Road controls of containers for drug trafficking from the port of Durrës are bankrupting transport companies

2024-02-08 07:59:00, Aktualitet CNA

Road controls of containers for drug trafficking from the port of Durrës

After several events in the past, made public in the media, for finding drugs and putting cash in refrigerated containers filled with frozen meat products or even bananas coming from the port of Durrës, the Customs and the state police are strengthened controls on importing businesses.

For more than 1 month now, refrigerated container trucks, after passing the scanning control, the goods are unloaded on the ground, in dust and high temperatures, and rechecked again by the Customs anti-smuggling unit and State Police structures.

The operators of the transport of marine goods raise the concern that due to the performance of these controls without any standards, many importing companies from Kosovo and North Macedonia are leaving for alternative ports.

Road controls of containers for drug trafficking from the port of Durrës

Products of animal origin that are imported from the countries of Ecuador, Brazil, Argentina, Peru, etc. by local companies arrive in Albania through the port of Durrës. But since 2005, the port of Durrës also serves as a transit for many companies from Kosovo and North Macedonia that import products of animal origin from these countries.

The departure of traders to the ports of Montenegro and Greece has significantly reduced the volume of activity of companies transporting refrigerated goods, risking their bankruptcy.

Rodolf Xhillari, the head of the international transport company "Balkan Trans", claims for Monitor that throughout this month the situation with the control of consumer goods is very chaotic and is burdening commercial line operators, as the volume of activity has decreased significantly.

"The most flagrant violation committed by the state bodies themselves is the unloading of frozen food goods on the road for hours in the sun and in any other atmosphere and dirt that the road brings and is strictly prohibited by the International Food Authority, as an open crime that takes place every minute, every hour and every day for so many months and years in the Port of Durrës", he says.

Meanwhile, since 2013, according to the contract approved by the Parliament of Albania, the service of scanning goods containers has been applied in 5 customs offices, including the one in Durrës through a PPP concession, which is financed by direct payments from customs clearance of goods and financing from the state budget. From Kapshticë, Morinë, Qafë Thane and Kakavijë customs, where all containers passing through these border points are scanned, while at Durrës Customs, container scanning is done on the basis of risk profiles - the nature of the goods, origin, etc.

The fee for the service of scanning containers and other vehicles paid by businesses was initially 39 euros (not including VAT). Now with the legal change, the scanning fee was decided to be 5 Euros for customs declarations under or equal to 1000 Euros and 22 Euros for customs declarations over 1000 Euros.

The manager of the "Balkan Trans" company says that due to re-checks of container goods on the road, without any criteria even after scanning, many importing companies of Kosovo and North Macedonia have been forced to turn to alternative neighboring ports for transport, as the procedures of the control is damaging the goods.

From the departures of companies from neighboring countries, the volume of activity of the company from 10 to 15 trucks with goods transported per day, has reached 1 truck per day.

"First, these control procedures without any criteria are damaging and endangering the spoilage of the goods, the loss of nutritional properties and nutritional calories of the meat which is unloaded on the highway frozen and its stay outside the refrigerator in non-frozen conditions and faced with all the dirt that the road brings and the great possibility of getting the most different microbes, which is categorically prohibited.

Secondly, opening all the packaging boxes of meat and its products on the street and in areas outside the refrigerator, which, in addition to what we said above, is spoiling and damaging the packaging, which makes the product unmarketable or lowers its resale value to the consumer, as their packaging is destroyed and damaged in the labels that talk about expiration dates and brands.

Thirdly, for these reasons traders and especially those from Kosovo and North Macedonia are transferring the arrival of their goods from the Port of Durrës mutually to the ports of Thessaloniki, Greece and Bari, Montenegro, which significantly reduces the activity of transport companies who work in this sector until bankruptcy, etc. great damage in other service sectors in the port of Durrës", he asserts.

While a few days ago some leaders of the shipping companies sent a letter to the Prime Minister Edi Rama, the Minister of the Interior Taulant Balla, the Minister of Economy and Finance Ervin Mete and the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Anila Denaj for the immediate resolution of this problem which is leading to bankruptcy the companies that have been operating for 30 years in this sector.

Experts familiar with the maritime freight transport market recommend as a solution for these businesses the possibility of a closed refrigerated warehouse with hygienic-sanitary standards, where the goods could be unloaded from the refrigerated containers for inspection. According to them, this solution would not increase the costs of the state budget, as the fee will continue to be paid by businesses, as is currently done./ Monitor.al