05232022 BUSINESS

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business@tribunemedia.net

MONDAY, MAY 23, 2022

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Private pilots: ‘Trust but verify on show stopper’ By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net PRIVATE pilots plan to “trust but verify” pledges by Customs to ease clearance reforms that some argue could cost this nation up to 25 percent of its existing business if implemented in their original form. Customs, together with the Ministry of Tourism, held what was described as a “marathon” twohour meeting with Bahamas Flying Ambassadors and other key players in the private aviation sector to address concerns over plans to make all incoming pilots and their passengers gain clearance to enter the country through its Click2Clear system. Rick Gardner, director of CST Flight Services, which provides flight co-ordination and trip support services to the private aviation industry throughout the Caribbean and Latin America, told Tribune Business after attending the meeting that he “came out feeling better than when I went in” due to initial fears that

• No warning on Customs clearance reform • Fears Bahamas could lose 25% of market • ‘Tweaks’ pledged including to $5,000 fine Click2Clear will add unnecessary bureaucracy and complexity that could deter private pilots from flying to The Bahamas. A Bahamas Flying Ambassador himself, he revealed that Customs had agreed to allow the sector some ‘breathing room” by pushing back implementation of what the revenue collecting agency is describing as “a game changer” until May 30-June 1, 2022, as opposed to May 18. And, while those who fail to file the

necessary Click2Clear forms before landing in The Bahamas could be subject to a $5,000 fine, Customs has agreed to allow 24 hours to come into compliance. Customs, according to Mr Gardner, has also abandoned the requirement that private pilots upload their passport pictures, and those of their passengers, to Click2Clear before arriving in The Bahamas. The private aviation sector, one of the most

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Bud ‘fight’ on Burns House supply loss By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net BUDWEISER’S parent should have given BISXlisted Commonwealth Brewery more than one year’s notice warning when it terminated their distribution agreement and forced the Supreme Court into “uncharted territory”. Justice Indra Charles, in a May 19, 2022, verdict revealed that the dispute involving Anheuser-Busch and its Caribbean affiliate on one side, and the Kalik manufacturer on the other, raised “a novel point of law in The Bahamas” after they were unable to make a clean

break following the end of their 40-year tie-up. The two parties instead managed to brew up a bitter battle in which Commonwealth Brewery, and its Burns House affiliate, argued that they should have been given no less than three-and-a-half years’ notice that Anheuser-Busch and Cerveceria Nacional Dominicana (CND) planned to terminate their long-standing agreement. The Budweiser parent, though, countered that four months’ notice was reasonable and counter-claimed that Commonwealth Brewery had failed to pay it almost $600,000 for product supplied during

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Bahamas First chair urges ‘exemption’ on insurance investing By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net BAHAMAS First’s chairman is urging the Government and Central Bank to give property and casualty insurers a “special exemption” to invest overseas and help improve their financial resilience to natural disasters. Alison Treco, writing in the BISX-listed insurer’s annual report, lamented that “unrealised” losses on its investments holdings continues to act as a

drag on its financial performance. She argued that this highlighted the need for the industry to be able to diversify its portfolio outside The Bahamas in a bid to enjoy better returns and liquidity, given the limited options and lack of depth in the local capital markets. “Unfortunately, an unrealised loss on investment continues to depress our results and emphasises the need for insurance companies to be able to diversify their investments outside

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Super Value slashes inflation impact 20% • Principal expects no baby formula shortage By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net SUPER Value’s principal says he does “not expect” The Bahamas to be hit by the baby formula shortage afflicting the US, while the supermarket chain’s buying strategies have reduced food inflation’s impact by 15-20 percent. Rupert Roberts told Tribune Business that the 13-store business was experiencing “no problems keeping our shelves full” of baby formula despite a US crisis that has forced the Biden administration to fly in 70,000 pounds of the product from overseas while employing wartime legislation in a bid to speed up domestic production.

RUPERT ROBERTS Some 43 percent of baby formula was said to be outof-stock in the US at the beginning of May, but he added that Super Value was having no difficulty accessing supplies available internationally. “Although they don’t let us stock up on

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