Customs officers have blamed public misconceptions and ambiguities in the tariff books for confusion over duties levied against educational materials.

The news came in response to complaints from Dr. Beresford Swan, who said customs officials were suddenly demanding duties on imported audio cassettes of medical journals after they were duty-free for 30 years.

Collector of Customs William Ledrew said: "Apparently, over the years, he had been bringing them in and he was not charged duty. This was an error. The tapes should have been assessed duty.

"The duty is not based on the value of the information on the tape, but on the tape itself, which is dutiable.'' He said there was a nominal fee of $5 to $10 assigned to the actual audio or video cassette itself.

Mr. Ledrew added: "The values are minimal.'' He said the only exemption granted for audio cassettes was if they contained a recorded message from one person to another.

Mr. Ledrew also claimed that he was never contacted by the newspaper to respond to Dr. Swan's comments when they first ran.

Collector of Customs Designate Winniefred Forstine-DeSilva agreed with Mr.

Ledrew.

She said: "When it is educational material we charge a minimum duty on the cassette itself, and not on the full value of the goods. The educational material isn't charged, the medium is.'' She added: "Just because an officer has incorrectly assessed things doesn't mean we can't go back and correct it.'' She added that Customs was only responsible for enforcing duties set by Parliament.

"The regulations are set by the House of Parliament. We don't set duty rates at all. The rates of duty are set in annual House of Parliament legislation.

All we do is apply what they send to us.'' Principal Customs Officer Gini Swan said she hoped that the new Customs Tariff would clear up some of the confusion.

She said: "Our present tariff is open to interpretation. That's what causes conflict. Our new tariff, the Harmonised Tariff, is very, very good. There is no space for interpretation in it. It has books of notes to accompany it. The draft is finished, but is in Cabinet for debate right now.'' "All Caribbean customs enforcement agents are trying to adopt the same clearance practices when it comes to the importation of goods.

"All budget rulings are made by Cabinet officers. We take instructions from Parliament. We act as the buffer.'' Mrs. Swan stressed that, in order for educational materials to be exempted from duties, they must first be approved by the Ministry of Education.

She said: "For example, parents who do home schooling would have to go through the Ministry of Education in order for it (educational material) to be duty-free. Right now, it is not covered in the tariff.'' In response to people with complaints, she said: "The importer can put a case to the Chief Economic Advisor. There can be an amendment, but a case must be made.'' Postmaster General Cleveland Crichlow said he had not noticed a rise in the number of people confused about tariff duties.

He said: ''Sometimes we'll get calls from people wanting to know why they got charged for this or that -- but nothing out of the ordinary lately.'' Dr. Swan has refused to pay duty on his tapes since December.

TAXES TAX