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CNMI Senate urges Guam Legislature to reject bill taxing fuel transshipments
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Posted on Aug 15 2011
The CNMI Senate is urging the Guam Legislature to reject a bill that eliminates the fuel tax exemption on liquid fuel transshipped through Guam because doing so would further increase the cost of fuel not only in the CNMI but also in Palau, the Marshall Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia.
Guam’s Bill 279-31, introduced by Sen. Tom Ada and co-sponsored by two others, lifts the fuel tax exemptions to fund environmental protection and community related programs.
In response to the bill’s introduction at the Guam Legislature, the CNMI Senate adopted last week a resolution urging their Guam counterparts to reject the measure.
CNMI Senate floor leader Pete Reyes (R-Saipan), author of Senate Joint Resolution 17-16, said in his measure that there can be no meaningful discussion of reunification of Guam and the Northern Marianas if Guam Bill 279-31 is enacted into law “without regard to the livelihood” of CNMI people.
“With the continued economic decline throughout the region and the increased cost of living, it is imperative that the government of Guam support the other Micronesian islands and harmoniously work together with their governments in these dire times,” Reyes said in his resolution.
The CNMI House of Representatives has yet to act on the Senate resolution.
“Although applying the fuel tax to oil companies that utilize Guam as its transshipment center will generate additional funds for the island of Guam, the [CNMI], particularly Rota and Tinian, will be detrimentally affected by the resulting increased cost of fuel,” the Senate resolution reads.
Guam serves as a major transshipment center for the Micronesian region, including the redistribution of fuel.
Because of the economic benefits derived from such transshipment and redistribution services, incentives are granted by the government of Guam to transshipment companies such as the current fuel tax exemption.
