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| Sunday, 17 July 2005 |
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Customs nab copper racketeers by Jayantha Sri Nissanka Unscrupulous businessmen are immensely benefiting from Free Trade agreements signed by Sri Lanka with neighbours to make super profit. Sri Lanka Customs was able to bust such a racket recently. The Custom Investigative Bureau fined an Indian BOI Company Rs. 10 million on last Friday for declaring undervalued prices and fraudulently trying to obtain Indo- Sri Lanka Free Trade Preferential duty-free benefits. The Company had imported 212 metric tonnes of refined copper sheets in eight containers on the pretext of copper cathodes declaring 40 percent undervalued prices. As a result Sri Lanka was to lose Rs. 8 million duty income. According to the BOI agreement, the Company has been given permission to import copper cathodes and process them to add 35 percent value addition. But the Company's mother Company in England had imported processed copper sheets to England from Congo and exported to Sri Lanka with a view to reexporting to India in order to obtain duty benefits from Sri Lanka as well as from India. Customs officials have visited the Company's factory in Horana to investigate whether they processed copper cathode in Sri Lanka. But the officials found that the Company had only four furnaces and other important machines like rolling mills, etc are not available. The company uses the four furnaces to melt scarp copper and produce only ingots. The racket was busted by Customs Deputy Director Tilak Perera, Superintendent of Customs Parakrama Basnayake and other officers. Deputy Director M. Puviharan had held the inquiry and imposed the fine on Friday. |
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