Last week, an interview under the title of "The deposit of thousands of tons of paper at customs" was published in ISNA in which an economic activist said, "The nature of a commodity is determined and reported by the National Standards Organization. This procedure has been changed has been changed with respect to paper and glossy cardboard and is no longer declared by the National Standards Organization, and this issue seems to have caused the deposition of of goods (paper and cardboard) at customs."
Following the publication of this interview, the National Standards Organization sent a response as follows:
Following the Customs letter concerning the deposition of large quantities of imported paper at the customs of the country, a meeting was held by Modares Khiabani, the Commercial Deputy Minister of Industry, Mine and trade, with the presence of the representatives of the National Standards Organization, the Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade, Iran Customs, the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, the Supporting Customers and Producers Organization, the Association of Paper and Cardboard Importers on December 7th.
As the National Standards Organization declared to the customs in the past years, it is not possible for the general standard offices in provinces and the cooperating labs to comment on the type of commodity application because some imported commodities have several applications, and their consumption cannot be tracked after the clearance from customs.
Since the deposition of imported paper at customs has been published in the media, including Iran Student News Agency (ISNA), the topics discussed at the meeting have been communicated to the relevant bodies and their subdivisions, and decisions were supposed to be followed as per the Minutes of the aforementioned Meeting and the meetings in the past years.
It is worth noting that the paper shipments were deposited at customs due to the failure to specify the type of their application, correct tariff code, and customs duties, and it is not related to the paper quality and its compliance with standards.
It should be reminded that specifying the nature of glossy paper in the ISNA news was promulgated as per the mutual agreement which remains in force between Standard Organization and Customs, and the relevant bodies have to observe its provisions.