On Friday, the CEO told a pool of Guyanese journalists that he wanted normalcy to return to the trade relationship between Guyana and the cement company. Addressing the journalists at the Claxton Bay plant of the Trinidad Cement Limited (TCL), Bertrand, in reference to the ongoing dispute over the Common External Tariff (CET) on cement, said: “We can’t continue this kind of back and forth. It is not healthy as well… But at the same time we expect that Guyana will come to the table with an understanding of the principles of what we are trying to do.”
“Don’t understand CET only for rice and sugar and say you can’t understand it for cement. That is not fair,” he continued. The journalists who attended were part of an all-expenses paid tour organized by TCL to allow them to observe the company’s operations.
Bertrand said that he has not written a letter to the President indicating his position. When asked if the company was “waiting” on the government to come to the table, the CEO said that the management had not discussed whether they would make a formal approach. However, he suggested that it was a “dicey” matter since both parties were currently engaged in a court matter.
TCL and TCL Guyana Inc (TGI) had accused the Guyana government of breaching the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas by unilaterally suspending the CET on cement imported from countries outside Caricom and was later granted leave to sue the government after approaching the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ). The court in its ruling on August 20, 2009 held the view that TCL and TGI were entitled to the benefit of having the CET maintained. The CCJ later ruled that Guyana must restore the tariff within 28 days, which was subsequently complied with.
Bertrand said he believed that Caricom was integral to contributing to the development of industry within such a small region. Speaking extensively on the issue of the CET, Bertrand said, “The CET was put in place because it was the most convenient mechanism to encourage investment in a fourteen nation Caricom.” He said that in other countries, companies benefited from tax incentives or other mechanisms to encourage investment. Bertrand pointed out that the CET on cement is a fiscal incentive, just like the CET on rice and sugar. He said that if the CET was removed from these industries, Caricom would become a region of traders.
Quizzed as to the most pertinent point he would raise with Jagdeo, who is also the current Caricom Chairman, should they meet, he said that he would emphasize the original framework of TCL’s investment. He said that before the company made their massive investment, they approached the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) outlining their plans. According to him, TCL explained to COTED that it expected the CET and other regimes to be in place. He stated that since TCL had made these investments, Caricom could not just pull away the framework within which the investments had been made.
When asked about the company’s approach to handling the situation with Guyana, Bertrand said that the matter was very upsetting especially since the government had invited the company to build the terminal in Guyana.
According to him, the then Minister of Foreign Trade Clement Rohee complained bitterly to TCL about Guyana running out of cement. Bertrand said that this was no fault of TCL, but rather the failure of the local distributors to stock adequate amounts. He said nevertheless discussions began between the government and the company regarding the construction of the terminal, during which the Minister insisted that a terminal was needed. According to Bertrand, during the discussions, issues such as the constant stock outs and the varying price of cement in the country had been raised. Bertrand said he also pointed out that the size of market in Guyana did not justify a terminal since it was below 150,000 tonnes annually. He also said that the matter of the CET had been raised and settled. The CEO explained that one of the reasons for this investment was that it was seen as a way of getting new markets such as Brazil.
The CEO maintained that since the terminal had been built the government had changed its story. He further noted that the terminal was in a tax bracket and the government was still trying to favour cement coming from a tax-free jurisdiction.
“We have kept our side of the bargain, we have gone in good faith and now we are being held up as if we are the biggest demons in the region,” he said. He also said that in the past, President Jagdeo had argued for the implementation of the CET when it concerned products that were of economic importance to Guyana.
Meanwhile, speaking about the future of the company, the CEO said that TCL was “seeking to become internationally competitive in the shortest space of time, but that this needed the cooperation of the governments within the region. This statement was made within the context, of the company being relatively small when compared to other international cement producing establishments.
