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| Guyana sends delegation to Trinidad to defend govt. decision A five-man delegation will be representing Guyana this week at the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) when the lawsuit filed by Trinidad Cement Limited and TCL Guyana Limited will be heard.The cement companies are suing the government over a unilateral suspension of the Common External Tariff (CET) on cement.The team that departed Guyana consists of three legal personnel and two Ministry of Foreign Trade staff.Kaieteur News understands that the case against the government is very strong and it has already been conceded at the government level that Guyana will lose the case.This newspaper was told that the team was sent in an effort to have the CCJ reduce the amount that the government was sued for, since that amount is substantial.The case will be called before the CCJ on Tuesday in Port of Spain.The cement companies are claiming losses due to the Guyana Government’s unilateral waiver of 15 percent of CET on cement imports.They are claiming that this was in contradiction with Article 222 of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas and Part 10 of the Caribbean Court of Justice Rules of 2006.The CCJ panel of judges in the case comprises of Justice Michael De La Bastide and Justices Rolston Nelson, Duke Pollard, Adrian Saunders, Desiree Bernard, Jacob Wit and David Hayton.In the initial submissions,cheap jerseys elite, the Trinidadian company argued that TCL was engaged in substantial cross-border investment, investing over US$10M in a state-of-the art facility in Guyana.This, the company said, was on the condition that it would enjoy market access while having the opportunity to expand, supply and produce its products to the Guyana market.The US$10M investment was part of a loan package of US$105M obtained from the International Finance Corporation in Washington DC, to expand and modernise TCL plants in Guyana, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago.The company has argued that after a further suspension of the CET from 2004 to 2006, TCL/ TGI approached the government.In 2007 after the company did not get any results, it moved in 2007 to the Caricom Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED).In defense, the Government of Guyana, through the then Attorney General, Doodnauth Singh, admitted that the country suspended the implementation of the CET on cement and that COTED had not authorised any suspension during 2001-2007.He claimed that the suspension was warranted because of the shortage of the commodity in Guyana, as there was a huge need for the product in Guyana.The Attorney General also argued that TCL and TGI were guilty of abusing their dominant position in the market.Singh had also argued that the obligation to implement the CET pursuant to Article 82 of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas, does not yield any benefit to TCL and TGI. |
