— GMSA director

THE implementation of Excise Stamps for alcohol and tobacco products is a step in the right direction but the anti-smuggling initiative has fallen short of tackling the issue of smuggled

beer on the local market, Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association (GMSA) Board Director Ramesh Dookhoo has said.

The Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), with the aim of clamping down on the illicit trade of alcohol and tobacco products, is currently using a secured digital Excise Stamp solution to mark legitimate alcohol (excluding beer) and tobacco products being imported into the country.
In an exclusive interview with the Guyana Chronicle on Tuesday at the Private Sector Commission (PSC), the GMSA board director said tobacco and alcohol industries, locally and internationally, have for years felt the negative impacts of the illicit trades.

In the case of alcohol, Dookhoo said that over the years, the success of reputable companies, which had dealerships with major alcohol brands, have been threatened due to the large volume of contraband on the local market.

He said records would show that respected companies have lost dealerships because they were unable to compete with smugglers. The tobacco industry, he added, has also felt the negative impact of the illicit trade of tobacco products, in particular cigarettes.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Given the significance of the problem, the GMSA board director said the association is pleased that the GRA is taking critical steps to create a dent in the illicit trade of alcohol and tobacco products.
However, he said the GMSA is of the belief that the anti-smuggling initiative by GRA is only addressing part of the problem facing local manufacturers and legitimate importers and suppliers of alcohol products.

“This is not a cure-all for the alcohol industry. One of the most smuggled products in the industry is beer, and I am very shocked that it (excise stamp) wasn’t introduced for beer,” Dookhoo told this newspaper.
“Shiploads of beers are still being smuggled into Guyana. Every now and then the customs would be lucky and find a shipload,” he added.

According to the GMSA board director, in his estimate, for every one shipment of contraband found by Customs, five shipments have gone undetected.
He contended that while the GRA may have consulted with importers, suppliers and distributors of legally imported alcohol products, it did not consult with GMSA ahead of the implementation of the Excise Stamp, although it is a major

stakeholder. Dookhoo contended that had the manufacturing association been privy to such consultations, it would have made a strong case for imported beer to be stamped as well.
“We always felt that it should have been extended to beer, because beer as you know is being smuggled into Guyana. So what is the sense of monitoring alcohol and not monitoring beer?”
Nonetheless, he said once implemented effectively, the GRA can safeguard the billions of dollars in taxes lost to the illicit trade of alcohol and tobacco products while simultaneously creating an enabling environment for legitimate operators.

MORE EMPHASIS
The GMSA director opined that the revenue authority must place significant emphasis on monitoring and enforcement, and anti-corruption activities.
“How often are we going to go into the shop and check? We have to look at corruption in the GRA itself. We have to ensure that the officers are not compromised in any way,” he posited, while questioning where products will be stamped upon being imported.
It is his belief that all alcohol and tobacco products should be transported to a warehouse where they will be stamped under the supervision of GRA Customs officers. Dookhoo also expressed concern that the stamp could be forged.

But GRA Deputy Commissioner – Excise Stamp and Environmental Levy, Customs, Excise and Trade Operations, Rohan Beekhoo, on Monday told the Guyana Chronicle that the stamps, which will be placed on every product that falls within the two categories, cannot be easily forged.
“These stamps are highly secured. They have security features comparable to our bank notes, and so counterfeiting them would not be easy. Counterfeiting them would be next to impossible,” he noted.

Using a unique software system, the revenue authority is equipped to trace every stamp.
“When the stamp is applied to a product, either the alcohol or the tobacco, it is going to say to our customs officers that this product has paid the correct import duties, excise tax and the correct VAT,” Beekhoo explained.

Customs officers, operating out of GRA Customs, Excise and Trade Operations (CE&TO), are currently visiting the premises of importers, businesses and persons selling alcohol (excluding beer) and tobacco products as they initiate the stamping process.
Only imported alcohol and tobacco products are being stamped at a fee of $16 and $8 respectively per product. The anti-smuggling initiative is being conducted in accordance with Regulations 215 (3) of the Customs Act, Chapter 82:01.

As a follow-up mechanism, monitoring and compliance officers will be armed with hand-held scanners on the ground to determine if a product was stamped, if the stamp was genuine, if it was applied to the correct product.

Failure to have the targeted imported products could result in defaulters being fined in keeping with the Customs Act. Penalties range from $10, 000 up to three times the value of the goods.