PMR cracks down on American "drumstick smuggling"

PMR border authorities inspecting an illegal cargo of seized American chicken legs

PLATONOVE (Tiraspol Times) - It is called "bird migration" by the smugglers behind the illicit trade: Frozen chicken legs from an American company are sent in transnit to Moldova and Ukraine, then exported to Pridnestrovie in a bid to avoid paying customs duties to Ukraine. But instead of ending up on dinner tables in Tiraspol, Bender or Rybnitsa, the chicken dinners are then smuggled back into Ukraine and finding their way to stores in Odessa and Kiev, tax free.

But now the trade is ending: PMR's border authorities just caught the fifth illicit food load. Packaging and product origin certificates reveal that the illicit goods come from the United States of America.

" - But even though this smuggling originates in America, we don't call the U.S. a black hole," says one of the customs officials involved in the crackdown.
" - Like every country in the world, there is smuggling, both in the United States and here. And like responsible governments everywhere, it is our job to prevent it and to minimize the attraction of evading taxes and customs payments. We don't earn any goodwill or collaboration by mudslinging, so we prefer to just do our job and not make baseless comments against the American authorities. We realize that they have no active role in this."

The American-based producers of the chicken products are unaware of the ping pong from border to border, having sold the fowl products to a middleman and received payment as soon as shipment took place.

From the beginning of the year 5 large detentions, connected with illegal moving of the consignments of the chicken lags through the territory of the Pridnestrovskaia Moldavskaia Respublica (PMR) were carried out by Transnistrian customs officers in Rybnitsa. The undeclared cargoes' total weight made up about 50 tones. The operations carried out with the periodically of several days the employees of a Department on straggle against contraband and customs rules violation of the State Customs Committee (SCC) of PMR and also the representatives of the task group of Rybnitsa. All this actions are united by the fact that the goods were obtained in Moldova and supposedly were going in the direction of Ukraine. Nevertheless, in neither of the first five cases involving customs rules violation were there any health documents or other customs certifications present to certify the quality of the frozen chicken load.

No health certificates

The specialists of the PMR customs department on the struggle against smuggling and customs rules violation rule out the possibility that a part of the frozen chicken legs could have been intended for Transnistrian shops as they did not comply with any sanitary certificates issued by local authorities.

With the seizure of the loads, PMR employees of the department against contraband and customs rules violation passed samples of detained cargoes for examination to the center of the scientific-research institute of standardization, metrology, monitoring of the quality and safety in the republic. The specialist of the testing and quality control laboratory analyzed taken samples on microbiological indices and concentrating toxic elements. According to the results of this experiment, Lubov Ustinova, the head of a department on microbiological division of the experimental center of the scientific-research institute declared:

“- One of the bases factors of our daily activity is a control of the importing goods on the territory of our Republic. You see, that the health and even the life of Transnistrian population depends on products quality. That’s why all imported goods had to have the quality certificates, and others documents confirming their safety for consumer. Here, the customs service of PMR plays a very important role. Because, exactly they meet the cargoes on the boundary and carry out all set measures in accordance with customs legislation, in order that Transnistrian market was clear from goods, which are peril for life. Well, the doctors and scientists are always ready to help to Transnistrian customs officers in conducting of consultations and examinations.

Pridnestrovie, also known as Transnistria or Transdniester, declared independence in 1990. Although its statehood is not recognized internationally, it functions as a sovereign and independent country and meets all the requirements for statehood under international law. (With information from PMR SCC)

On the web:
» PMR State Customs Committee, official website