Both Delta Petroleum and the Customs Department are seeking to have the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council review a case involving the seizure of 240,000 gallons of fuel by Customs in 2013, but they will have to combine their separate applications into one in order for that to happen, Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court of Appeal Justice Louise Blenman told the two parties on Monday.

 

Ms. Blenman granted a final leave to appeal so that the applications can be amended. In September 2013, the Customs Department seized the fuel in Pockwood Pond, alleging that Delta discharged it without the presence of customs officers.

Delta’s attorney, Terrance Neale, argued before High Court Justice Vicki-Ann Ellis that the fuel in question was never subject to duty because it was imported for the sole use of the BVI Electricity Corporation, but Ms. Ellis ruled that the importation was illegal.

“There are obvious reasons why both the legislature and the commissioner of customs have mandated that the importers secure the imprimatur of customs officials before removing goods from the place of importation,” she wrote in her decision. “Given the commissioner’s duties under the Customs Act, how else can he track and verify the imported goods, and how can he assure the efficient and effective collection of customs duty?”

Delta appealed to the ECCA after Ms. Ellis ruled in favour of the government, and the appeal’s court overturned the High Court judge’s initial ruling.

“The fuel imported on behalf of the BVIEC is not liable for forfeiture,” ruled Justice Mario Michel. “The fuel imported on behalf of the BVIEC is exempt from the payment of duty.”

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