Photo credit: Vitis Industries
One of the Country's biggest alcohol manufacturers and producers, Vitis Industries Ltd has appealed to the Marape-Rosso Government to review the decision made to increase alcohol tax to almost 500 per cent.
Vitis Industries Ltd Managing Director Vicky Mossine said the tax increase will affect the business negatively and would eventually result in the dismissal of staff and the option to close operations.
According to Mrs Mossine the recent announcement on the increase in alcohol tax during the handing down of the 2023 national budget recently which showed a 500 percent hike in alcohol tax rates would drastically put the company in a position to wind down their operations. The rapid increase in excise duty tax by almost 500 percent is totally unfair and the local company is not ready to meet the challenges.
"Marape-Rosso Government, it would be good and fair before passing the bill on alcohol tax increase on the alcohol industry if we have our representative which is the Manufacturers Council who represent all manufacturers in the country to be present in your consultations and consideration because the current tax increase has been done without any form of consultation of companies concerned within the alcohol industry," Mrs Mossine said.
"We have not been notified or consulted prior to the announcement of the increase for premix alcohol products and it is very dissapointing because as an investor and a local company Vitis has invested alot in this country right from our humble beginnings to currently being a large scale manufacturer in the industry," she explained.
Mrs Mossine further stated that as the company struggles to offset costs in its business operations and wages for its employees it has no choice but to lay off its staff and this decision has affected employees economically and as a result the company cannot meet the cost of expenses and assist their staff.
Vitis Industries Ltd Production Supervisor, Marrie Kove said the issue of the tax increase has become a huge burden to all employees of Vitis.
"We are all in a bad position due to this tax increase and it has also affected our families especially our children and this is so unfair as this situation also determines their future in terms of our job security as we are all likely to lose our jobs," Ms Kove said.
Apart from producing and manufacturing Alcohol and Tobacco as the main income generators, the local company also produces and manufactures fast moving consumer goods such as Food and Beverages but most of the company's expenses and costs are off-settled at the back of profits gained from alcohol sales and there would be a chain reaction and other sectors of their business would also be affected regardless of its sales.
Moreover, the profits generated from business operations are re-invested mostly in the agricultural sector of the country in building new opportunities and creating employment for the people.
