Law Lords hear Nutrimix appeal on January 12

THE Judicial Committee of the Privy Council has fixed January 12 as the date for the hearing of a petition by Nutrimix Feeds Ltd for special leave to appeal against the decision of the Trinidad courts not to grant the company an injunction against Prime Minister Patrick Manning and the Cabinet. The petition will be argued by English Queen’s Counsels James Dingemans and Aidan Casey. Nutrimix is appealing against the decision of the TT Court of Appeal which on November 17 dismissed the company’s appeals against the High Court. The TT Court of Appeal comprised Justices Rolston Nelson, Stanley John and Ivor Archie.

The company had appealed against the decision of Madame Justice Carol Gobin to set aside an injunction which she had granted days before, and the decision of Madame Justice Amrika Tiwary-Reddy not to grant an injunction. In the petition to the Privy Council, Nutrimix said it made applications for urgent relief in proceedings seeking judicial review of the decision of the Cabinet to reduce the import surcharge on chicken parts from 86 percent to 40 percent. Nutrimix submitted that its vice-president, Shameer Ronnie Mohammed, adduced before the Court of Appeal, an affidavit and exhibits. He said Nutrimix was one of the largest poultry producers and processors in Trinidad and Tobago, providing employment to 378 people and having contacts with 250 poultry farmers.

He said imported chicken and chicken parts were initially placed on the Negative List. That protection was replaced in the 1990s by the imposition of a surcharge on imported chicken parts. That surcharge, which started at 103 percent in 1997, was gradually reduced to 86 percent for the year ending December 31, 2004. On October 8, Manning, as Minister of Finance, announced in the Budget presentation that Government was reducing the surcharge on imported chicken and turkey parts from 86 percent to 40 percent. Mohammed said the poultry industry was not consulted nor given an opportunity to make representations prior to the Prime Minister’s statement.