Importers can notify the customs body in writing in any customs contraventions existed before the initiation of subsequent inspections and thus avoid potential sanctions. This measure is included in a series of legislative amendments promoted by the customs authority.
Adrian Morărescu, head of the Legal Control and Enforcement Directorate within the Customs Service, specified for IPN that the subsequent controls can be carried out in two ways: by a re-verification of customs declarations or by a post-customs audit.
According to Adrian Morărescu, the re-verification of customs declarations can also be done within a longer period of time, after the customs declaration has been submitted. It is an internal process that could be performed without the economic agent's participation. "If the economic agent notifies the customs body that there were customs contraventions prior to the re-verification and pays the related taxes that were omitted at the customs check, he will no longer be held responsible for the infringements," Adrian Morărescu said.
According to him, the subsequent inspections are carried out randomly and have the role of preventing the corruption acts, which could exist through the mutual understanding between the economic agent and the employee in charge of customs clearance.
The post-customs audit is another part of the subsequent inspection, which, among other things, implies the verification of products brought into the Republic of Moldova by economic agents and which cannot be sold for a period of time. “If an economic operator bought some equipment for its own use, the post-customs audit is designed to make sure that equipment is not sold before the period stipulated by law. The purchase of such equipment in somebody’s own interest is done with certain fiscal facilities”, Adrian Morărescu stated.
The Customs Service official also mentioned that the purpose of these legislative changes is to support economic operators involved in foreign trade and to avoid corruption acts among customs employees.
