LOCAL manufacturing companies which had been faced with the enforcement of import duties on raw materials that appeared on the list of ineligible items have been granted suspensions of import duties through the CARICOM Secretariat, the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association (GMSA) has said in a release.The manufacturers were last April made aware of the enforcement regulation by the Guyana Revenue Authority. The list of ineligible items was developed in the late 70s early 80s, and was designed to protect the CARICOM region. Many of the items were available in the region at that time, and as such, their importation had attracted import duties, the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association (GMSA) said.

According to the GMSA, the list of ineligible items is enshrined in the tax laws of Guyana, and is also part of The Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas. The GMSA is pleased to have been informed by its membership that, with the necessary support from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the CARICOM Secretariat, their applications for suspension of import duties on the raw materials had been successful.

The companies identified were Twins Manufacturing Chemists; Edward B. Beharry & Company Limited; Sterling Products Limited; Umami, & Toolsie Persaud Limited. Of the five (5) companies that had applied, four (4) have been granted full suspension, while Sterling Products Ltd has been granted full suspension for five (5) of the six (6) items that company had applied for. The single item rejected was soya bean oil, based on an objection by Roberts Manufacturing in Barbados on the ground that that company is presently producing soya bean oil.

This fulfils the short-term goals as reported previously by the GMSA. The long-term goal of the GMSA is to work with the relevant agencies to have these ineligible items, along with many others, removed from the list, since many of them are no longer available in the region.

The GMSA wishes to thank the relevant ministers, government agencies and the CARICOM Secretariat for the support received in bringing relief to its Manufacturers.