The failure of the devices is the cause of the abundance of smuggled goods in the market/businesses in favor of fighting against the smuggling of goods
According to the economic reporter of Fars news agency, the Supreme Leader emphasized in a recent meeting with producers, entrepreneurs and knowledge-based activists that poverty and livelihood problems cannot be solved without economic growth. But one of the obstacles to realizing the increase in GDP is the ease of production and distribution of smuggling goods in the country; Smuggling as an economic phenomenon not only affects economic growth and employment but also leads to instability in the currency market.
The abundance of smuggled goods in the market can be seen as an important example of non-implementation of the laws in the country, in other words, if the law to combat the smuggling of goods and currency was implemented more seriously in the past years, we would have seen the blockade of the manufacturer in the market of cosmetics, clothing, household appliances, parts We were not spared in the flood of smuggled goods.
The painful point is that some of the countries of origin of smuggled goods to Iran take rude positions against Iran’s national interests, but we still see that they have a significant share of the country’s market through smuggling, and the government fails to protect their interests. ; An example of this issue is noticeable in the home appliance market, which is occupied by smuggled Korean brands.
In this regard, a group of popular and student organizations recently sent a letter to the president demanding legal action against the supply of “LG” and “Samsung” home appliances in the country’s market; In this letter, it is written: In the past days, the president of South Korea spread hatred against our dear country in some brazen statements. It is necessary to remember that during the arrangements and measures that were taken before, it was decided to ban the entry of any Korean household appliances of Samsung and LG brands into the country, but unfortunately, looking at the level of supply, we still see the abundance of these products in the market.
In the final part of this letter, it is stated: In view of the mentioned cases, Your Excellency is requested to order the relevant agencies to deal with any supply of household appliances with the mentioned trademarks as soon as possible, while acting in accordance with the law and compensating for the past negligence. South Korea should receive a practical response to this arrogance and their interests should be cut off from our country’s market
On the other hand, the lack of attention to the fight against the smuggling of goods and currency, in addition to the significant volume of incoming smuggling, has caused us to witness reverse smuggling of fuel, medicine, livestock, meat and flour from Iran to other countries.
But regardless of this issue and in a general review, it should be seen what factors have caused the escalation of smuggling and why the government has been less successful in dealing with this phenomenon in the last few years?
* Dealing with smuggling requires border control and dealing at the supply level
In this regard, Armin Saeedi, the deputy head of the National Center for Combating Economic Corruption, discussed with Fars the impact of border control and dealing with the supply of smuggled goods and said: the important issue in the fight against smuggling is that smuggled goods after entering The official introduction to the country goes through different stages and in this way, it creates different issues that make dealing with this phenomenon more difficult and complicated than other issues.
He continued: One of these issues is the distribution of goods after leaving the country, and the so-called escape of smuggled goods from accessible areas, and as a result, it becomes more difficult to follow up and confiscate these goods, when several containers are divided between several trucks and passengers. And if it is sent to several destinations and exchanged between several people, it becomes much more difficult to deal with it than to prevent the goods from entering the country.
According to Saidi, if smuggled goods are controlled and dealt with at the points of entry and prevent them from entering the supply level, it will make dealing with this phenomenon effective.
He added: Another point is the increase of hands and the distribution of benefits between people. If we were faced with a smuggler at the point of entry of smuggling; After its distribution, we are faced with a large number of people who are now earning income and profit with this product – through transportation or supply. Dealing with this high number of stakeholders is equivalent to the involvement of regulatory bodies with more people.
The deputy of the National Headquarters for Combating Economic Corruption emphasized: For this reason, the previous fight against the phenomenon of smuggling should be given more attention; It should be noted that in border control, the detailed investigation of official sources is more important because according to the statistics in the investigation report on the smuggling of goods and currency, 95% of the volume of smuggled goods enters the country through these sources, which are established and Completing the systems of combating goods and currency smuggling, creating transparency and removing golden signatures, the entry of smuggled goods from these sources can be minimized.
* Weakness in the import process is a factor for smuggling goods
In another part of his statement, Saeedi pointed out the reasons for the easy passage of smuggled goods across the borders and stated: the import of goods, the process of clearance and finally its supply in our country is based on multiple and complex steps, which at first glance despite this situation makes the entry of contraband goods difficult; But the point is that this very complexity and weakness of the import process itself causes the formation of smuggling.
He continued: According to the same process, an importer has to go through various steps that are often based on paper documents and approval of relevant responsible persons; This paperwork and the role of the human factor increase the error rate and the possibility of falsifying documents and as a result of smuggling, although sometimes the long processes also cause importers to choose the illegal route which is faster.
