Customs Service to administer import quotas on sugar

The Customs Service will be empowered to administer the import quotas on sugar and sugar products instead of the Licensing Chamber, Info-Prim Neo reports, quoting a Government Decision. ”If the Customs Service, which is responsible for monitoring the flow of the imported and exported goods, performs this task, the procedure for issuing the documents needed for the import of sugar will be simplified. This simplification will be welcome as the EU recommended removing trade barriers,” said Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Valeriu Lazar. The right to import sugar and sugar products into Moldova is given only to the national producers and industrial sugar consumers. The preferential quotas were set in October 2009 at 6 500 tonnes of white sugar, 5 500 tonnes of which produced in the EU, and 1 840 tonnes of other kinds of sugar and sugar syrups, including 640 tonnes from the EU. The customs duties on the import of the set quotas will be 10%, while outside the quotas - 75%. The principle of issuing authorizations by the Customs Service remained the same – first come, first served. An authorization allows importing at most 10% of the set quotas.