The manufacturers of soft drinks in Nigeria are aggrieved over the overbearing and unrealistic demands of the Nigeria Customs, and may shut down productions soon.

This is as a result of the N10/litre sugar tax imposed on them for the carbonated drinks by the Customs.

According to the MSMEs, it would cost a manufacturer of soft drinks about N4.8 million yearly to complete the registration process and abide by other mandatory charges imposed by the Nigeria Customs Service.

According to a report by the Punch, an ex-president of the Nigeria Association of Small Scale and Industrialists, Segun Kuti-George, said the federal government was wrong to impose the N10/litre tax on carbonated drinks for manufacturers across the spectrum.

He also noted that Nigeria Customs is saying they will attach a Customs officer to every manufacturer, and that the process has already begun.

Kuti-George said that the manufacturers would also provide transport and feeding costs of N1500 daily for 26 days monthly. He said that manufacturers must sign an N220,000 bond with Nigeria Customs estimated at almost N5 million annually.

As such, some manufacturers have increased the prices of the drinks in order to cope with the demands, while others have already gone out of business.

Kuti-George called for intervention, as more manufacturers are shutting down productions, and soft drinks may go extinct in Nigeria soon.