Serious effects on the economy of the Republic of Cyprus and on competitiveness seem, as reported in the Parliamentary Committee on Trade, to cause uncontrolled and without the necessary controls the passage of products through the Green Line regulation, and the affected addresses appeal to Parliament for effective approaches and treatments.
The views of CCCI, POVEK and OEB and other producer sectors were heard in the Trade Committee on Tuesday, describing the situation and requesting intervention.
The Chairman of the Committee, DISY MP Kyriakos Hatzigiannis said that the Committee listened to the attendees and the civil society, which is shouting and shouting that there is a problem in the issue of transit of products in the Republic of Cyprus from the occupied areas, or through the Green Line Regulation either via the countersign line.
"We as a Commission recognize problems that exist, either as a result of the way the Green Line Regulation works, or through trafficking," he said, noting that the discussion will continue with all Ministries, services involved and the European Commission to find effective treatments.
AKEL MP Costas Costa said that the Government with the competent services must monitor the implementation of the green line regulation in order to stop the unfair commercial practices that are observed.
He spoke about monkey products, products from Turkey that are christened Turkish Cypriots, about the illegal transit of pesticides, about the smuggling of fuel by tankers and large trucks, as well as the fact that 19% VAT is added to products in free areas, while products from occupied countries do not apply. .
He referred to strong concerns about the situation in almost all professional sectors and industries and especially, as he said, to the cry of anxiety of all traders for the insufficient controls by the government services.
Mr. Costa also referred to the protests by oil station operators near the green line and voices against the government for not taking measures to reduce prices in the free zones.
"There are questions as to why the government continues to impose unacceptable VAT and excise duty and why it does not check the profitability of companies to see if they are really making a profit," he said.
DIKO MP Chrysis Pantelidis stated that the Green Line Regulation is not strictly and effectively implemented, with the result that, firstly, a permanent and great illegality is in progress and, secondly, that Cypriot companies operating legally in the free zones are affected by the illegal competition which favors the companies operating in the Occupied Territories.
He said that the strict and effective implementation of the Regulation is the sole responsibility and duty of the state services and called on the government to assume its responsibilities and exercise its powers to implement the European Union Regulation on the Green Line and the Laws of Cyprus. Democracy. At the same time, he called on the government to take into account a series of suggestions of the directly affected Cypriot companies.
ELAM MP Sotiris Ioannou said that it is tragic to discuss in Parliament once again how the Republic of Cyprus will fight the illegality of transit of dubious quality in the Cypriot market. He wondered which law, regulation or decree allows anyone to trade in the free zones fuel that is not approved by the EU, second and third grade agricultural products and medicines that no one knows if they are properly maintained and stored.
He expressed the position for strict controls by the Customs, for reduction of the tax on fuel and reiterated the position of ELAM for closing the roadblocks.
Stavros Papadouris of Ecologists said that this is a cancer that essentially concerns the movement of goods through the occupied areas and at the end of the day the solution is one "to examine whether effective controls are carried out and secondly to give us information about any punishment imposed on violators ».
Having this information, he said, we will be able to understand if the executive power follows the regulations to the letter and from there onwards to proceed with treatment.
As he said, the Parliament has a serious intention to find a cure and after the next two sessions it aims to reach a targeted approach and ways of solving it.
Accept electronic payments
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The Commission also discussed two draft laws on the acceptance of electronic payments.
Mr. Hatzigiannis said regarding the Draft Law for implementation of the Legislation for acceptance by every commercial electronic payment store, that unfortunately the Ministry of Finance came with a reservation that does not correspond to the spirit of solving a problem, as a large number of stores do not accept credit cards.
"The problem is being identified and we need to give it effective treatment. We are determined and declare that we will proceed with the Draft Law ", he said, noting that this Proposal will be led to the Plenary Session. He called on all those involved to come up with proposals to the Commission in order for the effort to resolve the problem to be completely constitutional.
For his part, Costas Costa said that today the Commission discussed two bills, related to the issue of mandatory acceptance of credit cards in 85 areas, but without having previously taken measures to protect consumers.
He complained that some companies charge extra for those who pay with cards for products such as cigarettes, newspapers and magazines and mobile phone cards. Mr. Costa also referred to legislative gaps, which the draft laws are trying to fill and which, he said, the rulers consider to be unconstitutional or contrary to EU law. He called on the Ministry of Finance and the Legal Service to help the Parliament "that is running to fill the gaps and do what the government should have done".
(KYPE / THKE / KXR / GBA)