KINGSTON, Jamaica — The Jamaica Special Economic Zone Authority (JSEZA) has welcomed the removal of the ban on storage of imported motor vehicles in a free zone or Special Economic Zone (SEZ) without an import licence from the Trade Board.The JSEZA said the removal, which was authorised by the Minister of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, Karl Samuda on May 9, will boost business prospects for the automotive sector.
“Before this approval cars destined for regional and/or the domestic market were barred from free zones if the requisite licence was not obtained prior to entry into the country”, the JSEZA noted.
The organisation said it has been pushing to identify investment and value adding opportunities in this sector as the global automotive industry is one of the world’s largest manufacturing sectors, and worldwide trade of final products and components accounted for roughly US$1.4 trillion in exports in 2014.