Legislation giving customs duty relief on a string of items was rubber stamped in the Senate today.

Under the Customs Tariff Amendment (No 2) Act, community and sports clubs, along with daycare providers will be able to import school supplies and equipment duty free, along with any materials shipped in to upgrade facilities.

There will also be no customs tariff on asphalt or concrete products for private companies hired to help resurface public roads.

Duty on tobacco brought in by travellers has been amended from 35 per cent of the value to $500 per kilogram.

The Bermuda Hospitals Board will benefit from a six-month extension of customs duty exemptions on imported medical supplies to enable it to allocate more resources for its healthcare services.

But duty has been reinstated on health-related personal protective equipment such as face masks.

Arianna Hodgson, the Junior Minister for Finance who presented the bill in the Upper House, explained that, because Covid-19 was no longer a global health emergency, the relief was not justified. She added that it could be reintroduced “swiftly“ if another pandemic occurred.

Douglas De Couto, the opposition One Bermuda Alliance spokesman for finance, welcomed the tax breaks, saying that the majority of them “make sense”.

He added that sports clubs would be encouraged to upgrade their facilities that provided “vital functions”.

But he suggested that duty relief should remain in place for personal protective equipment and medical supplies.

Dr De Couto said: “We’re in a new normal now where everybody has masks all over the place. It’s become a common piece of equipment that everyone has. Why would we not permanently exempt this stuff?

“To be honest I was surprised that we even had duty on [medical] supplies because we have the one hospital and its primary purpose is to serve the community.

“I would have thought that with the increase in health costs that we’re experiencing on this island, why would we have a duty and need to have a time limit on it?”

In response, senator Hodgson said: “Before 2023 the hospital had a number of reliefs but due to the financial pressures we extended that to other supplies.

“We went through a long consultation process with the Bermuda Hospitals Board and it was determined that six months was appropriate at this time.”