Toyuncak_Subat_2019

Sektör
“We’ll witness a new export record in 2019 if
extra charges on input costs are eliminated”
“Let’s take the first step as mitigating the burdens of our input costs, for
instance, by removing the reference pricing applicable to the import of raw
materials” said Selçuk Gülsün, President of Turkish Plastics Industrialists’
Association (PAGDER), after stressing that 2019 will be the year of export for
the plastics industry as targeting USD 7 billion export.
additional financial surcharge on
our industry since it is adopted on a
fictitious basis. Considering from the
state’s perspective at the end of the
day, it also increases your foreign
trade deficit in statistical terms. Well,
what kind of burden does it impose
on industrialists?
1. The fictitious price differential
results in VAT + Customs Duty costs.
2. It leads to the increased use rate
of foreign currency for transactions
with Inward Processing Authorization
Certificates.
3. It gives rise to the increased
customs brokerage service fees.”
Value-added chain ıgnored by
trade defense instruments
Starting his speech by stating
that the plastics industry achieved
exports of $ 6.2 billion during the last
year with semi-finished products,
products, machinery and equipment,
PAGDER’s President Gülsün said,
“We will take this achievement
beyond $ 7 billion in 2019, but we
need to make input costs competitive
first.”
Continuing with his remarks, Gülsün
stated that we need to consider
some so-called regulations and
practices like surtax, surveillance,
safeguard measures, anti-damping,
reference price etc. that undermine
our competitiveness particularly in
raw materials in terms of input costs.
PAGDER’s President remarked that
all these practices characterized as
trade defense instruments should
primarily be driven by the valueadded
chain. Gülsün also stressed
that semi-product and product
manufacturers need to have access
to key inputs at the most competitive
prices and be steered towards export,
but there might be some practices
developing the other way around.
We can make a fresh start by
removing reference pricing
Continuing his words, PAGDER’s
President said, “the applicable
minimum price for the import of
plastic raw materials is set by
Customs Authorities mainly in line
with the data from Reuters where
a reference price stem from. The
customs duty and VAT will be charged
thorough this reference price.
The only positive aspect of this
practice is the increase in tax
revenue, but it also imposes an
Bureaucratic Practices Unclear
for the Last Quarter
Indicating that the determinants
of reference price currently in use
are not clear, Selçuk Gülsün said
that they had had some feedback
concerning the non-renewal of the
contract between the Ministry and
Reuters database for the past 3
months.
Gülsün continued his words as
follows: “This poses a threat
concerning the further increased
level of our additional financial
surcharges. While we basically ask
for the removal of reference pricing,
we do not even know on what basis
reference price is set.
In this context, we referred this
issue to our exporters’ association
IKMIB and advised our Ministry on
the provision of such data through
our Associations. This necessary
step will make our industry relieved
to some extent, but our true wish is
that raw materials will be imported
for actual sales price under the
Customs Code and the applicable
legislation rather than by these
fictitious statements.”
102 Şubat 2019