P.R. Laws tit. 23, § 6339
In the evaluation, analysis, consideration, award, renegotiation, and revision of any incentives or benefits granted under this chapter, the Puerto Rico Tourism Company and the Executive Director thereof shall be required to oversee and ensure compliance with the following governing principles as provided below:
(a) Jobs.— The tourist activity and the exempt business shall promote the creation of new jobs.
(b) Sound integration.— The conceptual design and planning of the tourist activity and the exempt business shall be carried out, first of all, taking into account environmental, geographical, and physical aspects, as well as the materials and goods that are abundantly available in the site where it is to be developed.
(c) Commitment to the economic activity.— The tourist activity and the exempt business shall acquire raw materials and products manufactured in Puerto Rico for the construction, maintenance, renovation, or extension of the physical facilities thereof. If the purchase of said products is not financially justified when taking into account criteria such as quality, quantity, price, and availability of these products in Puerto Rico, the Executive Director may issue a certificate attesting to said facts.
(d) Commitment to agriculture.— The tourist activity and the exempt business shall acquire agricultural products of Puerto Rico for operation thereof. If the purchase of said products cannot be financially justified when considering criteria such as the quality, quantity, price, or availability of these products in Puerto Rico, the Executive Director may issue a certificate attesting to such fact.
(e) Transfer of knowledge.— The tourist activity and the exempt business shall acquire services from professionals or companies with a presence in Puerto Rico. However, if this is not possible due to criteria such as availability, experience, specificity, or skill or any other valid reason recognized by the Executive Director, the exempt business may acquire such services through an intermediary with a presence in Puerto Rico, which shall contract directly with the service provider chosen by the exempt business, in order to receive the requested services.
The term “services” shall mean, but the list below shall not be construed as limiting the Executive Director’s authority to include other services by regulations, the contracting of jobs relating to:
(1) Surveying, the production of construction plans, as well as engineering and architectural designs, and related services;
(2) construction and all that pertains to this sector;
(3) financial, environmental, technological, scientific, management, marketing, human resources information technology, and auditing consulting services;
(4) advertising, public relations, commercial art, and graphic design services; and
(5) security or facility maintenance.
(f) Financial commitment.— The tourist activity and the exempt business shall submit proof that they use the services of, and that they deposit a significant amount of the income derived from their economic activity in, banking and/or cooperative institutions with a presence in Puerto Rico. If the financial activity cannot be financially justified when taking into account criteria such as the availability or accessibility of these institutions in Puerto Rico, the Executive Director may issue a certificate attesting to such fact.
The Executive Director of the Puerto Rico Tourism Company shall be the sole official responsible for verifying and ensuring that the tourist activity and the exempt business meet the eligibility requirements established in this section and in this chapter.
If the exempt business partially meets the requirements established in this section, the Executive Director shall be required to establish a formula that allows for the quantification of the aforementioned factors, and for the subtraction of the requirement that has not been met from the total percentage of the specific credit, in order to obtain the exact percentage of the benefit in question.
The Executive Director shall draft an annual report to be filed with the Governor and the Legislative Assembly, stating in detail with figures and statistics the oversight, impact, and compliance with the provisions of this section.
The governing principles set forth in this section shall apply to every tourist activity or exempt business that applies for any of the benefits granted under this chapter as of December 1 st, 2015. However, the provisions of this section shall not apply to any request for renegotiation of a decree, as authorized in § 6345 of this title, made by any exempt business that has not been signed and completed prior to the aforementioned date.
History —July 10, 2010, No. 74, added as § 1 -A on Nov. 17, 2015, No. 187, § 90.