Participants from 26 African countries are in Kampala for a four-day Regional Training on Analytical Methods for Veterinary Drugs and Pesticides in Animal Products.

The training is sponsored by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in collaboration with the Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) and the Ministry of Agriculture Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF).

Speaking at the opening session of the training, UNBS Acting Executive Director, David Livingstone Ebiru said: “The purpose of the training was to enhance the capabilities of participants in testing of Agro chemicals, particularly veterinary drugs and related pesticides in products such as beef, milk, fish, honey and animal feeds which have huge export potential for the Uganda.”

Participants who started gathering yesterday are drawn from Algeria, Benin, Botswana, Burundi, Cameroon, Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi and Mauritius. Others are from, Mauritania, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Senegal, Sudan, Seychelles, Tunisia, Zambia, United Republic of Tanzania and hosts Uganda.

Veterinary drugs, pesticides, growth hormones and related chemicals used in agricultural production are a major public health challenge in terms of contamination and presence of chemical residues in human food.

“Therefore, enhancing the testing capacity of participants was an important step in ensuring that industries meet food safety requirements for consumer protection and but also to be able to access international markets,” Mr. Ebiru added.

UNBS recently received the state-of-the-art Analytical Equipment (Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry – LCMS/MS) from International Atomic Energy Agency to enhance its capacity to undertake analysis of veterinary drugs and pesticide residues in animal products.

“The LCMS/MS has enabled UNBS to build its capacity to carry out screening and quantitative analysis of pesticide residues, antibiotics, and other organic contaminants in various food stuffs including food of animal origin”, Ebiru said.

“At UNBS, we are committed to working with partners to protect the health and safety of consumers but also support Ugandan Exporters to access international markets and earn foreign exchange for the country. This training will therefore enable our staff and partners to acquire the necessary skills to carry out the required analysis of agrochemical to ensure that the food consumed and exported is safe,” Mr. Ebiru said.

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Punters (clients) in Ntinda over the weekend lauded Fortebet for ‘giving back’ to them, something they said had never happened in the betting industry in Uganda.

Like it has done before, even last weekend Fortebet reached out to Ntinda punters and gave them a number of gifts that included branded European team jerseys, Fortebet T-shirts, caps and wristbands.

The highly emotional gifts’ handover was done inside the branch on Saturday by Fortebet media manager, John Nanyumba, shortly before most of the weekend games started.

A record 60 punters walked home with any of the above gifts, with Abas.K, one of the gifts’ winners saying: “I knew you were going to come here because I read it from your Facebook page. However, I didn’t expect to win a T-shirt because I thought there are so many procedures of getting it or a competition. I am extremely happy because this gift has compensated the 10 million that I lost yesterday just because of one team that was beaten at home. But next time I know I will win, like I have done before.”

Another punter (Justus M) who took a jersey said:“I have been using Fortebet at my betting company. But now that it has even given me a gift, I will never ever stop betting with you (Fortebet)”

“Today, we have just done what we always do-appreciating our good customers. Once we promise that we shall visit a given branch, we do it,” said Nanyumba just after the handover. He added that Fortebet will, this weekend, give out gifts to it Mbale town customers.

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Uganda’s tax system has undergone various administrative and legal reforms geared towards raising more revenue, making tax payment as simple and less costly for investors, the Commissioner General of the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA), Doris Akol has said.

In an article titled ‘Uganda business and investment tax system in a nutshell’ and published in the April edition of Into Africa, a publication with fresh insight into Africa’s emerging markets, the URA boss says the reforms have ensured the tax body is buoyant.

“On the administrative side, for example, these reforms include the restructuring of the URA in 2004 to reflect functional ideals, automating some internal and external services, developing human capacity and re-engineering business processes among others,” Ms. Akol says.

All these, she says, have simplified the ease of paying taxes in Uganda compared her neighbors. “For example, Uganda ranked 84 in the world in terms of ease of paying taxes while Kenya ranked 92 and Tanzania 154,” she writes in the magazine where other African tax experts share updates on tax administration in selected countries in Africa.

On the legal frame work, a number of tax incentives are granted in the tax laws that are targeted towards supporting businesses to grow, she says.

She says investors in free trade zones in Uganda  are entitled to a ten-year corporation tax holiday, duty exemption on raw materials, plant and machinery and other inputs; stamp duty exemption, duty drawback to apply on import of goods from domestic tariff area.

Akol says there is no export tax on goods exported as well as exemption of withholding tax on interest on external loans and dividends repatriated, which says helps investors to get relief from double taxation.

On the other hand, she says, mining operations are granted a 100 percent deduction for any expenditure of a capital nature incurred in the exploration of, discovery, testing or gaining access to mineral deposits in Uganda.

“A 50 percent initial allowance is available in respect of plant and machinery, which is increased to 75 percent if such assets are outside the areas of Kampala, Entebbe, Namanve, Jinja and Njeru. 20 percent of the cost of a new industrial building or expansion to an existing industrial building is available as an allowance during the year of income the building is brought into use for the first time,” she says.

On paying taxes, she says, at first glance, taxes are seen as a threat to business growth and that a number of studies have concluded that taxes reduce financial performance of businesses as they are a cost and hence reduce corporate profits.

However, she notes: “It’s also true that business won’t survive if taxes are not levied.” For example, a business to prosper it needs better infrastructure such as paved roads, electricity, and security among others provided by the government as public goods.

“Since no business man/ woman can avoid using such public services we all have to contribute to them through paying taxes. Yes, paying taxes is painful and many of us hate it but we can’t opt out of it-let us all face it,” Ms. Akol emphasises.

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