Monrovia – President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has forwarded a communication to the National Legislature, requesting the body to enact into law a bill on a decision reached by the ECOWAS leaders early this year to adopt the ECOWAS Common External Tariff (CET) law.
In a letter she addressed to the Body, President Sirleaf stated that she was pleased to submit for the enactment of a bill titled “An Act to amend an Act to ratify a decision of December 17/1/06; adopting the ECOWAS Common External Tariff”.
The Act to ratify the decision adopting the communiqué, according to President Sirleaf, provided for the effective implementation of the CET migration plan beginning from January 1, 2018, stressing the need to address the challenges for the implementation of the CET.
The purpose of the bill, the Liberian leader furthered, is to institute measures that will govern the implementation of the ECOWAS CET Migration plan in order to mitigate the revenue and Socioeconomic impact on Liberia and its people.
In conclusion, President Sirleaf emphasized that the instrument when passed into law, will also apply to the Liberian import duty tariff schedule as it existed prior to the adoption of the ECOWAS CET on September 16 from the effective date of this ACT until the implementation date of the revised CET Migration Plan.
Meanwhile, the bill has been forwarded to the House of Representatives’ Committees on Ways, Means and Finance and Judiciary as well as Foreign Affairs.