The president of the Association, Bruce Mac Masterstressed that trade illicit is a major problem that must be addressed as a priority and added that “it is estimated that smuggling enters Colombia in the equivalent of $25 billion in one year, between the open modality, in which the merchandise is moved through unofficial channels, and the technical one, in which the documentation is handled; the latter has increased in recent years”.
The union leader’s statement was presented during his speech at the VIII Meeting of the Latin American Anti-Smuggling Alliance (ALAC), led by ANDI, in Bogotá. This with the aim of continuing to contribute to the construction of joint agendas that mitigate illicit trade in the region, generating synergies between all actors in the public and private sectors, and the countries.
According to what was exposed by Mac Master, said amount in illegal trade is higher than that of many sectors of the economy and it could be said that it is around 2 percentage points of GDP.
The president of the businessmen maintained that “recognizing the size of this phenomenon, we met here in order to advance agreements and make decisions to take a step forward in order to put an end to these activities that are so harmful to the business sector and citizens. in general”.
Illegal trade ranges from technical and open contraband to counterfeit and adulterated products, a problem that has a high impact on all societies. In fact, according to the latest OECD global incidence study, international trade in illegal goods reached US$464 billion in 2019, which represents 2.5% of world trade, with detrimental consequences for different sectors such as textiles, medicines, beverages and food, tobacco, cosmetics, toys, electronics, software and medical equipment; some of them, with the possibility of generating serious effects on the health and safety of people.
Tax evasion
In fact, according to the World Health Organization and the OECD in 2020 and 2021, between 72,000 and 169,000 children could die globally from pneumonia each year after receiving counterfeit medicines.
Regarding tax evasion, the DIAN estimates that in 2020 the Colombian government failed to collect $4.6 billion on account of open and technical smuggling (3.5% of the total, approximately). In turn, the firm Invamer in 2021 calculated that cigarette smuggling reduces departmental finances by approximately $750,000 million.
“In the current situation, with a peso so weakened against the dollar, increases in tariffs in certain sectors and high inflation, it is important that the National Government prioritize the fight against illicit trade and that the announcements that this Government has made in the bases of the National Development Plan are reflected in concrete actions”, concluded Mac Master.
La Dian
For his part, the director of the Directorate of National Taxes and Customs (DIAN), Luis Carlos Reyes, pointed out that “from the Government we have a very clear commitment to fight against smuggling. We know that this phenomenon puts formal businessmen at a disadvantage, who must pay higher costs than illegality to advance their work, but that illicit trade also finances criminal activities that undermine democracy. We are advancing a series of measures among which we can highlight the modernization of the DIAN”.
The meeting was also attended by Luis Felipe Quintero, Vice Minister of Foreign Trade of Colombia, who highlighted the need and importance of carrying out coordinated work between the industry and the Government.
“We celebrate this type of initiative and we welcome the efforts that ALAC is making to find tools and new mechanisms that help us deal with illicit trade. In fact, we are specifically interested in promoting the strengthening of customs cooperation agreements, exchange of information and relations with other countries, because only in this way will we be able to advance precisely in the mentioned objective”, stated Quintero.
According to Bruce Mac Master, the amount of illegal trade is higher than that of many sectors of the economy. /ANDI