The Majlis has passed amendments to rules that government uses to curb forex smuggling, further restricting conditions for trading and holding foreign currencies.
The new legislation is an amendment to the so-called Combating Goods and Foreign Currency Smuggling Law, IRNA reported.
In the new rules, currency trade is illegal unless one of the parties is a bank/credit institution or an exchange bureau with a valid license.
All currency deals must be registered in a special currency trade platform. Buyers, sellers and dealers must provide full details of their transactions.
To this end, the CBI in March designed an electronic platform to “facilitate” supply of foreign currency to retail buyers.
It enables Iranians to register their request, submit relevant documents, select the exchange bureau and mention the delivery date.
The ban also includes brokering currency deals and brokerage by people inside the country for foreigners without a valid permit issued by the CB.
As per law, bringing in and taking out foreign currency by mailing and shipping above €10,000 or equivalent is illegal.
Holding or transporting forex by individuals beyond the set limits is tantamount to contraband unless they present a receipt showing the currency was bought from an authorized exchange bureau.
New rules stipulate that individuals entering or leaving the country with more than €10,000 in foreign currency, banking instruments or bonds, will be subject to an official probe to ascertain their origin.
Rules also bans forward deals in currency and gold coins. Such deals were previously prohibited by the CBI. Forward deals are contracts between two parties to buy or sell an asset at a specified price on a future date.
Currency smuggling rules also cover repatriation of export income. Accordingly, if the pending repatriation amount is below 100 billion rials (based on the highest forex rate announced by the CBI) the defaulter will not only be forced to pay but also face additional penalties, namely trade ban for six months to one year.
If the unreturned amount is equivalent to or above 100 billion rials, the defaulter is obliged to return it plus face additional penalties including “restriction on trade from one to ten years, imprisonment and other pecuniary penalaties.”
If defaulting exporters forge documents to prove repatriation and/or value their goods to customs over and above the real amount, their commercial cards are invalidated apart from the above penalties.
No reliable or official data is available on foreign currency smuggling in Iran. But given the new stringent rules, it seems law and policy makers are getting serious about fighting this scourge that for decades has harmed the economy and the national currency.
