~ Or items will not be released ~
PHILIPSBURG--In an effort to mitigate price-gouging, wholesalers/merchants will be required to provide their manifests/invoices for the contents of cargo containers (for government-controlled items) to the Economic Affairs and Customs inspection as per December 1. If they do not comply, Custom officers will have the authority to hold the container.
Minister of Economic Affairs Franklin Meyers told Parliament on Thursday that a joint working agreement between the Ministries of Economic Affairs and Justice/Customs Department would enable government to calculate maximum prices properly on a biweekly basis.
Despite many efforts, Government received little cooperation from wholesalers in the past when requests were made to provide invoices based on the import and export ordinance. This ordinance empowers government to compel wholesalers to provide said invoices and manifests.
Due to non-compliance, the Executive Council went as far as requesting the Prosecutor to issue fines to wholesalers who did not comply. For unexplained reasons, those requests never were honoured. When wholesalers provided invoices, they were not original documents, but adapted ones that did not reflect the prices of what was imported.
It was explained that the new process as per December 1, using Customs Department legislation that authorises the holding of containers, will compel wholesalers to submit their original invoices. When submitted, an invoice will be stamped at Economic Affairs and subsequently presented to Custom officers at the harbour by the wholesalers.
If a wholesaler submits an invoice to Customs officers without a stamp from Economic Affairs, the container will not be released. Customs officers will be supported by extraordinary police officers at the harbour. With original invoices in its possession, Economic Affairs will be able to calculate and set the maximum prices for government controlled items.
If an item is a certain price this week and drops in price in the next two weeks, government will be able to see this via the unaltered invoices and set prices accordingly.
It should be noted that wholesalers usually have these invoices in advance of the containers arriving at the harbour, giving them enough time to present the invoices to Economic Affairs. Also, if a container has a government-controlled item as part of its content, that item still will be checked.
Before the new process is implemented, Economic Affairs will host a few sessions for stakeholders to explain the procedure and apprise them of what has to be done to ensure compliance. The public also will be informed and sensitised to the new procedure, as the department often relies on the public to report infractions.
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