The Association of Master Bakers and Caterers of Nigeria is set to withdraw its services nationwide from February 27, if the Federal government fails to implement the agreement it entered into with the association in 2020.
It demands the immediate implementation of financial support palliatives for bakers as promised by the Federal Government as post COVID-19 support programmes for Small and Medium Enterprises for bakers who have lost over 40 per cent of their membership.
The Association is dissatisfied with the various forms of taxation on the bakery industry and wants them suspended for now at the federal, state and local government levels.
A statement from the National President of AMBCON, Alhaji Mansur Umar was read on his behalf by the Kogi State Chairman of the association, Chief Gabriel Adeniyi, on Tuesday
It explained that the Association’s decision to withdraw its services was due to the “multifarious increase in the prices of baking materials such as flour, sugar, yeast, vegetable oil, petrol, diesel due to subsidy removal and forex deregulation.
The statement read
“The Association of Master Bakers and Caterers of Nigeria having critically accessed the state of our business operations, consequently demand the liberalisation of flour and sugar importation, reduction or total removal of import duties on major baking materials such as flour, sugar, butter, yeast etc as applicable to other commodities as have recently been done by the federal government and Provision of concessionary forex exchange to flour millers and other stakeholders as well as reduction of tariff on iimported wheat and sugar.”
Other demands outlined by the association include the development of cultivation and processing of wheat and sugar cane in Nigeria, and the removal of multiple taxations at all government levels
The association also called for the setting up of a price control and monitoring committee as allowed by the constitution as amended and other conditions that will enhance the ease of doing business in the country
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