In order for the state to make a decision on the fate of the confiscated cigarettes in the Free Zone of the Port of Bar, it will have to wait for the opinion of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF), because that is what the European Commission expects and these are the obligations of Montenegro, which aspires to be part of the European Union, the News was told.
They are afraid of the risk of illegal sales, that is, they are obliged to take care of reducing negativity that harms people's health.
OLAF investigates fraud against the EU budget, corruption and develops an anti-fraud policy for the EC. When it comes to the WHO, Montenegro should respect the Protocol for the Elimination of Illegal Trade in Tobacco Products.
The Minister of Finance, in whose department this issue is, Aleksandar Damjanović, he stated that the Draft Law on confiscation of tobacco products from the territory of the Free Customs Zone of the Port of Bar may not even come to a proposal, if it is determined that it is against international standards.
"We prepared the Draft Law, but it was not sent to the Government for adoption because we agreed to carry out additional consultations with international partners, on whether there are international regulations or obligations that would hinder the implementation of the law," Damjanović told "Vijesta".
The working group that prepared the regulation is at the MoF.
The Government's idea was, according to unofficial information, that the bill would be in the parliamentary procedure by the end of July, with the expectation that the deputies would not oppose its adoption. The condition for that was first for the Government to establish it, but that has not yet happened.
Part of the Western diplomats opposed the executive power's plans because of the risk of illegal sales, and the British ambassador Karin Maddox publicly suggested that it was not a good idea. She said the government had shared "good UK practice on what to do with seized goods in a way that complies with international protocols - which is to destroy such goods due to concerns about their quality, health standards and intellectual property rights ".
Maddox has previously spoken about the problems of illegal tobacco smuggling, stating that more than two billion cigarettes are smuggled through the Port of Bar alone every year, which then enter illegal markets throughout Europe. "It is estimated that cigarette smuggling alone costs the economy of the Western Balkans over 300 million euros in lost revenue every year. This is money that could be spent on schools, hospitals or roads, but instead goes into the pockets of criminals,” she said earlier.
The draft law, the contents of which the Government became familiar with on July 22, is a lex specialis - that is, it should be valid only in this case.
The Police Administration and the Customs Administration confiscated over 100.000 packs of cigarettes, worth several tens of millions. If they had been sold on the basis of the law, the budget of Montenegro would have received about 15 million.
Damjanović confirmed that it is a special law, repeating that it prescribes the conditions, as he said, for the removal of tobacco products from the customs area, then the procedure according to the seized quantities and the foreseen fees.
"Possible fixed income would be 15 million euros. "We are now talking with partners about the options for destruction, that is, about what includes technical support for that," said the minister.
The cigarettes were confiscated after the Government Decision from 2011 on the prohibition of tobacco storage in the Port of Bar, which came into force in January of this year, and the owners of the cigarettes were given a deadline to move them out of the port's warehouses.
Those who did not do it on time were left without a million-dollar burden, and some of them announced lawsuits against the state as a result, claiming that it violated the laws, by infringing property rights.
The news confirmed that the draft law stipulates that those from whom tobacco products were confiscated from May 1, 2022 to August 31, 2022, can submit a request to the Revenue and Customs Administration by September 1 of this year, in order to take them back.
The condition for that is that, as it says, they paid a fee for taking over tobacco products, namely 30 cents per pack of cigarettes, 10 euros per kilogram of cut tobacco and 10 ten euros per kilogram of hookah flavoring.
The customs administration then makes a decision, and the "former holder" after receiving a declaration for export.
"The former holder is obliged to take the tobacco products out of the customs area within 48 hours from the submission of the declaration for re-export... The Administration is obliged to, until December 10, 2022, for the tobacco products that it seized in the territory of the Free Zone of Luka Bar, . ..conduct a public sale of those products in accordance with the regulation regulating the sale of goods seized by the customs authority. The administration is obliged to destroy tobacco products that have not been sold in accordance with the previously mentioned provisions by the date of application of this law," the draft law reads.
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