By Evance Chisiano

Blantyre, May 10, Mana:  Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA) has introduced excise tax stamps on different products.

The products are blended Kalondola on bottled water, beverages, beer, spirits, body skin lotions to ensure excise tax compliance among domestic manufacturers whose products will be easily tracked and traced right from the production line to the market using various verifying means for authenticity.

MRA disclosed this on Friday during Media briefing in Blantyre where the revenue mobilization agency said the excise tax stamps regime was in line with Section 77 c of Customs and Excise Act.

Making a presentation, Kalondola Project manager, Steve Kuntembwe defined the excise tax stamps as physical form of a sticker or digital seal on a product to indicate payment of excise tax.

“We are marking our products in Malawi for easy track and trace. This will help to track counterfeit food products on the market,” he said, adding that this system came to promote local manufacturers that suffer a blow from an influx of illicit, smuggled and unbranded products that have flooded the market,” he said.

MRA Deputy Commissioner General, Henry Ngutwa said the revenue authority was not introducing a new tax other than rolling out what was already there.

“Excise tax stamps was already on the locally manufactured cigarettes. We are just rolling out excise tax stamps to other products that are excisable apart from cigarettes,” he added.

Ngutwa said the introduction of excise tax stamps was done in good faith for the good of local manufacturers, consumers and the national economy.

“We are protecting Malawians from consuming bad products and at the same time promoting local manufacturing companies against influx of fake products,” he added.

The Deputy Commissioner General said Malawi relies on revenue mobilization by the MRA such that implementation of excise tax stamps was the way to go, adding that the public has the role to playing in the implementation of Kalondola whose moto is; Stamp It, Stand Out.

“We are moving with time in mobilizing revenue,”he said, adding that the MRA would raise public awareness on the introduction of Kalondola so that the public should participate in making the initiative a success by reporting non-compliance and by using 365 App on smart phones to verify authenticity of products.