Business News of Sunday, 24 June 2018
Source: Myjoyonline.com
2018-06-24
Samuel Ato Aggrey,General Secretary, Food and Beverage Association
The Food and Beverage Association has said the government has not reached full agreement with it on issues surrounding the implementation of the tax stamp policy.
According to General Secretary of the Association, Samuel Ato Aggrey, it is not clear-cut, the way forward as to how the stamps should be applied. He reiterates beverage importers or manufacturers should not be forced to embark on investment that “they are not ready to do.”
He said the Association has proposed ‘digital stamp’ as a solution to the problem. He believes investment in this is not only comparably affordable but also yields optimum results in terms of revenue generation.
“Government, on the other side, stands to gain if it deploys the digital stamps; with this one, it’s only a software and a small machinery that would not even cost you more than 20,000 cedis, or even less, ” he said.
Mr Aggrey said after furnishing the government with the proposal and several subsequent follow-ups with the Economic Management Team, the government is still yet to see reason with what has been presented.
He said the Association stands for tax compliance and does not seek to antagonize government.
Mr Aggrey spoke to JoyBusiness at this year’s Ghana Beverage Awards which saw one of Ghanaians’ favourite beers, Guinness, emerge product of the year.
On winning the award, Marketing Manager of Guinness Ghana, Lesego Lebogang Babe said, “I think it’s about constantly maintaining quality standards year-in and year-out; when it comes to meeting consumer needs when it comes to always make sure we are giving consumers the best quality products in the beverage industry in Ghana.”
Other winners
Spirit of the year – Castle Bridge (GIHOC Distilleries)
Beer of the year – Guinness (Guinness Ghana Breweries Ltd.)
Water of the year – Bel-Aqua
Fruit juice of the year – Blue Skies (Blue Skies Ghana)
Energy drink of the year – Storm energy drink (Kasapreko Company Ltd.)
Carbonated soft drink of the year – Coca Cola
Cocoa/Chocolate/Dairy drink of the year – Vitamilk
RTD of the year – Special ice
Socially responsible company of the year – Coca Cola
Manufacturer of the year – Coca Cola
Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) received the 1st honorary award, while the 2nd was given to Consumer Protection Agency.
Food and Beverage Association of Ghana received the 3rd honorary award while Food and Drugs Authority and Ghana Standards Authority received the 4th and 5th honorary awards respectively.
Chief Executive Officer of Global Media Alliance, organizers of the event, Ernest Boateng said his outfit is looking at empowering players in the beverage industry to increase their output to meet the increasing demand.
“Water consumption for instance, by 2020, is expected to increase to about 31 million litres; right now, it’s around 22 million litres. Now when you look at beer, for instance, it’s a little above 200 million litres and it’s expected to go to about 327 million litres by 2020,” he said.
The 2nd edition of the Ghana Beverage Awards was under the theme; “Inspiring excellence in Ghana’s beverage industry.”