Latest update April 19th, 2024 12:59 AM
Jan 06, 2017 News
The National Assembly yesterday passed an amendment to the Customs Act which will now require
local manufacturers and importers of metal, plastic or glass containers of any alcoholic or non-alcoholic beverage or water to pay an environmental levy of $10 to the Guyana Revenue Authority.
The amendment was made to Section 7 of the Act which deals with customs duties. Section 8 of the Act applied the levy solely to importers of such items. However, with the new amendment, the levy will be applied to local manufacturers as well. The Bill was passed after it was read for a third time in the Assembly.
There will be an insertion of a Section 7(A) in the Act which specifies that except as otherwise provided, the levy shall be paid to the Commissioner-General in relation to goods imported and not warehoused, goods imported and warehoused and removed from the warehouse and goods manufactured or produced in Guyana and removed from the warehouse, factory, bond or other place of storage.
Further, the amendment provides that for each container returned to the satisfaction of the Commissioner-General, a credit will be allowed towards the next payment which is due, and excess credit shall be carried forward to the next period until the credit is fully utilized.
Persons who fail to pay the levy will be committing an offence and can be found liable to pay a fine of $50,000 added to a sum twice the amount of the levy payable.
During the second reading of the Bill yesterday, Minister of Finance Winston Jordan said that during his budget presentation of 2016 he had signalled the introduction of a broad-based non-discriminatory environmental tax.
He said that the House should recall the debate last year for the repeal of Section 7(A) as amended by the Fiscal Enactments (Amendment) Act 1995.
“That Section read as follows, notwithstanding anything in this Act, or in any other written law, there shall be raised, levied and collected a tax in this Section referred to as an environmental tax at the rate of ten dollars on every unit of non-returnable metal, plastic, glass or cardboard container of any alcoholic or non-alcoholic beverage imported into Guyana, and if the importer of such beverage shall pay such tax to the Comptroller of Customs and Excise at the same time when any customs duties are paid.”
Jordan said that that wording arose out of Rudisa Beverages and Juices NV challenging the government of Guyana as having charged the company an alleged discriminatory environmental tax.
He said that the company contended that the provision was contrary to Article 87 of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas. The Caribbean Court of Justice ruled in favour of Rudisa and the government had to pay a settlement of US$6M.
Jordan said that there can be no argument against the government taking measures to protect the environment. He said that human activity which is harmful to the environment can cause public health crises, rendering areas uninhabitable and reducing standard of living.
“One just has to look at the unsightly evidence of plastic, glass and other containers being disposed of in the haphazard and dangerous manner in Guyana leading to clogged drains, canals and rivers.”
According to the Minister, the Bill is a further expression to the government’s green agenda and considerate efforts to protect the environment.
Former Attorney General and opposition member Anil Nandlall during his presentation on the Bill said that it seeks to impose the levy on water, which was never done before. He added that not only will the government be taxing water, but is going further to tax the bottle in which the water is contained.
He sought to debunk the argument of the Finance Minister that the levy would be revenue neutral, since the money can be retrieved when the containers are returned by consumers. Nandlall said that the cost a person will have to pay to return to the place of purchase is greater than the levy itself.
The former AG added that no prior consultation was carried out by the government with the business community about the levy. He added that when Rudisa had sued the government, efforts were made by the then People’s Progressive Party Civic government to introduce the levy similarly, but at a reduced rate of $5.
However, he said that his government was not supported and was highly criticised for not consulting with local manufacturers, a blunder committed by the current government. According to Nandlall, his party welcomes the initiative of greening the economy since it was a concept conceived by the PPP/C. Nevertheless, he said that the avenue to achieve the same end has been different, since the PPP/C planned to do it using foreign funding, but the APNU+AFC government “wants to do this on the backs of Guyanese” and on this ground, he registered his party’s inability to support the amendment.
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Apr 19, 2024
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