Liberian President, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf announced that as of 4 January 2012, tariffs on cement were being suspended with immediate effect.
The tariff had previously been set at US$2/50 kg bagged cement and imposed under the Revenue code of Liberia. The president specified that it was in the interests of the country’s reconstruction and development to re-institute the tariff suspension.
It is hoped that the measure will encourage the establishment of local industries to supply and manufacture goods and in turn bring these within the reach of the general public. The Government has already granted certain incentives to such local companies for the production of cement, including CEMENCO, currently the country’s only cement manufacturer.
The expiry of a previous executive order that had performed the same function (Order No. 31) is noted in this new order (Order No. 46), alongside the fact that there remains the need to encourage local industries to supply cement to the general public at reasonable prices. The government has also acknowledged the need to protect the country’s consumers from the rising cost of cement on the global market. If the domestic market were left exposed to such price increases, they would have a detrimental effect on the country’s reconstruction efforts.
Edited from various sources by Jack Davidson.