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Victoria Mindova

The Port of Piraeus and the border with Turkey are the two main Greece’s entry points of illegal goods sold on the local and European market. The sale of illegally imported goods in Greece only in 2009 is 20% of the illegal trade in Europe. The turnover of itinerant trade in the country amounts at least to 25 million euros and deprives the country of approximately six million euros in taxes.

The data were announced by the chairman of the Athens Chamber of Commerce and Industry Konstantinos Michalos who presented to journalists the plan to fight illegal trade in goods and products. He proposed all government institutions responsible for development and control of trade in the country to select employees of theirs in order a new organization to be established to fight the import and distribution of contraband goods.

If we do not strengthen customs control and facilitate the functioning of border police, customs, tax offices and other authorities responsible for the legal import and trade of goods and products in the country the situation will not change, emphasizes the businessman.

"Currently, the system is so cumbersome that even if we are alarmed for storage or truck of goods illegally imported into the country, the responsible institutions will need two to three working days to send a control group. For that time, as you understand, no one would wait to be caught with uncustomed goods, for example," said exclusively for GRReporter Michalos. He explained that the procedure is simple and requires only restructuring of the regulations which will establish the operations and functions of the new organization. Staff are already available and new appointments in the public sector won’t be necessary because the government will simply redirect employees from various ministries to the new organization. It will operate not only in border areas but also within the country where illegal goods are sold.

In 2010 the police held several actions and seized illegally imported goods such as clothes, shoes and bags amounting to millions of euros. Only during one of these actions held in last December days before Christmas, municipal police with the help of individuals found a huge warehouse in the heart of Athens storing over two million illegally imported goods.

The first step of the chamber is the advertising campaign on all national television channels, urging consumers not to purchase goods from unlicensed traders in the streets. It describes the direct and indirect consequences of encouraging the illegal trade. Ordinary shops can not resist the illegal competition of itinerant trade. They have to pay taxes, rent, overheads, salaries, insurance and other similar charges which the black market traders do not pay.

The spot says that illegal trade contributes to job losses, losses for social security funds and the failure of small traders who are most vulnerable to market disturbances. The call of the advertising campaign is:  “The itinerant trade leaves victims behind - unemployed, bankrupt shops, exploitation of illegal labour without social securities, black money, no revenues for social funds. Do not support illegal trade through your purchases.”

All residents and guests of Athens have seen the familiar scene of sheets stretched across city streets, ‘exhibiting’ flashlights and sets of screwdrivers to handbags replicating famous brands such as Dolce&Gabbana and Louis Viton, and other clothing and accessories. People are tempted to buy these goods although of unknown origin, questionable quality and maybe some of them are harmful to health because people think they are sold at good prices. As they say in England "I'm not rich enough to buy cheap things."