One way to prevent this is to place sugar on the list
of LB (import licence required) list, to limit the
effective period of each licence issued, to connect
each transaction of imported brown sugar to a
transaction of export, to apply the world price of
sugar to customs duties, to demand payment of
customs duties in the first customs terminal, to
demand a forwarder's as well as an importer's
guarantee and to require a certificate of origin. The
same goes for Cooking Oil (which - when it is
imported packaged - is often declared as some
other goods).
? All payments to the customs should be made only
through the ZPP. Customs and tax inspectors
should inspect these receipts periodically.
? All goods should be kept in the customs terminal
until full payment of the customs duties, as
evidenced by a ZPP receipt, is effected.
Public Campaign
? The government should embark on a massive
Public Relations and Information campaign. The
citizens should be made to understand what is a
budget, how the taxes are collected, how they are
used. They should begin to view tax evaders as
criminals. "He who does not pay his taxes - is
stealing from you and from your children", "Why
should YOU pay for HIM?" "If we all did not pay
taxes- there would be no roads, bridges, schools,
or hospitals" (using video to show disappearing
roads, bridges, suffering patients and students
without classes), "Our country is a partnership -
and the tax-evader is stealing from the till (kasa)"
and so on.
* The phrase "Gray Economy" should be replaced
by the more accurate phrases "Black Economy" or
"Criminal Economy".
XXVII. Public Procurement and Very Private Benefits
In every national budget, there is a part called "Public
Procurement". This is the portion of the budget allocated
to purchasing services and goods for the various
ministries, authorities and other arms of the executive
branch. It was the famous management consultant,
Parkinson, who once wrote that government officials are
likely to approve a multi-billion dollar nuclear power
plant much more speedily that they are likely to authorize
a hundred dollar expenditure on a bicycle parking device.
This is because everyone came across 100 dollar
situations in real life - but precious few had the fortune to
expend with billions of USD.
This, precisely, is the problem with public procurement:
people are too acquainted with the purchased items. They
tend to confuse their daily, household-type, decisions with
the processes and considerations which should permeate
governmental decision making. They label perfectly
legitimate decisions as "corrupt" - and totally corrupt
procedures as "legal" or merely "legitimate", because this
is what was decreed by the statal mechanisms, or because
"this is the law".
Procurement is divided to defence and non-defence
spending. In both these categories - but, especially in the
former - there are grave, well founded, concerns that
things might not be all what they seem to be.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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