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Guyana could be asked to pay out as much as $500M if the Caribbean Court of Justice orders the state to pay everything that TCL is asking for as compensation to the company for revenue it lost as a result of the unilateral decision to remove the Common External Tariff (CET) from cement products produced by non-Caricom manufacturers.Media reports out of Trinidad yesterday stated that the case has been closed and the parties are eagerly awaiting the decision by the CCJ.Attorneys representing both parties gave their closing arguments at the Port of Spain-based court on the fact that Guyana had unilaterally moved to waive the CET on cement despite the fact that the Treaty of Chaguaramas mandates that the decision to waive the 15 per cent tax cannot be made by one country. It must be a Caricom decision.On Tuesday last, Guyana admitted that it was wrong in deciding to waive the tax unilaterally instead of going to the Council for Trade and Economic Development.Kim Stephen,Jorge Valdivia Chile Jersey, an official from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Commerce, testified that private sector business owners in Guyana had been complaining to the Ministry about TCL Guyana’s subsidiary inability to provide enough cement for the share of the market it occupied.However at the CCJ,Gary Medel Chile Jersey, Guyana did not move to defend its decision but instead admitted that it was wrong in deciding to waive the tariff.The Judges presiding over the matter are Justice Michael De La Bastide and Justices Rolston Nelson, Duke Pollard,Fabian Orellana Chile Jersey, Adrian Saunders,Adriano Jersey, Desiree Bernard,Adriano Barcelona Jersey, Jacob Witt and David Hayton.Guyana conceded that it breached the Treaty of Chaguaramas.During his submissions to the CCJ, Guyana’s attorney,Mark Gonzalez Chile Jersey, Prof Keith Massiah SC, said that Guyana was not contesting the fact that it was guilty of wrongdoing in deciding to remove the 15 per cent tariff for cement originating outside of Caricom without the consensus of the member states of Caricom.CCJ Chief Justice Michael de la Bastide said the fact that the defendant (Guyana) was not contesting that it was in breach of the Treaty of Chaguaramas made the proceedings a little easier.As a result of this admission,Paulo Garces Chile Jersey, the court is not moving to determine whether there was wrongdoing but instead,Gary Medel Jersey, the extent of damage done to TCL as a result of Guyana’s unilateral decision in 2006.Attorney, Claude Denbow SC, who represented TCL and its subsidiary, submitted to the court that the admission shows a total contempt for the Treaty of Chaguaramas by Guyana.TCL is claiming for compensation for loss of income suffered in its capacity as 80 per cent shareholder in TCL Guyana (TGI) in the amount of US$532,214 for the period January to December 2007.It is also claiming compensation for lost profits suffered as a direct result of Guyana’s failure to implement the Common External Tariff on building cement in the sum of US$2,1 million for the period of January to December 2007 and continuing.TCL is also claiming damages, interest at whatever rate and for whatever period the court deems fit and also wants the court to order that the costs of the proceedings be paid by Guyana.The US$10M investment was part of a loan package of US$105M obtained from the International Finance Corporation in Washington DC to expand and modernize TCL plants in Guyana, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago. The company has argued that after a further suspension of the CET from 2004 to 2006,Jorge Valdivia Jersey, TCL/ TGI approached the government.In 2007 after they did not get any results they moved in 2007 to the Caricom Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED).