NewsWhore
08-01-2006, 03:10 PM
Because of DR-CAFTA commitments, the Dominican government has stopped applying the 13% exchange surcharge and the consular invoice tariffs since 1 July. However, it appears that the Customs Department did not consider a reduction in their revenues and has had to find a way of keeping their revenues at their former levels. According to a report in El Caribe, productive sectors are complaining that Customs has increased the valuation of imported items. Customs Director Miguel Cocco said that this is an attribute of his department, and alleged that the items were undervalued and what he is doing now is applying the real values.
Ignacio Mendez, president of the Federation of Industrial Associations (FAI), Kail Schoenhals, executive vice president of the Dominican Export Association and Ernesto Vilalta, former president of the Association of Industries of Herrera told the newspaper that it is unacceptable to impose the higher valuation, and that Customs is delaying the release of the merchandise to force importers to pay what Customs is asking. In most cases the delay is more costly than for the importer to pay the additional value requested by Customs. Mendez complained that Customs is acting in violation of the World Trade Organization/General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). "They (Customs) assume that we all are trying to evade taxes. We then have to wait for the process of confirming values to take place and be approved for the declared price to be accepted, and meanwhile the containers are in the docks paying late fees," explained Mendez.
Customs had announced price reductions on imported items, due to the reduction in income as a result of the abolition of the consular invoice and exchange surcharge, but the new valuations keep imported base products at the same levels and it is unlikely any savings will be passed on to consumers.
Link To Original Article (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#11)
Ignacio Mendez, president of the Federation of Industrial Associations (FAI), Kail Schoenhals, executive vice president of the Dominican Export Association and Ernesto Vilalta, former president of the Association of Industries of Herrera told the newspaper that it is unacceptable to impose the higher valuation, and that Customs is delaying the release of the merchandise to force importers to pay what Customs is asking. In most cases the delay is more costly than for the importer to pay the additional value requested by Customs. Mendez complained that Customs is acting in violation of the World Trade Organization/General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). "They (Customs) assume that we all are trying to evade taxes. We then have to wait for the process of confirming values to take place and be approved for the declared price to be accepted, and meanwhile the containers are in the docks paying late fees," explained Mendez.
Customs had announced price reductions on imported items, due to the reduction in income as a result of the abolition of the consular invoice and exchange surcharge, but the new valuations keep imported base products at the same levels and it is unlikely any savings will be passed on to consumers.
Link To Original Article (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#11)