Duty-free licence decision challenged in Ethiopia

Tina Milton

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The Ethiopian Labour Association has challenged the decision by the Ministry of Revenue to grant Country Trading a duty-free licence to operate at Bole International airport

The Ethiopian Tourism, Hotels and General Services Employees Association has contested the decision to grant Country Trading a licence to operate a duty-free store at Bole International airport.

The Association, which was defending the rights of the Ethiopian Tourist Trading Enterprise (ETTE) and its 800 employees, wrote a letter to the Ministry of Revenue (MoR) stating that the only body that has the right to grant duty-free permits in Ethiopia is ETTE.

The MoR denied a request from Country Trading for a licence to open a store in downtown Addis in 2005, but granted permission for the company to operate a shop at Bole. The company was offered 59sq m (634sq ft) of space and is the second private company to receive the privilege after Alfrag, which was given the right four years ago.

Reports indicate that MoR wants to make the duty-free business more competitive and the decision did not present a threat to the job security of employees at ETTE. The MoR confirmed it was preparing an official response to the protest letter from the Federation.