Moldova between January 1 and March 15, 2018 exported over 4,000 tonnes of walnut kernel to the value of over 520 million lei, up 26% compared with the corresponding period last year. Over 90 tonnes of walnut kernel were seized as corpus delicti within criminal cases. The data were presented by the Customs Service’s vice director Grigore Ionitsov in the Government Hour within the March 16 sitting of Parliament after Socialist MP Oleg Lipskii put a question about the blocking of the export of walnut kernel, IPN reports.
The Socialite MP said the representatives of nine companies that export walnut kernel signed a petition whereby they signal problems in the export process.
According to customs statistics, 20-25 companies export walnut kernel at present. Grigore Ionitsov said none of these companies had their activity blocked. Only a particular transaction was refused following the identification of irregularities. The companies that were refused a transaction in the immediate period applied again for the preferential certificate of origin for the export of goods. All the companies that obey the national legislation and international norms abided by Moldova face no export restrictions.
According to Ionitsov, the Customs Service in 2016-2018 received a number of applications from the customs authorities of France, Italy, Austria, the UK, Turkey and Belgium whereby these ask to subsequently check the preferential certificate of origin issued by the customs for the export of walnut kernel. Multiple risks were identified during additional examinations of the justificatory documents based on which the certificates are issued.
Among the risks was the indication of dead persons or persons who were abroad when the purchase documents were made and of minors or other persons as participants in sale-purchase transactions. Following the verification of the legality of documents, most of the risks were confirmed, namely that the goods were exported with the fraudulent use of customs documents.
During 2016-2018, the Customs Service documented cases of smuggling of walnut kernel from Ukraine, where this is cheaper, to Moldova through the green sector or the Transnistrians segment. The goods were to reach the EU market as Moldovan products.
