The concerns of Tonga's bonded warehouse operators appear to have fallen on deaf ears, as a controversial set of new Custom Bills is set to be presented to the House for debate on Thursday November 9.

The first bill was tabled into the House today, but some members requested more time to study the bills.

The bonded warehouse owners who will lose their licenses under the new legislation wrote to the Prime Minister on October 26 seeking an assurance that in order for them to hold further consultations with the Customs Task Force that the Customs Bills - namely the Customs and Excise Management Bill 2006, the Customs Bill 2006 and the Excise Tax Bill 2006 - would not be presented to the Legislative Assembly before November 20.

Janine Holden the Manager of the National Beverage Company and one of the 15 signatories to the letter, said they had asked for the Prime Minister to respond by 5 pm on October 30, but no response had been received.

The Warehouse Operators wanted government to take into consideration their serious concerns over its proposal to close down all bonded warehouses by March 31, 2007, and the operators stated that they, "will pursue all other avenues available to protect our rights."

Janine said that they had written another letter on November 2 to the Minister of Finance Hon Siosiua 'Utoikamanu, seeking further clarification on what exactly is the government's proposal, and to identify the exact piece of legislation that was to be presented to parliament. Again Janine said that as of today, there had been no reply from the Minister of Finance.

Janine said that while they were waiting for replies from the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance they were lobbying for public support, and they had invited all bond warehouse owners, the National Business Association, the Tonga New Zealand Business Association and the Chamber of Commerce "to attend and make a comments on the issue."

Janine said they were "very disappointed" with this sudden move by government to revoke all licensed bond warehouse operators, including those who had been operating within the requirements of the law. "We need to inform the people on the long term far-reaching effect that this will have on the people of Tonga and their livelihoods," she said.