Business complains for reference

14/09/2011 15:00

Businesses complain that the Albanian Customs are using the reference
prices massively, by increasing the cost of products that are bought
from foreign countries.

The American Chamber asked the General Customs Directory to stop references for goods imported from developed countries.

The Customs pretends that the fees with the reference prices have reduced and are being used even less.

“Currently, this method is being implemented at a level of 15%, and we are planning to go at 13%, since it is constantly decreasing”, says Flamur Gjyrmishka, General Customs Director.

But some businesses have rejected this pretense. They say that most of Albanian Customs are not based on the bills that accompany the goods, but are using the references abusively.

“90% of the cigarettes that enter Albania come from EU. In 90% of these cigarettes is applied the reference price, if not for 100% of the cases”, says Andi Nano, from “Japan Tobacco International”.

The reference prices have frequently been a source of trouble between business and Customs administration.

“We witnessed an offer made to us by the general directors for removing the reference prices. After one year, we were told that the reference price is the pillar of the Customs system. It was a shock! We don’t know what the trend is”, declared Genc Boga, from the American Chamber of Commerce.

In some cases, the reference prices have turned into a source of commercial conflicts. Some times ago, Kosovo accused Albania of protectionism through some reference prices with some food items.

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