great deal of concern over any additional costs at this time. We are going to watch and see how things play out, but more fees, added costs are not what anyone - and most definitely not the consumer - is going to want to hear. They are the ones who are going to feel the pinch in the end.”

Bahamians were last week warned that the cost of imported air freight will increase “tremendously” as a result of the new Customs fees and fines set to be imposed on operators from July 1.

The warning came as Florida-based air cargo companies confirmed Tribune Business’s exclusive Thursday article that a withdrawal from the Bahamas market remains an option should the amendments to Customs regulation 147 not be reversed.

“I have been hearing lot of things. We got some flowers this week, but that was through Sonic and there wasn’t much kickback from that. Sometimes the other freight forwarders have their issues. We have to get our flowers in because we have clientele we have to service,” said a Bahamas-based florist.

Jim Whitehead, owner and operator of Nassau Florist ,told Tribune Business: “We haven’t had any problems. It hasn’t really affected me to this point. Everything seems to be OK. We really don’t have a lot of freight coming in.”

The shipping/cargo/logistics industry has been thrown into turmoil by the Budget amendments. In common with the ocean shipping industry, the cargo airlines are especially concerned about the changes to regulation 147 in the Customs Management (Amendment) Regulations.

This requires all cargo planes to submit their C7 general declaration forms to Customs, detailing all freight items they are bringing in one hour before touching down in the Bahamas. While this will incur a $75 processing fee, any C7s submitted less than an hour before arriving in the Bahamas will be subjected to a $2,500 charge.

Air cargo operators will be subjected to a $5,000 per item fine for every “prohibited or restricted good” found on board. A fine equivalent to 25 per cent of the value will also be incurred for every item not declared prior to landing in Nassau.