In a statement, Deputy Chairman of the Committee Chrysis Pantelidis said that they discussed in principle the draft bill to amend the Customs Code Law with the ultimate aim of harmonizing it with EU Regulation 952 of 2013 and increasing the penalties for violations of customs legislation.
He said that prima facie the Commission considers the increase in such penalties to be positive, with which business operators agree, as they believe that this increase will help to combat the illegalities that are unfortunately observed in the movement of goods from the occupied to the free territories, in violation of the Green Line Regulation, causing unfair competition to the detriment of businesses legally operating in the free territories.
"The strict and faithful implementation of the Green Line Regulation is the responsibility of the state and the government must ensure this," he added.
In response to a question, Mr. Pantelides said that the level of penalties has not yet been discussed, adding however that the Customs Department believes that the penalties will be such that they will be a deterrent for such violations.
In relation to the point about the Green Line regulations, he said that it was not a point made by Customs but by members of the Commission as they feel that this is where the biggest problem exists at the moment.
Pantelides then referred to the debate on the principle of indirect support amendment bills as well as tax and procedural relief to businesses for issues that had arisen due to the coronavirus and restrictive measures imposed in 2020 and 2021.
The Deputy Chairman said that the budgets of two semi-governmental organisations, the Cyprus Petroleum Stocks Management Organisation and the Game and Wildlife Management Fund, were also discussed.
Mr. Pantelides noted the huge delay in the late submission of the budgets of the semi-governmental organizations, and reiterated that the Parliament is not responsible for any problems that may arise from this delay.
Source: CNA
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