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Chamber bats for creation of ‘CNMI Product Seal’
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Posted on Oct 29 2011
By Mark Rabago
Associate Editor
Associate Editor
The Saipan Chamber of Commerce supports the creation of a “CNMI Product Seal” through the passage of House Bill 17-219.
In a letter to Rep. Edmund S. Villagomez (Cov-Saipan), Chamber president Douglas Brennan said “a CNMI Product Seal best serves local businesses, local entrepreneurs, and those that would purchase goods manufactured in the CNMI in good faith.”
The Chamber president also said his group agrees with the conclusions of the bill when it found out that there are products currently sold in the Commonwealth that falsely state they are produced in the CNMI and are therefore misrepresented products of the Commonwealth.
Brennan added in his letter to the House Committee on Commerce and Tourism chairman that, like what the bill states, the “integrity of those products, and the legitimate businesses in the CNMI marketing those products, are compromised as a result of those false claims.”
Just as local businesses cannot or should not display the “Saipan Chamber of Commerce Member” seal on their establishments unless they are members of the Saipan Chamber of Commerce, he said that manufacturers of goods, and the businesses that sell them, should not be allowed to display the “CNMI Product Seal” without qualifying to do so.
“SCC supports the intent of House Bill 17-219, but encourages the House Committee on Commerce and Tourism to carefully formulate regulations regarding the determinations of ‘value-added’ and ‘substantial transformation’ for qualification and enforcement purposes with the CNMI Product Seal,” he said.
Brennan said the special tariff privilege, General Note 3(a)(iv), which provides for qualification of products produced in the CNMI displaying the “Made in the USA” label, serves as a model for those regulations and enforcement issues.
He added that while the Chamber supports the intent of House Bill 17-219, the group is concerned what this bill would propose as far as new responsibilities outlined for the undermanned and understaffed CNMI Department of Commerce.
“SCC does not believe the CNMI Department of Commerce has the time and resources to administer to this proposed law creating the CNMI Product Seal,” said Brennan.
