The Minister of Industry and Trade, Silvino Moreno, said this Thursday, 2 May, that Mozambican refineries imported more than 1 million 300 thousand tonnes of crude cooking oil between 2015 and 31 December 2023, valued at 88.7 billion meticals (around 1.4 billion dollars).
According to the Agência de Informação de Moçambique, the government official was speaking during a seminar in Maputo on the value chain in the production of cooking oil and soaps, while also reflecting on the recent study carried out by the Centre for Public Integrity (CIP) on the impact of VAT exemptions on the end consumer.
‘We want the money used for imports to be able to go into our economic activity, eventually promoting the production of oilseeds and other activities, bringing more jobs and contributions to our taxes.’
Silvino Moreno
Moreno cited as an example the case of João Ferreira dos Santos in Niassa province, who uses soya to produce oil and then refines it. ‘This is the example we want to follow. We want companies that extract the oil from our raw material and can refine it, and put the product on the market at an accepted value, while maintaining the population’s consumption.’
The government official stressed that the country has great agricultural potential and, for this reason, agro-industry is an integral part of the Mozambique National Industrialisation Programme (PRONAI). ‘The government wants to use the exemption to boost industry. We don’t want to think of the exemption only as a way of fuelling trade and we don’t want operators to be complacent with the exemption.’
The minister emphasised that over the next four months a series of sectoral reflections will be carried out in the industry.
CIP researcher Estrela Charles said that the study had several objectives: to find out whether the VAT exemption has a positive impact on the final consumer, who is the family, or whether some companies use the exemptions to increase their profits.
‘The study was carried out in this dimension. We wanted to have answers to these questions that had already been asked and, to this end, we sought out some members of the CTA and the Ministry of Economy and Finance to find out if there are any studies that show the impact of these exemptions.’
Estrela Charles – CIP researcher
The researcher recalled that exemptions from VAT rates began in 2007 by law. Given this situation, the CIP believes that after all these years it is important to carry out a study to find out the impact of these exemptions on the end consumer and on the country’s economy.
Regarding tax costs, the source said that the database shows that in 2020 alone, the state lost 3.3 billion meticals.
For his part, the secretary-general of the Association of Oil and Product Industries (AIOPA), João Matlombe, said that his organisation is aligned with the government and civil society, among other stakeholders.
He said that one of the industry’s many challenges is increasing production of local raw materials and non-fiscal barriers.
On the other hand, Matlombe proposed the introduction of measures to ban the export of the sector’s raw materials over a ten-year period. ‘AIOPA proposes reducing the rate of smuggled products in the country by improving inspections and implementing a ten-year transaction plan aimed at increasing and absorbing the production of local raw materials.’
The event was attended by representatives of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, oil product processing plants and others.
