The GRA is batting out of its crease

Dec 21, 2024 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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Peeping Tom… 

Kaieteur News- The Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) has once again demonstrated a perplexing propensity to stray beyond its statutory remit. It is once again wielding powers it does not have, and fashioning itself as a regulatory authority in areas not of its own.

This time, the GRA is requiring, as of January 1st next year, inspection certificates from the places of origin for reconditioned vehicles imported into the country. Ostensibly, this new rule aims to address a proliferation of complaints concerning imported reconditioned vehicles—ranging from altered mileage readings to defective engines and substandard parts. But nowhere has the GRA clarified the legal basis for this demand. By what authority does the agency believe it can act as a gatekeeper of vehicle standards when its primary mandate is to collect taxes?

The recent courtroom humiliation suffered by the GRA—a defeat at the hands of a remigrant who successfully argued that the agency lacked legal authority to demand the source of funding for a vehicle—should have served as a cautionary tale.

It was a sobering reminder of the dangers of administrative overreach. Yet, undeterred by its public scolding, the GRA has chosen to wander even further afield, venturing into territory that, by all appearances, belongs to the Bureau of Standards. If the courts have already made it clear that the GRA is not at liberty to invent powers as it goes along, why does the agency persist in this bureaucratic adventurism?

The issue here is not merely one of legal overreach but also one of principle and practicality. The GRA is a tax-collecting agency. Its raison d’être is the collection of revenue to fund the machinery of the state. It is not—and was never intended to be—a regulatory body tasked with setting or enforcing standards for consumer goods, much less for imported vehicles. That responsibility resides squarely with the Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS) and other relevant authorities. The GRA’s decision to impose an inspection certificate requirement appears to have neither the legal scaffolding nor the institutional competence to support it.

Even if one were to accept, for argument’s sake, that there are genuine consumer protection concerns regarding imported reconditioned vehicles, the proposed solution is rife with flaws and raises more questions than it answers. Chief among these is the issue of enforceability. How exactly does the GRA propose to verify the authenticity and reliability of these inspection certificates? An exporter in Japan for instance, could easily produce a favourable certification, regardless of the vehicle’s actual condition. After all, the economic incentives to do so are glaringly obvious.

More troubling, however, is the question of cui bono—who truly stands to gain from this measure? The introduction of such a requirement bears all the hallmarks of a trade-restrictive policy. By creating additional hurdles for the importation of reconditioned vehicles, the GRA may inadvertently tip the scales in favour of new-car dealers, who have long sought to curtail competition from the reconditioned vehicle market.

One cannot help but wonder whether this latest foray into standard-setting is part of a broader pattern of institutional overreach. The GRA’s insistence on inserting itself into areas beyond its mandate risks creating more problems than it solves. If the agency’s leadership is so cavalier about its legal boundaries, how can taxpayers be confident that it will exercise its existing powers—which are considerable—with integrity and restraint?

The GRA’s overreach threatens to set a dangerous precedent. If a tax-collecting agency can unilaterally impose standards on vehicle imports, what’s to stop it from extending its tentacles into other areas of commerce? Will it next demand inspection certificates for imported electronics, furniture, or textiles? The slippery slope is all too apparent, and the potential for abuse is immense.

Agencies and institutions must operate within the confines of their mandates, lest they encroach upon the roles and responsibilities of others. The Bureau of Standards is the entity legally empowered to set and enforce product standards.

The GRA therefore, must reconsider its position and abandon this ill-advised inspection certificate requirement. If there are genuine concerns about the quality of imported reconditioned vehicles, these should be addressed through the appropriate channels—namely, the Bureau of Standards and other relevant agencies. The GRA must resist the temptation to expand its mandate beyond its legal boundaries, no matter how well-intentioned its actions may appear.

One can only hope that the courts will continue to act as a check on the GRA’s overreach. The judiciary has already signalled its willingness to hold the agency accountable, as evidenced by its recent ruling against the GRA’s unauthorized demands on re-migrants.

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of this newspaper.)

(The GRA is batting out of its crease)

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• Bureau of Standards, gatekeeper of vehicle, Guyana Revenue Authority, Peeping Tom, vehicle imports

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