The project was instrumental in the establishment of the twenty-four hour service, now being offered by the Island's Inland Revenue Department, for the issuance of Tax Compliant Certificates (TCCs) which are requested by taxpayers with up-to-date statutory and taxation payments.

This service, "One Stop TCC" is a more convenient method of acquiring a TCC. Taxpayers may at their convenience, telephone, e-mail or fax requests for TCCs to the revenue department. These requests will be processed without the taxpayer having to visit the many agencies involved in the process, namely Heart Trust-NTA, National Insurance Scheme (NIS), and the National Housing Trust (NHT), all of which are at different locations.

Prior to Project's intervention taxpayers were required to visit each agency to receive Compliance Notification prior to visiting the Inland Revenue Department, where the certificate is issued.

Also a web-based system has been developed for faster, more accessible and convenient communication between the taxpayers, the revenue department and the partnering agencies involved in the issuance of TCCs.

Prior to the intervention of the Legs and Regs project, documents evidencing transactions between credit unions and their members were submitted to the Stamp Office despite the fact that these transactions are exempt from the payment of Stamp Duty (Section 59 of the Cooperatives Societies Act). The Stamp Office would affix a stamp on these documents stating "Exempt from Stamp Duty".

The project successfully negotiated with the Commissioner, Tax Administration and Audit Department for the cessation of this practice which research revealed had no legal basis but was a mere administrative requirement that had no added value for any of the parties involved.

The Legs and Regs Project took the initiative to lobby for the abolition of the need for business visas for those persons entering the island to investigate business opportunities and carry out business of a short term nature. This requirement was a hindrance for investors. A cabinet submission was prepared and tabled in parliament which was approved subject to some amendments.

The business visa requirement has been abolished and all foreign nationals and investors coming into Jamaica to carry out short term business activities without a work permit can do so. However, persons coming to work in Jamaica for extended periods are still required to procure work permits.

The major section of the revised Developers' Manual was projected to be launched in June 2005. This did not happen as the compilation of the sections of the manual had fallen woefully behind schedule primarily because of the delay in receiving submissions from the various agencies contributing to its development. As significantly, this development means that the second and potentially even more critical aspect of this sub-project, that of examining the processes employed and coming up with proposals for such re-engineering as may be required has yet to begin even as the USAID funding for the project is drawing to a close. We are concerned about the pace of the compilation of the manual and will be discussing our concerns with Dr. Carlton Davis, Cabinet Secretary.

In light of this, the Project is working towards a soft launch in September of all the sections that are complete. Pear Tree Press has been contracted to handle the formatting and printing of the sections that have been reviewed and are now available.

It was agreed that the agencies involved in the importation/exportation of agricultural and pharmaceutical items will each have representatives permanently located at the wharf once the one-stop-shop is established. There is currently a space constraint at the Port that needs to be resolved to facilitate the implementation of the one-stop-shop.

The Port Authority has indicated that they will be carrying out building expansion and has made provisions for the one-stop-shop. In addition the Port Authority of Jamaica will be allocated 2,500 sq. ft. of office space for the establishment of the one-stop-shop. The space will be handed over to the Legs & Regs Project after the building expansion currently being undertaken by the Port Authority. The due date is October 2005. The office will accommodate representatives from the Veterinary Services and Plant Quarantine Divisions of the Ministry of Agriculture, the Bureau of Standards, Public Health Inspectors and a pharmacist from the Ministry of Health.

As part of streamlining the importation/exportation process for agricultural and pharmaceutical items, the government entities involved in the process have recognised that interim collaboration of agencies will assist in facilitating a more efficient process and agreed that the three Ministers viz agriculture (MOA), Commerce Science & Technology (MCST) and Health (MOH) would enter into a Memorandum of Understanding under which agencies must agree to carry out only those functions stipulated in the agreement. The MOU has been drafted and the Legs & Regs Project contracted a consultant to execute the signing of the MOU. The MOU was signed on May 25, 2005.