Moldovan importers complain about high costs incurred when bring into citrus fruit

The Government’s decision to include the citrus fruit in the list of socially important goods and impose a profit margin of at most 20% on their sale dissatisfies the importers. They say that only 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, Info-Prim Neo reports. In a news conference, the head of the public association “Moldova Mea” Feodor Ghelici said the given Government decision derived from political interests. The Ministry of Economy said the citrus fruit was included in the list of socially important goods on the suggestion of the Ministry of Health, which argued this fruit is very important for the human body owing to the high content of vitamins, mainly C. “After I carried out investigations myself, I determined that it wasn’t an initiative by the Ministry of Health, but by the Ministry of Finance and the Customs Service,” Fiodor Ghelici said. He avoided giving names, saying certain officials favor smuggling. Olesi Grincu, the jurist of an importing company, stated 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,” he said. He also said that in Moldova there are enough locally sourced products that contain vitamin C and other necessary minerals. Representatives of the companies said they will call upon the international organizations to support the importers in the fight against smuggling. The Government’s decision took effect this June.