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Table 3.7 Taxes and fees collected at the border, fiscal year 2015-16
(BZ$)
Type of taxes Value Share (%)
Border taxes
Environmental tax 31,274,740.45 7.1
(...)

Table 3.8 Import prohibitions
Legislation and prohibited products
Customs Regulation (Prohibited and Restricted Goods)(Consolidation) Order, 1988 (amended in May 2008)
(...)
Domestic refrigerators and freezers, industrial refrigeration units, commercial refrigeration units (including display cabinets, bottle coolers and soda fountains), and air conditioning units for domestic, commercial and industrial use, or vehicular air conditioning units using CFC-12 (Dichlorofluromethane) as the refrigeration gas, with effect from 1 January 2003
Aerosols, foams and solvents made of, or containing a mixture of, any of the following ozone depleting substances: CFC-11, CFC-12, CFC-13, CFC-14, CFC-115, with effect from 1 January 2003
Disposable cans of less than sixteen ounces containing CFC, with effect from 1 January 2003
The refrigerant gas CFC-11, with effect from 1 July 2002
Halon-based fire-fighting equipment, with effect from 1 July 2002

The Customs Regulation (Prohibited and Restricted Goods) (Consolidation) Order also lists some products with import licensing requirements, mainly for the purposes of national security, public health and safety, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, and preservation of cultural heritage or the environment. Under the Prohibited Goods Order, licences are required for various dyestuffs produced or manufactured outside the Commonwealth (Table 3.10).

Table 3.10 Import licensing
Product
Plants, vegetables organisms, packages, animals, and animal organisms likely to cause infection to or which are inimical to the growth of plants (permit)
(...)
Wild animals, that is, animals other than those kept in a domesticated state except on a licence issued under the Wildlife Protection Act
(...)
Gases that are ozone depleting substances of (a) the chloroflorocarbons (CFC) family, namely (CFC-11; 12; 113; 114 and 115) and (b) the Halon family, namely Halon 1211; 1301 and 2402

In 2014, the BBS completed work on a National Standardization Programme which seeks to develop standards and technical regulations for goods and services in key economic sectors over a period of five years (2015-2020). The programme was released in 2016. The key sectors are wholesale and retail, manufacturing, agriculture, tourism, electricity and water supply, construction, petroleum, transportation and communication. They were selected taking into account their contribution to GDP and export earnings and their alignment with national development policies, strategies and action plans. The Programme envisages the establishment of new technical committees, including in the areas of: transportation and road safety; renewable energy and energy efficiency; and medical and industrial gases. The new committees are expected to be operational in the first quarter of 2017.

At end-2016, the current biosafety policy was in the process of being reviewed although any change from the current policy of not allowing GMOs in production would require appropriate legislation and regulatory capacity as well as additional investment in laboratories and a budget for biosafety.

EPZs (export processing zones) pay an environmental tax (Section 3.1.3) and a business tax on local sales (Section 3.3.1.1.3). (...)

According to data provided by Customs, tax revenue foregone at the border was mainly as a result of import tariff and GST exemptions, followed by RRDs and environmental tax. The value of tax revenue foregone has been increasing (Chart 3.2).

The Ministry of Agriculture has developed a National Agricultural Policy 2015-2030, which is still in draft form and, at end-2016, had been presented to the Government for approval. Some parts of the Policy relating to the Ministry are being implemented. According to the authorities, the main objectives of the Policy are: to enhance production, productivity, and competitiveness; to increase market development, access and penetration; to increase food and nutrition security and improve rural livelihoods; to enhance sustainable agriculture and risk management; and to enhance accountability, transparency and coordination.

(...) The Environment Tax is applied, at 2%, to all non-CARICOM imports (Sections 3.1.2 and 3.1.3).