Remission system still a mess
-say manufacturers
Stabroek News
April 2, 2004
Seven months after the Fiscal Enactments (Amendment) Act was passed, manufacturers are still running around in circles to clear goods off the wharf.
Many want to see the system which replaced the Secretary to the Treasury (ST) letters of exemption/remission, to be far more efficient.
The Guyana Manufactur-ers' Association (GMA) yesterday met with Deputy Commis-sioner General Clement Sealy and Director of Remissions, Gavin Lowe and were told that all companies eligible for remissions/concessions, which did not have an agreement with the government for such a concession, will have to enter into an agreement with the government. Commissioner General, Khurshid Sattaur, was reported to be working with Director of the Guyana Office for Investment (Go-Invest), Geoff DaSilva on the requirements for the agreements between the government and the private sector.
But while the government is still trying to get its act together, firms are hitting snags in their operations.
MS Ally of the Continental Group of Companies said that his company had linseed oil, used in the manufacture of paint and putty, lying on the wharf for clearance since December and after much effort was only able to clear this in February. Linseed oil is not in the current list of items published in the customs schedule and the company has in the past had to seek remission by way of an ST letter.
However, with the change in the law abolishing the ST letter, the firm has been frustrated in its efforts to clear the oil. Ally says if the company has to wait two months to be able to clear a product off the wharf it will affect its production schedule. He noted that it is a cost to increase inventories. The Remission Unit in the Guyana Revenue Authority is working with the GMA to clear a list of companies eligible for remission/ exemptions and to do so by way of an agreement with the government.
A GRA official agrees that it would have been better to publish a detailed list of items eligible for remission/exemptions and to determine eligibility based on this. However, the source says that the Ministry of Finance has decided that this should be done by way of a contract/ agreement with manufacturers. A knowledgeable source says that this is no way reinserting discretion into the system but rather the requirement for a contract is to give recognition credence to existing contracts
Sattaur when contacted yesterday refused to comment and abruptly hung up the phone.