The GRTU said today that excise duties on a range of products announced in the budget will increase administrative costs for businesses and lead to price increases for consumers.

It said it will seek a meeting with the Minister of Finance and call for the duties to be removed. Directives will be issued to retailers "should the government not be open to discussion and retraction." 

The GRTU said the government was imposing duties on a ridiculous number of products including personal care and hygiene, toiletries, make-up, skincare and hair products, shampoos, deodorants, personal cleaning products, aftershave, room-deodorisers, soaps and shower gels as well as pre-fabricated concrete, tile ceramics, glass sheets and metal.

The union said it had not been consulted about this decision, even though it would affect productivity, business viability and competitiveness and raise consumer prices.

"These are goods that are an everyday necessity for consumers and will inevitably result in an increase in consumer prices that will hit lower income earners hardest. This is a direct incentive for consumers to acquire goods from abroad and attempt to bypass the system of excise," it said.

The union noted that the government was saying that in some cases, duties would replace the eco-tax.

"Enterprises that enrolled in a waste compliance scheme and as a result became exempt from eco-tax are once again being lumped with the cost of excise," the GRTU complained.

It said it had been campaigning against the unjust eco-contribution for years and it had welcomed its removal, only to have the burden reintroduced through excise duties. The government had become used to the revenue from eco-tax and was finding it could not do without that revenue, the union added.