Mr. Ebbo Botwe, the president of the Ghana Plastic Manufacturers Association, has called for renewed engagement with all stakeholders during a press conference, emphasizing the urgency for the government to reconsider its position on the 5% tax in order to prevent any potential economic fallout from the planned production shutdown.
This means consumers across the country may soon see a decline in the availability of essential commodities packed in plastic, such as bottled and sachet water.
This comes as local industry players, represented by the Ghana Plastic Manufacturers Association, have given the government a week to stop imposing a new 5% excise tax on plastic items made in the country.
According to the Association, manufacturers are willing to vent their dissatisfaction by stopping production for seven days if their requests are not fulfilled.
“We are appealing to the vice president, Dr Mahamudu Bawumuia to intervene in this matter because the effect of this consumer tax will really affect the masses, the common man, the common woman will suffer extreme hardship.
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“In conclusion, we ask GRA to stop the harassment of plastic manufacturers and we give the Ministry of Finance one week to respond to our request or we shall have no option but for all plastic manufacturers to shut down production for at least one week and of course, we’ll send home over 30,00 workers.
Dr. Joseph Obeng, President of the Ghana Union of Traders’ Association (GUTA), emphasized the need for innovative solutions to pay tax obligations rather than burdening local firms.
“The government is being insensitive to the business community. Let’s defer the implementation of the excise tax. The time is not right and it’s not fair around this time where businesses are suffering from the effects of exchange rates and we are very much aware of this.
“This is not the time to impose another tax when so many taxes have already been imposed on us, are we saying we do not care about the state of businesses?”