According to the deputy of the National Headquarters for Combating Economic Corruption, due to the weakness in the control of the entry points and the lack of setting up smart systems, smuggled goods are easily introduced into the market.
* The difference in smuggling statistics is due to the amount of imported goods from official sources
Stating that the huge difference in smuggling statistics is due to the amount of goods passing through official sources, Saeedi announced: According to the report of the anti-trafficking headquarters, the volume of goods and currency smuggling is 12 billion dollars, and according to the opinion of regulatory bodies such as the parliament, it is 20 to 25 billion dollars. dollar, has been estimated, also the passive role of customs, which is also referred to as the country’s gatekeeper, is mentioned in the parliamentary investigation report.
He clarified: Among the other factors in the spread of smuggling from official sources, we can point out the failure to set up smart systems, the lack of necessary transparency, the expansion of free zones and the weakness of the headquarters to fight against the smuggling of goods and currency, all these factors and other issues lead to the expansion of networks and groups. Corruption has become official in the country.
* Device failure is one of the causes of non-compliance at the supply level
According to the deputy of the National Headquarters for Combating Economic Corruption, the reason for the abundance of smuggled goods in shops and large-scale sales in cyberspace is the failure of some devices; In the Law on Combating Goods and Currency Smuggling, the issue of evasion has also been addressed, and the regulatory and judicial authorities have been given permission to deal with any type of illegal evasion, and the regulatory and judicial authorities should make maximum use of this law.
Saidi clarified: In order to deal with the supply level, trades related to the issue, inspection departments in the ministries related to contraband goods, as well as the police force, are responsible for tracking, identifying and confiscating contraband goods.
He emphasized: Incidentally, one of the reasons for observing smuggled goods in the market is the lack of appropriate, deterring and continuous dealings with violators.
* Businesses are in favor of fighting against smuggling
In response to a Fars reporter regarding the possibility of non-cooperation of the businessmen regarding the supply of smuggled goods, the Deputy of the National Headquarters for Combating Economic Corruption said: As we saw in the case of the mobile registry, most of the businessmen are honorable people who accompany transparency and a healthy economy. While the stakeholders in the smuggling of mobile phones were constantly making noise and creating obstacles in the way of law enforcement, this issue did not disrupt the market, which is a sign of people’s lack of understanding of the smuggling phenomenon.
He continued: Also, most businesses agree with the category of fighting smuggling because the presence of smuggling in the market creates an unequal competition for suppliers of smuggled goods due to non-payment of taxes and duties and no need for a guarantee.
Saeedi considered culture-building in the field of harm and explaining the unhealthy cycle of smuggling as another step in dealing with smuggled goods sellers and said: By carrying out culture-building, the seller can be justified about the damage caused to himself and the society; Of course, in the next step, the conditions can be changed by punishing the discovery of smuggled goods.
* Conflict of interests caused the product ID and tracking code to fail
In another part of his statement, the deputy of the National Headquarters for Combating Economic Corruption pointed to the lack of completion of the anti-trafficking systems and announced: the product identifier and the tracking code are like a rosary in the process of combating the smuggling of goods and currency, which after its implementation can be It easily identified the authenticity, location of the goods, characteristics of the goods and the quantity of the goods (for consumption policy).
He added: “Unfortunately, officials who do not perform their legal duties due to lack of expertise or conflict of interest do not face judicial and regulatory action.” If according to Law 576 of the Islamic Penal Code and the Law of Public Law, legal action should be taken against officials who do not fulfill their duties.
Saeedi clarified: In this context, the National Center for Combating Economic Corruption will follow up this issue with the cooperation of the media, popular and student movements, so that the identification of the product and the tracking code will come to a conclusion.
The Deputy of the National Headquarters for Combating Economic Corruption said: In the fight against economic corruption, a systematic and preventive fight should be a priority, so that instead of fighting the corrupt, the fight against corruption, that is, before the formation of corruption, this phenomenon should be identified and dealt with.
He continued: The National Center for Combating Economic Corruption during its several years of specialized activity with the cooperation of intellectuals, popular and student movements and the media has made preventive struggle its main priority and by studying and counting the bottlenecks of the formation of corruption in the country to demand It works towards their correction.
Saidi added: The National Center for Combating Economic Corruption is ready to present specialized issues to the country’s officials in expert meetings on the issue of combating the phenomenon of goods and currency smuggling.
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