Farmers appeal for review of VAT on inputs for exports

Farmers engaged in non-traditional exports have appealed to the government to review the upfront payment of the Value Added Tax (VAT) on packaging materials and seeds as well as the cumbersome procedures to obtaining refund.

The review should aim at releasing funds to enable exporters to meet their export orders adequately and promptly.

The appeal was made by Mr Henry Anim-Somuah, Managing Director of the Agromite Limited, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency at Kwahu-Amanfrom in the eastern region of Ghana, where he is engaged in vegetable production for exports through irrigation on the banks of the Afram River.

The company is to start exporting varieties of sweet pepper to the United Kingdom and France from August 22 from its 11.3 hectares of MI 2, Scotch Bonnet and Jalapeno pepper varieties and okra, he said.

It had also acquired 20.8 hectares for the cultivation of sweet potatoes for export to the UK within the next 10 months.

In collaboration with Technoserve and AMEX International, under the USAID-supported Trade and Investment Reform Programme, he said the company was benefiting from technical assistance in scientific production methods, post-harvest handling and out-grower management and local and export marketing.

Mr Anim-Somuah, an graduate in irrigation technology, said 150 out-grower farmers, comprising 15 farming groups, were being formed to help the company to produce enough to meet its export orders, saying this would also help offer employment to the youth in the Kwahu South District.

He, therefore, urged the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) to assist the company to acquire a cold-chain facility from the Japanese grant available to the government, to enable it to cope with the storage and handling of produce as a condition of meeting the requirements set by the European Union's EUREP-GAP policy for foreign food exporters.

Mr Anim-Somuah also appealed to the government to expedite action on the rehabilitation of the Begoro-Amate road and the extension of power to the area to facilitate the production and marketing of farm produce.