Exec: Govt introducing new fees

The National Business

PAPUA New Guinea must brace for increases in non-tax (non-Internal Revenue Commission and Customs) fees and charges by government departments and agencies next year, an official says.
Farmers and Settlers Association president Wilson Thompson said the various fees related to agriculture, food processing, rural business and exports would affect costs of production and prices paid to growers.
The fees and charges expected in 2022 include:

  • CLIMATE Change Office: airport departure tax, fertiliser levy, fossil fuel levy (all fuels);
  • CONSERVATION and Environment Protection Authority: water permit fee, environment permit fee;
  • DEPARTMENT of Labour and Industrial Relations: fire safety fees, factory and warehouse licensing fee, inflammable and safety equipment fee;
  • TRANSPORT: driver licence fee from K60 for five years to K70 per year, PNG Ports charges, Motukea and Lae fees, NAC departure fees, airport fuel surcharge, motor vehicle registration;
  • POLICE: Police check and accident and traffic reports; and,
  • DEPARTMENT of Agriculture and Livestock: cocoa tonnage levy, coffee licence fee, National Agriculture Quarantine and Inspection Authority charges.

The Farmers and Settlers Association members and affiliates cover the biggest producers, processors and exporters of coffee, cocoa, rubber, copra, poultry and livestock and food processing and farm supplies companies in PNG.
Wilson said the association had written a letter to the Minister for Finance and Rural Development on May 21 expressing their concerns and copied it to the ministers and secretaries for Treasury, Agriculture and Livestock, and National Executive Council and the Independent Consumer and Competition Commission.
He said the Department of Finance could advise on the legal requirements and approval for charging of non-tax charges and fees while the Department of Rural Development could look at the policy aspects of these fees including its impact on agriculture and processing and related businesses.