The Customs Committee of the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) has come under fire from Rock Hard Distribution Ltd that says the body has "no jurisdiction" to consider the classification of Rock Hard Cement or any goods under the Common External Tariff.

The CARICOM Secretariat had invited Rock Hard Distribution Ltd to a meeting on 15 August in Guyana to discuss the classification of cements, following the dispute over imported hydraulic cement to Barbados.

However, a statement issued to COTED's Assistant Secretary General, issued by lawyer Symone Mayhew, working on behalf of the client Rock Hard Distribution Ltd, challenged that jurisdiction, reports Nation News.

On 17 July, president of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), Justice Adrian Saunders, ordered the Government of Barbados to "restore and enforce" the 60 per cent duty on hydraulic cement which was imported from outside the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). It had been lowered to five per cent and both Arawak and Trinidad Cement Ltd had filed an application for interim relief.