By Vandalark R. Patricks
It has been established that the Liberian Senate invited petroleum stakeholders and the LPRC to a conference on Capitol Hill to understand why the LPRC was charging a storage fee of $0.35. The LPRC depends heavily on these fees to make a profit. During that meeting, three committees from the Liberian Senate were established to investigate this matter.
They requested the LPRC to provide a complete itemized list of what made up the storage fee. The rationale behind this was, the storage fee used to be bundled as a single package and it was difficult to determine its components.
On “Spoon Talk” last night, the breakdown of the storage fee was explained by Senator Prince Kermue Moye Sr. of Bong County and LPRC Managing Director, Amos Tweh, as follows:
- Vessel Discharge
- Storage
- Testing and Handling
- Independent Inspector
The cost of all these services amounts to $0.35.
Initially, it was speculated that new taxes had been levied by the LPRC, the Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA), and the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. This was false. There is a significant difference between taxes and fees. The Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA) and other documents list various types of taxes (e.g., income tax, goods and services tax, excise tax) separately from fees, such as the charges and storage fees collected by the LPRC.
What the LPRC mentioned last night on “Spoon Talk” clarified their statutory responsibility to levy a storage fee. What was shocking is that vessel discharge, independent inspection, and testing fees were initially included in the storage fee, which went directly into the pockets of importers like China Union, Bea Mountain, Shrimex, and Connex.
According to the LPRC, these services were not provided by the importers but by the LPRC itself. This narrative from the LPRC Managing Director calls for more reflection. The LPRC is effectively saying, “No more monkey work, and bamboo draws,” and will immediately begin collecting fees for the services it provides, including testing, vessel discharge, and independent inspection.
I would have expected a strong rebuttal last night, as this was the crux of the entire discussion on “Spoon Talk,” but there was none. This made me understand that something was wrong in the past.
The LPRC identified that the importers mentioned above were collecting certain fees that were part of the storage fee, but those importers did not perform any of those services. So, will the LPRC demand full restitution from those importers for collecting fees for services they were not providing?
On the other hand, the importers are arguing that the LPRC has no right to make such a decision because it is illegal and could cripple their business operations. This is an interesting point. But will the importers also file a lawsuit against the LPRC to compel the agency to rescind this decision? This would lay the entire debate to rest.
I also read some Facebook posts where some senators are arguing that the LPRC does not have the right to levy taxes. As it stands, this is not a form of levying taxes but of levying fees, which is legal. There is a difference between taxes and fees.
Moreover, the LPRC mentioned a few months ago that it had removed Medtech from its operations, which significantly contributed to a price reduction in the petroleum industry.
Medtech was receiving $2.00 on every metric ton of petroleum products brought into the country without providing any services. This unilateral service charge went on for six years dating back to 2018 and Medtech collected millions of dollars that it did not report to government coffers.
LPRC argued that the $2.00 fee collected by Medtech contributed to an increase in the petroleum price. Therefore, keeping it in its operations just to continue collecting the same fees was useless.
As a consequence, the LPRC removed Medtech from its operations due to this criminal act. My question is, why has the LPRC not proceeded with an indictment to prosecute Medtech for defrauding the Liberian government?
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