The conclusion of Majlis Economic Commission’s probe into government policies and performance in its fight against smuggling was read by Hassan Hosseini Shahroudi, the spokesperson of the commission, at the parliament’s open session on May 12.
“Despite the announcement made by the Goods and Foreign Exchange Anti-Smuggling Headquarters on the decline of smuggling in the years ending March 2017 and March 2018, the parliamentary investigating committee found different results. The headquarters had put the volume of smuggling at $12.5 billion in the year ending March 2017 and $13.1 billion in the year ending March 2018. However, according to the parliament’s report, goods and foreign currency smuggled in each of those years were valued at $21.5-25.5 billion on average,” the report read.
“Over 95% of smuggling are carried through legal procedures and official ports, and 95% of the smuggled goods find their way into the domestic market. Smuggling can account for more than 35% of imports and confiscations constitute close to 4% of imports.”
The commission’s report added that one of the tools envisioned by legislators to prevent the violation of the law is to bring an indictment against a defendant.
“It found cases where this criminal procedure was not instituted regarding the fight against smuggling and officials shirked their responsibilities without legal grounds,” it said.
It noted that out of 223 counts of legal duties that should have been performed as per the fight against smuggling policies, only 62 counts were carried out, 144 were either not performed or were carried out incompletely.
Moreover, 17 counts of duties were not carried out, thanks to the lack of cooperation between the organizations or contradictions in data sent to the parliamentary commission.
“The following 12 organizations performed poorly in the fight against smuggling: Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture; the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration; Economy Ministry; the High Council of Free Trade Zones; Iran Chamber of Guilds; Foreign Ministry; the Organization for Collection and Sale of State-owned Properties of Iran; Iran Chamber of Cooperatives; Interior Ministry; the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting; the Law Enforcement Force of the Islamic Republic of Iran and Health Ministry. However, the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology of Iran delivered a satisfactory performance in the combat against smuggling,” the report said.
Majlis Economic Commission began the preparation of this report in the middle of the fiscal 2016-17 and the probe team was formed on December 13, 2016, the Persian-language daily Shahrvand reported.
Lawmakers voted for the submission of the findings of the report to the judiciary.
