Senate approval.

Senators yesterday passed the Bermuda Airport (Duty Free Sales) Act 1997 which legalises sales of liquor, tobacco and other goods and allows for warehouse storage at the airport.

Currently, duty-free liquor has to be bought in advance from a normal outlet and picked up at the airport prior to departure.

The Act amends the Liquor Licensing Act 1974 to allow the sale of alcohol and introduces tough penalties of up to two years imprisonment and a fine of up to $10,000 for anyone who falsifies duty-free records.

Sen. Lawrence Scott (UBP) introduced the legislation and noted that amendments were made when it appeared in the House of Assembly.

These were to deal with the mix of duty-free and dutiable goods that would be on sale in these airport stores, he said.

PLP Sen. Terry Lister said he had a number of concerns with the legislation and he believed it needed further changes.

These included changing the names of the stores from regulated shops back to duty free shops in the legislation so as to avoid confusion amongst travellers at the airport.

Sen. Lister also questioned why the Finance Minister was given most of the power under the Act.

Sen. Scott explained this was because it involved the licensing of a shop and involved duty free matters. He added that the Finance Minister and the Transport Minister would work in close consultation with one another.

Opposition Senate Leader Milton Scott argued that the bill was not written in a user friendly way.

He said the public would have to seek a lawyer's advice on whether the Supreme Court had the power to award punitive damages in the event of a dispute.

"We have always placed an emphasis on user friendly laws,'' Sen. Scott said.

"Lawyers always draft legislation to keep lawyers in business. It should be written and made clear to the public so they don't have to walk into a lawyer's office.'' Sen. Lawrence Scott said: "If we were to spell out the obvious in every legislation, we would be dealing with volumes. There are certain things we can assume with British Common Law.''