Textile importers petition Kadaga over import duty imposed on raw materials

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Textile Manufactures and Traders Association have petitioned the Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga seeking a review of import duty tax imposed on textile materials.

The traders many of whom import the materials and design the outfits for sale locally say that the import duty that took effect on July 1, 2020, has greatly affected them. They are charged USD 5 (18,000 Shillings) per kilogram of textile which according to them is too expensive.

Bridget Mwagale, a member of the Association says that where they used to spend 45 to 50 million Shillings for 20 feet containers and between 70 and 80 million Shillings for 40 feet containers, now they spend over 400 and 900 million Shillings for 20 and  40 feet containers respectively.

She says that this does not make business sense and would kill the buy Uganda and build Uganda mentality. Mwagale says government should reconsider this decision of the tax so that many jobless youths don’t get kicked out of business.

Fahad Sembajja, the chairperson of the Association says that Uganda only has cotton available but other textiles like silk siphon, polyester among others are not manufactured in the country.

The team presented before the Speaker the materials and final products and also handed her two dresses made locally in Uganda with imported textile. Kadaga told the team that she will talk to the Finance Ministry to see if the taxes can be reviewed.

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