Efforts by the Jamaica’s Ministry of Finance, Jamaica Customs, and Tax Administration, will be intensified in response to the persistent problem of under-invoicing and other nefarious means used by some importers to defraud the treasury of billions of dollars, Finance Minister Hon. Audley Shaw, has said.

Addressing a Customs Seminar convened by the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce in Kingston, on 29th September 2011, the Minister pointed out that the perception that tax avoidance and tax evasion were pervasive, was confirmed by recent findings of a technical team of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Jamaica’s outgoing Prime Minister Bruce Golding has said that public perceptions about his handling of a U.S. extradition request for drug kingpin Christopher “Dudus” Coke contributed to his recent decision to resign.

In a televised address to the nation, Mr. Golding said questions about the role he played in the Coke/Manatt matter have remained a source of concern.

“It was never about Coke’s guilt or innocence. It was about a breach of our Constitution and had it been a person other than Coke it perhaps would never have become the cause célèbre that it turned out to be,” Mr. Golding said. “We have since amended the Interception of Communications Act to permit in the future, the action that was taken in Coke’s case but which, at that time, was in violation of our Constitution.”

Jamaica should set certified standards, which importers must meet in order to distribute imported products on the local market, Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon. Robert Montague, has said.

“We are in a global village where people are saying ‘if Jamaica is going to send goods into my part of the village, you must meet certain standards’…why is it that we in Jamaica don’t also set certain standards?” he asked.

The Government is continuing efforts to combat the Trafficking in Human Persons (TIP), by spending some $15 million during 2010/2011 fiscal year to support victims and passing legislation to deal with offenders.

Minister of State in the Ministry of National Security, Hon. Dr. St. Aubyn Bartlett, said that of paramount importance was the establishment of a sound counter-trafficking framework.