The Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association Limited (GMSA) says it is fully behind the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) in the pursuit of its legitimate mandate to fight the scourge of smuggling which seems to be on an extraordinary increase.
The GMSA in a press release yesterday expressed its concern about what it said seemed an extraordinary increase in the incidence of smuggling of goods and its severe negative impact on local manufacturers.
In the competitive environment which exists, the GMSA stated, “smuggling places at a huge disadvantage the local manufacturers who meet their social obligation by fully declaring their imports, paying the duties required by law and making their contribution to the national economy.”
Smuggling on the other hand, the association asserted, is a corrupt practice which robs the treasury of the revenue which it needs to collect if the social needs of the community are to be effectively addressed.
The GMSA pointed out that against that background the price charged for the goods are considerably lower, and unfairly makes the local manufacturers uncompetitive. In the circumstances, the GSMA said that “appropriate regulatory protection needs to be given to those who incur significant expenses while investing in local labour.”
The association called for the full force of the law to assist in eliminating or reducing the corrupt practice which “threatens the viability of the local manufacturing sector.”
Unabated smuggling has the potential to wreak havoc amidst legitimate tax paying businesses with a high level of corporate social responsibility, the GSMA contended. And it argued further that smuggling stifles the development of various sectors of the economy and further reduces benefit a government can dispense to the society. “It is a cancer that must be wiped out,” the GSMA declared.
Unrestricted smuggling, the release added, is threatening some sectors of the economy and especially the manufacturing sector which it said is struggling to cope with the CSME (CARICOM Single Market and Economy) and other trade conditions on the domestic and regional markets.
