Romania’s Minister Of Justice Wants All Romania’s Duty-Free Shops Shut Down

Romania is bound by its accession treaty to the European Union to stop all duty-free activities on the borders with EU nations, on the actual accession date. Both the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Finance rush now to ready a draft law each, with justice minister Monica Macovei keen to end duty-free activities sooner than January 1, 2007, Romania’s likely EU accession date, and on all the country’s borders, not just those with the EU nations.

While the Ministry of Finance wants the new provisions to be part of a law, subject to public scrutiny and debate, the Ministry of Justice wants them adopted by emergency government ordinance, which will curtail that transparent procedure.

This time, the duty-free operators get advice from their law firms on how to counter-act the decision. Their association said in a press-release that they employ 2,000 people; service the 18 million people crossing the borders each year; and conduct exports worth 150 million euros per year, or 1% of all Romania’s exports, paying the state budget some 700 billion lei sEUR1=RON3.4840t in taxes, on top of the local taxes of an unspecified aggregate value.

The duty-free operators also pointed out that authorities conducted 3,500 checks of their activities in the past 10 years, and yet no notable law infringements were recorded.

The closing down of duty-free operations six months earlier than the agreed date, and on Romania’s borders with the non-EU nations Ukraine, and Serbia and Montenegro, as Macovei wants, looks like an attempt of the state to shoot itself in the foot.

Duty-free shops in the non-EU neighboring countries will thrive; 2,000 Romanian employees will go six-months earlier in unemployment; Romania will loose the six-month worth of revenues resulting from the duty-free activities, and get sued for breach of contract by the companies having their commercial interests damaged.