Smith: Trade Commission Was Overkill
Trade Minister Lorna Smith has defended the government's decision to shelve the long-delayed Virgin Islands Trade Commission, calling the statutory body costly and duplicative. The administration will instead keep core trade functions in the ministry and pursue a public-private partnership model for trade and investment promotion.
Trade Minister Lorna Smith has told the House that the proposed Virgin Islands Trade Commission — a statutory body first enacted under the 2020 Act and brought into force in late 2022 — was expensive, unnecessary and would have duplicated existing government functions. Speaking during debate on the Consumer Protection Amendment Bill, 2026, Smith said the commission initially “appeared to be quite priceless” but, after closer review, “increasingly felt like overkill.” The Virgin Islands Party administration suspended implementation of the commission after coming into office in 2023 to reassess whether the model made sense.
Smith said the commission projected roughly $1.5 million in annual operating expenses and nearly another $1 million in revenue requirements. To make the body financially self-sufficient by its second year would have required a 154 percent increase in trade licence fees, she warned.
Proposals reviewed by government also suggested some non-belonger business licence fees could rise as high as $15,000 a year. “For us, that was a heavy burden on businesses and a difficult sell for residents who already face high costs to operate here,” Smith said. She argued the financial projections showed the commission would either be a costly new layer of government or force sharp fee increases on employers and entrepreneurs.
Beyond cost, Smith pointed to duplication. With the creation of the Ministry of Financial Services, Economic Development, and Digital Transformation, the administration believes core trade, business regulation and consumer functions are better housed directly within government. Under the alternative model, the ministry will retain oversight of micro, small and medium enterprises, business licence approvals, the National Business Bureau and business training programmes covering marketing, planning and customer service.
The government will instead pursue a trade and investment promotion agency operating through a public-private partnership, Smith said. That approach is intended to preserve strategic government oversight while giving the agency greater operational independence — a structure similar to investment promotion models used elsewhere in the Caribbean.
The decision is politically notable because Opposition Leader Marlon Penn has previously argued the Trade Commission would modernise trade regulation and strengthen consumer protection. The administration says its new approach aims to balance those policy goals with fiscal prudence and minimized duplication of services.
Primary source: BVI News