Farmers, plant nurseries and PVC window-makers should be better off in the next financial year as a reduction in Customs Tariffs were announced in yesterday's budget.

Yesterday in the House of Assembly Finance Minister Paula Cox said Government would try to help the small number of remaining local farmers by letting them bring in their equipment and machinery for free.

"In order to help promote local agricultural and horticultural industries and to encourage the 'greening' of Bermuda, Government proposes also to introduce duty concessions for farmers. The Customs Tariff Act 1970 will be amended to provide a zero rate of duty on all equipment supplies and machinery imported by registered farmers," Ms Cox said yesterday.

And Environment Minister Neletha Butterfield told The Royal Gazette the concession on farmers was one of the biggest changes in her Ministry for 2005.

"There will be duty relief for farmers that have registered," Ms Butterfield said.

Registered farmers must go to Customs to register for their tax exemption.

"We encourage all farmers to call to get their farmers tax exemption," she said.

Farmer Tom Wadson welcomed the change, but said it was long overdue.

"This should have been sorted out 20 years ago," Mr. Wadson said. "But with a stroke of the pen, they have this harmonised Customs system".

Still, the move came with many thanks as it had been "a long haul to survive".

Local farmers compete with foreign agriculture, which is frequently subsidised.

"Our prices are set," he said. "Look at the land prices around here. We're being pushed badly with that".

The Budget changes meant he can now bring in implements for his tractor duty free. It also includes potting soil.

"With the system we use you use up a lot of potting soil," he said.

A bag of "pro-lite" soil would cost a farmer $5 but would be landed for between $15 and $17, he said, so the move would help a little to level the playing field.

"It makes me feel a lot better. It's a giant step forward for the industry. It's a great step back to where we were before. We were between a big rock and a very hard place."

Government also announced it was ending a discrepancy in duty rates between green plants and cut flowers. Before budget day, green plants were set at 33.5 percent where flowers were charged 22.25 percent.

Now those who import greenery and flowers after April 1, 2005, will be charged 22.25 percent for both items.

However, Shirmika Brown, owner of El Shaddai Florist said for her this was "still the same, there is no difference".

"We bring in more flowers than greenery so it is not going to make too much difference," Ms Brown said. "I was hoping they would put flowers down."

She said other merchants brought in items like clothing and were charged a duty of around five percent.

"That's dirt cheap," she said. "They are making a pretty penny".

She said charging florists 22.25 percent compared to five percent "is a crime".

Flowers were perishable items and do not always survive transportation to Bermuda.

"Sometimes they send a bad batch. We lose out and still have to pay duty."

Local manufacturers of PVC windows and doors will be better able to make their goods as the price of their raw material was made cheaper to import.

Due to an anomaly in the tax code, it was more expensive to bring in the raw form of PVC (charged a rate of 22.25 percent) than it was to bring in finished PVC goods such as windows and doors (charged at ten percent).

Yesterday, Government corrected this anomaly and all PVC products, both in its raw and finished form will be charged a duty of ten percent.

Assistant manager of PVC Windows and Doors, Norman Tavares welcomed the change.

"It's great because we manufacture fencing and PVC frames for windows," Mr. Tavares said. "We hire local people to manufacture frames and it has been costing us a fortune."

In the long term this will mean more jobs for locals in the PVC field.

"This means we don't have to wait for special products to be brought in from the US," he said. "Now we can bring in extrusions (like moulds) and store them here and manufacture the custom made items locally."