The controversial proposal by the Tonga government to close down all bonded warehouses by the end of March next year as part of an anti-corruption drive has been withdrawn.

Janine Holden the Manager of the National Beverage Company Ltd, and one of the signatories of a letter from 15 bonded warehouse owners, expressing their disagreement with the government's proposal, said today that the Prime Minister had responded positively to their letter. In a public statement he assured them that Government would, "relook at the appropriate amendments to the Customs Bill to protect the ongoing operation of honest bond warehouse operators."

Tonga's Prime Minister Hon Dr Feleti Sevele in a public statement on November 6 announced a four-part attack on the alleged corrupt actions and abuses of the bonded warehouse system.

The action included the reviewing of warehouse licenses as directed by the Chief Commissioner of Revenue, and new legislation giving the Customs the power to monitor the operation of bonded warehouses and to enforce the law.

The Minister of Finance, Hon Siosiua 'Utoikamanu, who ordered the review of all bonded warehouse licenses as part of the Government...’s anti-corruption program on November 6, said that the review would be conducted in accordance with specific terms of reference to assess the entire bonded warehouse system and to identify areas of concern as well as providing recommendations and options on the best way forward.

"Existing holders should continue to operate as usual and they will be notified by Customs about the time of the review. We have 20 warehouse holders in Tonga and at this stage I do not anticipate granting any new warehouse licenses, however, if any existing license holder is found to have broken the law then appropriate actions will be taken, including prosecution and termination of the licence"”, he said.

Janine said they were very happy with this response and if the appropriate amendments go through then it would be really a good resolution and they were also very pleased with the effort and support from the public.