Hamit GENÇ: “With the legislative change in the domestic transaction regime, jewelery exports and imports will soon come to a halt.”
The Jewelery sector, which has been on the rise for years and provides our country with the highest foreign exchange inflow after the Tourism sector; It is entering a period of stagnation with the new inward transaction legislation.
Expert Customs Consultant Hamit GENÇ, owner of Prestij Customs Consultancy, which has been mediating successful transfers, purchases and sales regarding exports and imports for years; He said that with the change that took place, it has become almost impossible for Non-Standard gold to enter our country, and if urgent regulations are not made in this regard, exports and imports will come to a halt within a month or two.
Hamit Genç stated that, from the period when gold coming from abroad was cleared from customs in one day under the domestic transaction regime, to now the entry of gold into the country has been blocked by additional procedures extending to 20 days; “With the new regulation, the domestic transaction permit period has been reduced from 6 months to 4 months.
While previously, gold entry was allowed as much as the capacity of the companies, now 1/12 of the company's capacity is allowed. In the past, permits for gold coming from abroad were obtained from customs and the transaction was concluded positively within 1 day. Now you apply to the Istanbul Customs Regional Directorate for the gold control. It goes to the mint, so a period of up to 15 days or even longer emerges. In short, a chain of bureaucratic obstacles that means "trading abroad" is emerging," he said.
Emphasizing that the state made a miscalculation in these transactions, Prestij Gümrük company owner Hamit GENÇ said; “Our companies do not pay anything for imported gold. The incoming gold is processed and sent abroad with added value. This gold deposit is gold and does not increase our current account deficit..
Here, our state is calculating to trade and close the current account deficit according to OECD rules; Knowingly or unknowingly, it causes foreign trade to come to a halt.
"There is clearly a miscalculation," he said.
Gold Bullion Imports….
Genç noted that gold, which is considered Standard Gold and has the LBMA (London Bullion Market Association) stamp, can be easily imported, but apart from that, 6% KKDF has started to be requested for gold imports that are considered non-standard, and continued his statement as follows:
“It is required to apply to the state 3 days in advance regarding the gold to be imported and to clearly declare the method of payment.
After it arrives, I will inspect the goods and then make the payment (naturally, it should be like this). This does not happen anymore. Thus, the state does not protect its people against possible fraud. Our sector officials are looking for a culprit rather than a solution to this issue and are blaming the customs companies in particular. This legislative change will harm our customs companies the most.
Hamit Genç added that allowing only a handful of LBMA members to freely enter gold means the entry of expensive gold into the country and an increase in production costs. He stated that the lack of entry of non-standard gold from our neighbor Iraq and other countries will mean that the producers here will not be able to export or produce jewelry.
As a solution:
Removal of stock exchange notification time limit, reducing the period to 1 business day
Stock Exchange Payment method preliminary notification can be changed,
The Mint and Authorized Setting Houses can also check the setting for inward processing imports.
Inward processing permits can be obtained directly from the customs administration
Removal of 6% KKDF for exchange members
He added that it should be ensured that companies that are not members of the stock exchange can import wedge ingots.