Given the difficult situation that Cuba is facing today to import many of the products necessary for the development of agriculture and food production, the Ministry of Finance and Prices issued a new regulation that exempts the import of products such as fertilizers, animal feed, veterinary medicines and pesticides from the payment of tariffs, which was established on Thursday in Resolution 329, published in Official Gazette No. 112 (ordinary).
According to the Minister of Finance, Vladimir Regueiro Ale, this measure is a continuation of those adopted at the beginning of the year and seeks to stimulate domestic production, with emphasis on food production.
“By reducing import costs, both state and non-state economic actors will have better conditions to import these goods, as well as to be associated to projects that promote productive lines”, he commented.
The minister stressed that the measure is aimed at improving the final prices of products, by reducing production costs and increasing the supply available in the market.
“It is a continuity, since at the beginning of the year, with Resolution 7, a 50% reduction in the payment of tariffs for inputs and raw materials for these productive processes was approved. This benefit was available to both state and non-state economic actors,” he explained.
Regueiro Ale indicated that, as part of the update, Resolution 329 extends the approval period for these requests to more than seven days, as was previously regulated.
He reported that to date, “the fiscal sacrifice – the money that has not been collected due to the current benefit – amounts to some 25 million pesos, especially among private economic actors, most of whom have requested this permit”.
Resolution 329 stipulates that it will no longer be necessary to request permission from the Ministry of Finance and Prices, since, due to the nomenclature of products, these will be exempt from import taxes.
“We are talking about pesticides, fertilizers, raw materials and inputs for productive processes that have an impact on agriculture. Controls will be established for customs supervision and to ensure that the goods are used for the purpose for which they are imported,” he concluded.
These benefits, in addition to stimulating production, will streamline the processes established to date.
(Source: cubadebate.cu)
