The recently reinstated N10 per litre excise duty for carbonated beverages, according to the Federal Government, may not apply to micro, small, and medium-sized businesses.
This was said by Otunba Niyi Adebayo, Minister of Trade and Investment, at the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria Export Promotion Group’s Annual General Meeting in Lagos.
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According to him, the Ministry of Trade and Investment’s office was willing to work with other government agencies to eliminate bottlenecks in the productive sector.
The Minister added that the ministry would work to reduce the burden on small and micro-scale businesses.
The promise of intervention by the Minister followed earlier complaints by MSMEs operators who lamented that the re-introduced excise duty had led to skyrocketing production costs.
The MSMEs operators, who are in the production of carbonated drinks, alleged that it would cost a single operator N4.8m every year to complete the registration process and also comply with other mandatory charges imposed by the Nigeria Customs Service.
