In a note dated 27 June, the Private Sector Economic Forum informs its members that during a working meeting with Jude Patrick Salomon, the Minister of the Economy, the latter was kind enough to present to it a preliminary draft of an upward revision of certain customs tariff lines to be submitted to Parliament's vote through the 2018-2019 Finance Act.

Following the analysis of the documents submitted on this occasion, the Economic Forum sent a letter to Minister Salomon, informing him of certain concerns related to this draft and some suggestions for a concerted private-public approach, highlighting the following elements :

"1. The Economic Forum considers that a project of such importance, likely to have major repercussions on several key sectors of the economy, should be the subject of a law separate from the law of finance, benefiting from a wide public debate, fueled by socio-economic impact studies for each rate change ;

2. Given the scale of the proposed tariffs [NbHL --- up to 60% tax on certain products https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-24770-haiti-economy-towards-an-increase-of-tariffs.html ], the Economic Forum considers the risk of aggravating the double scourge of smuggling and tax evasion to the detriment of the tax authorities and competing national companies given the natural porosity of our common border with the Dominican Republic and the weakness of our means of customs control;

3. The Economic Forum also wonders whether some of the proposed tariff changes would not be higher than the bound tariff submitted to the WTO and the Common External Tariff (CET) applicable to CARICOM member nations, which would violate these international commitments, who, because of the hierarchy of norms, take precedence over our ordinary laws."

With these concerns in mind, the Economic Forum recommended to the Minister of the Economy to avoid the adoption of such measures without effective consultation between his Ministry and the main employers' associations, grouped within the Forum and to proceed in advance with the setting up a working group, which the Forum will gladly participate in, to reflect on the desirability and content of such a project, in the collective interest.

See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-24770-haiti-economy-towards-an-increase-of-tariffs.html

HL/ HaitiLibre