BAT Canvasses Support for SON Cigarette Standards

Source from:  Written by Godfrey Bivbere Thursday, 18 September 2008 09/19/2008

Area Director, BAT Nigeria, Mr. Simon Welford, has called on the newly appointed Comptroller-General of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), Alhaji Haman Bello, to assist in making sure that all players in the industry comply fully with the new SON Cigarette Standards which came into force recently. Conducting the Customs boss round the company's factory in Ibadan during a famililarisation visit, recently, Welford urged the Customs to help SON to enforce the new regulation on tobacco so as to maintain a level playing field in the industry. Welford took the comptroller-general through a brief history of the operations of BAT Nigeria and its significant contribution to the Nigeria economy. He said, with the signing of memorandum of understanding (MOU) in 2001, the state of the art factory was completed in a record time of 18 months with over $150 million in foreign direct investment (FDI). According to him, the factory compares with any of BAT's factories in the world in terms of quality assurance and production capacity. Enumerating the contributions of his company to the Nigerian economy, Welford said over N67 billion has so far been paid by the company to the Federal Government's coffer as tax since it began operations. Also he said that the company employs 900 Nigerians directly and thousands of others indirectly as contractors and an additional 1000 farmers are involved in crop production. "With the coming of BAT into Nigeria, 70 per cent of the market share is now legal, a significant departure from the 80 per cent illicit trade as of 2001" According to him, this was achieved through active collaboration and partnership with the Customs service and other relevant government agencies. The Comptroller-General, Alhaji Haman Bello Ahmed, after the inspection, commended the management of BAT Nigeria for its significant contributions to the Nigerian economy in areas of employment, payment of taxes and for also helping in the fight against smuggling. He emphasized that if every corporate organization operating in the country could emulate the good corporate citizenship that BAT Nigeria is exhibiting, the national economy will be boosted tremendously. He encouraged the company to continue partnering with the Nigerian Customs Service in the fight against smuggling and illicit trade to protect against economic sabotage. Enditem