BAT Re-Opens Jinja Factory

Source from:  New Vision (Kampala) Emmy Olaki 07/14/2005

BRITISH American Tobacco's (BATU) Jinja factory that was closed on July 1 has been re-opened after talks with the finance ministry. "After discussions with the finance minister and his team, it was agreed that the previous excise duty rates remain," BATU's managing director Glenn Sheppard said at a press conference in Kampala yesterday. BATU suspended operations at the Jinja plant due to uncertainty caused by the increased taxes on cigarettes in the 2005/06 budget. "With other industry stakeholders, we felt the higher duties would exacerbate cigarette smuggling that is eroding billions of shillings in government revenue, while taking market share from legitimate manufacturers," Sheppard said. The Government loses between sh4b and sh6b annually due to smuggling of cigarretes. Sheppard said the uncertainty was created because relevant finance ministry officials were out of the country, making it difficult to clarify on the matter. Enditem