Chisinau, October 31 (Infotag). The Association of Small Businesses has demanded to annul the Customs Service’s order №361-О of 25.09.07 on monitoring of import transactions.

Association chairman Eugen Roscovan motivated this by this document’s absurdity at a press conference in Infotag on Wednesday.

“This order empowers customs offices to demand certificates of conformity for import of second hand goods, (designed for commercial or industrial activities). However, Government Resolution №1469 of 30.12.2004 says clearly that this certification is not applied to second hand products”, he remarked.

In Roscovan’s words, it means that economic entities dealing with second hand products, must go to the standardization department to ask for certificates of conformity and they are rejected, as such certificates are not needed for such goods , but customs offices demand them and, according to them, they must be issued by the standardization department.

Despite the fact that even the customs service’s lawyers confirm the inconsistency of this order, second hand goods are not allowed to be brought onto the territory of Moldova. Queues of wholesale traders are gathered on the border.

In Moldova more than 14 thousand people deal with this business. Moreover, very many citizens buy clothes exactly at second hand markets. The order endangers not only the further activities of small business enterprises, but also it inflicts the interests of the majority of our citizens. We have nothing against supermarkets, but not everybody can afford buying clothes in fashionable shops for enormous prices”, Roscovan considers.

In the opinion of the Association’s representatives, the order is a link in the chain of document, restricting the small business rights. Indignant businessmen said that on November they will stage a protest meeting in the capital city.

“In the European Union more than 10 million people deal with the processing of these goods. Certainly, the number of sellers and buyers of these goods is several times higher. After Romania joined the EU it was made to allow selling second hand footwear, whereas Moldova forbade selling it. Now Moldova is trying to completely close the second hand market”, Roscovan said.

It was announced at the conference that the patent holders have already appealed to the European Court of Human Rights (ЕСHR) against Law №208, (on the ban on patent-based activities).

“Despite the fact that the decision on this law was recognized as non-constitutional, we recur to Strasbourg, as we are sure that we can hardly hope for support on the part of the Constitutional Court in Moldova, which court defends oligarchs’ interests and the state will have to pay compensations to us, as many others, who have already appealed to this court”, he said.