Post Office encourages residents to mail shopping home (Update 1)

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 9: Government is encouraging residents who shop overseas to beat the airport duty by shipping items through the mail.

This after Premier Paula Cox raised Customs duty to an unpopular 35 per cent at the airport as part of a package to encourage residents to support local retailers.

Residents began receiving a mailer this week from the Bermuda Post Office telling them it is cheaper to mail items purchased overseas than bring them back in their luggage.

The mailer states: “Lighten your load at the airport and keep your wallet heavy.

“Make your overseas travel affordable and stress-free by sending your extra items and purchases home by parcel post or express mail.”

It states residents mailing home their overseas purchases, can 1) save on extra luggage fees; 2) save on airport Customs duty; 3) save on private courier fees.

On October 1 of this year, the Progressive Labour Party attacked One Bermuda Alliance candidate Anthony Francis for encouraging residents to use ther post office to ship their goods back to Bermuda..

Mr Francis suggested residents could save money by using the post office to send their overseas purchases back to the island.

In the October 1 release, the PLP said: “Bermuda’s retailers are hurting, and 4,000 retail jobs hang in the balance. Instead if positively encouraging Bermudians to buy Bermuda, the OBA is encouraging Bermudians to buy American and skirt custom duties.”

The release added: “The OBA says that they put Bermuda first, but when you examine their policies closely you’ll see it’s an empty sound byte.

“If there’s one thing the opposition and government should come together on, it’s the need to Buy Bermuda to help save our stores and save 4,000 jobs.

“It’s a shame that the OBA is turning their backs on shopkeepers and their employees by encouraging Bermudians to shop outside of the country.”