According to the amendments proposed by the Ministry of Finance, the conditions for issuing a license to carry out the activities of a customs broker have been clarified. In accordance with Art. 12, para. (5) of the Customs Code, the list of conditions includes the absence of systematic violations of customs and (or) tax legislation, causing damage to the state budget. At the suggestion of the business community, it is proposed to amend the Tax Code and other normative acts, by which the amount of the relevant damage should be set above 50,000 lei.
This requirement should be considered at the stage of issuing a license to carry out the activity of customs broker.
It is also proposed to adjust Article 17, paragraph (1) of the Customs Code in order to establish a shorter term for the customs service to take a decision on mandatory tariff information (informația tarifară obligatorie, ITO), so that the customs authority will have the right to extend the term of the decision, but not more than 45 days. For other decisions, the maximum extension period remains 90 days.
Another proposal concerns the enforcement of Customs rulings on materially liable offenses. Accordingly, if a ruling on a customs offense involving material liability is appealed on a preliminary application, the CU will be able to suspend its enforcement until the completion of the preliminary proceedings at the request of the aggrieved person, so as not to prejudice the person concerned.
The amendments also regulate the amount of penalties assessed when the value of imported goods is understated. For this purpose, it is proposed that paragraph (4) of Article 384 of the Customs Code of the Republic of Moldova be amended as follows:
“If the offense stipulated in paragraph (2) is detected as a result of subsequent control and if the goods were subjected to documentary control during customs clearance and customs clearance was granted, the person shall be fined from 3% to 5% of the reduced amount of import customs duties. And if the goods were subjected to full physical control and customs clearance was granted, the person shall be fined from 1% to 2% of the reduced amount of import duties”.
The amendments regulate the time limits for informing economic entities and individuals. “The decision sent to the e-mail address specified by the applicant shall be deemed to be communicated to the applicant on the day of its sending. The applicant is obliged to confirm receipt of the decision by electronic message within a period not exceeding 3 days. Legal entities and individuals engaged in entrepreneurial activity receive the decision through the government portal for citizens. The decision transmitted through the government portal for citizens shall be considered received on the next working day after the day of its submission”.
