BIVAC To Face Lawmakers

The House of Representatives as part of its oversight function has ordered the Bureau Veritas, Inspection, Valuation, Assessment and Control (BIVAC) under contempt charge to respond to issues raised the committee on commerce and industry.

The contempt charge comes as a result of the management of the international company reported failure to appear before the committee on commerce and industry on May 28, 2018
as communicated to them by the Chief Clerk of the House of
Representatives, the action which the plenary considered as
‘contemptuous.’
The House of Representatives mandated its secretary to officially communicate with BIVAC inviting them to appear before the full plenary of the House of Representatives on Tuesday June 19, 2018 to provide justifications on the issues raised by the committee.
It can be recalled that on May 24, 2018, the committee on commerce complained BIVAC to the plenary of the House of Representatives raising issues about their operation in Liberia.
The committee on commerce said after their investigation and hearing from stakeholders, importers, they established that BIVAC International has employed unnecessary bureaucratic bottlenecks causing importers to experience hard times whilst importing goods into Liberia.
Nimba County District five Representative who is chairing the House’s Committee on commerce said BIVAC has understated it profits over the years and it was important for them to appear before the House to determine what has been government fair share from 1999 to present as it relates to such a taxation arrangement.
“Many of the people we interacted with during our investigation complained of the manner and forms BIVAC has been handling the issues of fees and charges in our commerce especially the high level at which charges are levied thus resulting to the hike in prices,” Representative Samuel Kogar said.
As part of the mandate from the plenary of the House of
Representatives, they requested that the government of Liberia places moratorium on the operations of BIVAC International until the right things is put into place.