KOTA KINABALU – A planned strike by exporters to halt seafood shipments may end after the Sabah government said it is likely to postpone its sales tax on fishery exports.
The latest development comes as a scheduled meeting between The Vibes and a group of exporters today was called off due to the update.
The meeting was supposed to gather feedback from exporters regarding their dissatisfaction over the State Sales Tax imposed on fishery commodities exports from Sabah, at the rate of 5% on fish, and 10% on crabs and lobsters (per kg) from May 1.
On Monday, The Vibes reported that fishery operators in Sabah have started a “mogok lautan” strike to stop all export activities in protest over the tax.
Borneopost had reported on Tuesday that state Agriculture and Food Industry Minister Datuk Seri Jeffrey Kitingan may postpone the tax.
Kitingan was quoted as saying: “We will implement it when the time comes, once business is okay.
“The law has been there, sitting and doing nothing. When we export, we expect to collect something, but at the moment we do not expect much export.”
However, Kitingan said although his ministry is involved, taxation falls under the Finance Ministry.
At present, however, the state government has yet to issue an official announcement on the matter.
In an earlier interview, an exporter in Sandakan told The Vibes that due to the strike, daily seafood exports from Sabah had dropped from about 80 tonnes to only about two tonnes on Tuesday.
He said that exporters have been earning a very slim profit and that exports to West Malaysia have been difficult due to seafood from Thailand and Indonesia being cheaper, making Sabah exporters unable to raise the price to cover the cost of the tax.
The tax is also said to have affected fishermen, as exporters have either stopped buying from them, or are buying their products at a much lower price.
Several opposition leaders and fishery associations have been urging the government to abolish the tax, including former Sabah agriculture and food industry minister Datuk Junz Wong from Warisan, Sandakan MP Vivian Wong, and Elopura assemblyman Calvin Chong. – The Vibes, August 5, 2021
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