Drugs and citrus fruit struck off list of socially important goods

The Government Thursday removed the medications and citrus fruit from the list of socially important goods the profit margin on which is regulated, Info-Prim Noe reports. “The sale of drugs is now regulated by the new mechanism adopted by the Government, by registering the prices of the producer. As regards the citrus fruit, according to signals from businesses, the application of the limited profit margin does not allow recovering the costs, including those related to transport, which are very high, and the importing companies sustain losses,” Deputy Minister of Economy Octavin Calmac said after the Government’s meeting. In a news conference at Info-Prim Neo earlier this week, a number of importers criticized the Government’s decision to impose a profit margin of at most 20% on the sale of citrus fruit. The entrepreneurs said the importation-related costs amount to about 16% of this margin, while the remaining 4% is used to pay salaries and taxes so that no profit is made. “The regulated profit margin is not justified in the case of citrus fruit. We consider that this regulation will favor smuggling and will make the economic entities hide a part of the imported goods,” Olesi Grincu, the jurist of an importing company, said in the news conference.