On 15 January 2015 an applicant made a request to HM Customs Department under the Freedom of
Information Law 2007 for fuel cost invoices from fuel/gasoline importers, between 2011 and the
present. The request was later narrowed to invoices from 2014 to the date of the request.

The Customs Department withheld access to the invoices on the basis of several exemptions under the
Law, including section 17(b)(i) which protects confidential information. After an internal review by the
Chief Officer the matter was appealed to the Information Commissioner’s Office.

The Acting Information Commissioner Mr. Jan Liebaers said: “There is, understandably, a great deal of
frustration amongst many residents of the Cayman Islands about what are perceived to be excessively
high retail prices for fuel, as testified by the successful campaign started by the Applicant and reflected
in its name, “Cayman Is Fed Up With High Gas Prices”. That there is a great deal of interest in this topic is
adequately demonstrated by the many Press articles, and the swift actions of the Government, which in
recent weeks has, seemingly in record time, significantly altered the manner in which fuel imports are
regulated in the Cayman Islands. These circumstances demonstrate that there is a genuine public
interest in the fairness of fuel pricing.”

However, after considering submissions from the Applicant, the Customs Department and the two third party
fuel importers, and conducting a public interest test the Acting Information Commissioner found
that disclosure of the requested records would constitute an actionable breach of confidence.
Therefore, the exemption in section 17(b)(i) applies to the requested records, and HM Customs is not
required to disclose them.

The full text of Decision 48-01115 is available on the ICO website at: http://www.infocomm.ky/appeals.