Moroccan Customs Probe Suspected Fraud in Turkish Imports

According to well-informed sources, the regional customs control teams have subjected shipments of Turkish imports, mainly consisting of ready-to-wear clothing and household equipment, transiting through the ports of Tanger-Med and Casablanca, to in-depth investigations on suspicions of manipulation of the declared values on the invoices, reports Hespress. Moroccan importers and Turkish exporters would be behind this. These suspicions follow the discovery by the Risk Monitoring and Analysis Cell of the National Customs Brigade of fraudulent practices: the values of the invoices of certain imported products have been reduced in order to circumvent the high customs duties and pay less taxes.

The central control services of the Customs and Indirect Taxes Administration have noted an increase in cases of customs fraud on Turkish imports at several border points, including ports, the same sources say. The increase in smuggling operations of products manufactured in Turkey, whose prices have reached high levels on the markets after the modification of the free trade agreement between Morocco and Turkey, as well as the imposition in 2021 of customs duties reaching 90% on certain categories of industrial products imported from this country, including ready-to-wear clothing and household equipment, have aggravated this situation. Another finding: the declarations of Turkish exporters show different prices for the same goods shipped to other countries, taking into account the differences in exchange rates.

The customs control teams have targeted import companies owned by Moroccans, in order to verify their legal and tax situation, as well as their customs archives. It is a question of examining the information according to which some of them would be involved in fictitious operations with Turkish businessmen, aiming to transfer significant sums of money to Morocco outside the rules and regulations regarding exchange. It was also found that some importers have escaped the payment of significant amounts to the Treasury, after comparison between the declared values of the invoices and the real prices of the goods for export, as part of customs transactions currently under verification, we are told.