Transport Minister Wayne Furbert said the move would provide a revenue boost of up to $1 million a year for Government.

He explained: "At present, only eight percent of our departing visitors make use of bonded packages at the Airport.

And he added: "What we want to do is close the gap between revenue and expenditure and hopefully even go beyond that in the future -- that is what we are trying to do.'' Shadow Transport Minister Dennis Lister said the siting of the duty free areas -- between the ticket counter and the Customs check-in -- was not the best place to put them.

And he repeated earlier criticism over the fact that nothing can be sold in the US pre-clearance area which was not US-made.

"There is not a single Bermudian-made product a tourist can pick up and take with them,'' he said.

Mr. Lister also pointed out that while the concept of duty free was to give visitors a bargain, the only bargains to be had at the Airport were on "sin'' items such as cigarettes and alcohol.

Meanwhile the decision to change the name of the duty free shop to "regulated'' shop drew criticism as well. Allowing the shop to sell more than duty-free goods, said Mr. Lister, gave it an unfair advantage over its competitors.

Minister of Finance Grant Gibbons explained to Members that his ministry was involved in amending the bill because selling items duty free was essetially exporting goods without duty.

Amendments would also have to be made to the Revenue Act and the Liquor Licencing Act.

He applauded efforts by the Minister of Transport to bring the Airport to revenue self-sufficiency. Meanwhile duty-free retail outlets are the norm in many of the world's airports.

Traditional in-bond options offered by many Island merchant will continue to exist as another option for consumers, he added.

UBP backbencher Leonard Gibbons said he found the bill convoluted and too lengthy, but still offered praise for Mr. Furbert's attempts to raise more revenue at the Airport.

Shadow Minister of Tourism David Allen agreed there was a need to broaden the shopping experience at the Airport and noted the challenges of operating under restricted hours.

But he criticised Government for failing to bring in more small businesses, saying Government should be developing a "plurality'' in the economy: "But what we see at the Airport is the Goslings getting the duty free shop.

It's more of the same people,'' he said. "More and more concessions are going to the same old big businesses, and to get the concessions you have to be politically well-connected.

"Look at Bananas stores, run by a leading UBP member. We have to spread the pie around,'' he said.

Government should also be doing more to ensure Bermudian-made goods were available duty free, in effort to imprint Bermudian culture on departing visitors.

Maxwell Burgess criticised the bill as being too bureaucratic, nebulous, and lacking the spirit of free enterprise. He nevertheless praised the Minister for trying to generate more revenue at the Airport.

Mr. Burgess was then challenged on a point of order by Mr. Allen to declare his interest when speaking of Airport concessions.

"Mr. Speaker I have no interest in Gosling Brothers and have no interest whatsoever in the duty free shop,'' he replied.

Ottiwell Simmons slammed the bill for restricting the range of goods to be sold at the duty free outlet to tobacco products and alcohol, and said he was surprised that Government took such a restrictive approach.

None of the items being offered were healthy or for the benefit of mankind, and in the case of tobacco Government was going as far as promoting a product that is known to kill, he said.

Why couldn't Government do more to include Bermudian-made goods such as perfumes, perfumes, and cedar products.

"I strongly suggest this list is not the best list; it's a sin list full of sin items,'' he said.

The selection of Goslings to run the operation was also "politically incorrect''.

Dubbing it the "Gosling's law'', Mr. Simmons asked how many other people applied to run the duty free shop.

Minister of Tourism David Dodwell countered that people should see the duty free bill as part of a larger transition of the Airport.

Not only is it raising revenue, it is providing the customer with what they want, he said.

He also defended Government from charges that it favoured big business. "We took great pains to make sure small business could take part.'' To that end, about 120 interested entrepreneurs were given a tour of the Airport with the Minister, and following that Government stuck to its tendering policy.

But Renee Webb (PLP) continued to hammer away at the absence of small businesses, saying they were being left out of the action because Government made the tendering process so cumbersome and difficult.

She also pointed out the Airport duty free retailer was being given an unfair advantage over their Island counterparts. For instance there would be no fees paid to Government for opening on holidays and Sundays.

Mr. Furbert explained the Minister of Finance had a clear responsibility over all revenue matters, including duty free shops. The Minister of Transport meanwhile had responsibility over airport operations, including the lease of the shop.

He also dispelled criticism by some Members that the duty free outlet would have an unfair advantage over other retailers, pointing out that under the lease arrangements, one retailer cannot sell an item that conflicts with another.

The downstairs duty free shop, he said, can sell whatever the market will bear, including Bermudian-made goods, but because of US Customs regulations local goods could not be sold beyond US Customs and Immigration.

Bermuda does not meet US Customs harmonised tariff regulations, nor does it meet another catagory known as the Generalised System Preference, which allows the importation of goods from "Third World'' countries.

As for small businesses being left out, Mr. Furbert said it was more a case of "leading a horse to water, but you can't make it drink''.

Government made every effort to get small businesses at the Airport, including conducting a tour of the facility.

Mr. Furbert said agreements would soon be signed with small businesses which would offer them opportunities.

One example, he continued, involved tourists who had to check out of their hotel early although their flight may not leave until later in the day.

For those who wished to get in some last minute sightseeing, they would be now be able to store their luggage at the Airport through a small business.

Another small business would be opening up a cellular phone leasing facility, he added.

Mr. Furbert said he hoped this proved to those concerned that the Government was doing its best to get small businesses involved at the Airport.

The House then moved into committee to discuss the Bill clause by clause.

Mr. Allen asked whether the amendments were made to facilitate Gosling Brothers Ltd. specifically so it could sell a wide range of merchandise.

Mr. Furbert said the amendments were more customer driven and consumer protection driven.

Mr. Lister questioned why the Minister of Finance had full responsibility over the Airport's retail outlet under the Bill instead of the Transport Minister.

Dr. Gibbons pointed out that it was a shared responsibility and the Bill set up licenses for the sale of dutiable goods which was his Ministry's responsibility.

Meanwhile the Transport Minister had responsibility over matters pertaining to the lease and the like and there would be consultation between the two.

The main objections lodged by Mr. Lister involved Government's planned amendments to the legislation.

Mr. Lister said the Opposition objected to plans to change where the Bill read "Airport Duty Free Shop Licence'' to "Airport Duty Free Sales Licence'' and "Airport duty free shop'' to "Airport regulated shop'' as they had stated earlier in the debate.

Mr. Furbert said there would be other items sold in the stores beside duty free items so it was better to call the stores regulated stores so as not to be misleading.

Mr. Lister asked where the duty free store or stores would be located and how big they would be as he was concerned that the area could become congested when there were large numbers of departing visitors.

Mr. Furbert said there would be a store at each end of the departure hall with one for use by visitors on flights to the US and the other for departing visitors heading to Canada and Britain.

When discussion reached clause ten, Mr. Lister noted that this one clause could have saved all the Government amendments as it addressed the concerns.

The clause deals with conditions of the licence and gave the Finance Minister power to specify conditions deemed necessary such as what goods were carried and how they were displayed.

Mr. Lister asked if prices of items on sale in these stores would be low enough to encourage departing passengers to purchase them.

Mr. Furbert pointed out that Government was not in a position to set prices, just to provide opportunities for businesses.

The Bill then passed its second reading and will now be laid before the Senate.