Senator Robledo alerts government

of huge operation to smuggle

in 30,000 tons of powdered milk

 

New Zealand milk passed off as Venezuelan is planned to be brought into the country. This would deal a hard blow on Colombia’s cattle industry, and calls for immediate government action.

 

Colombian senator Jorge Enrique Robledo joined the Colombian Federation of Cattle Ranchers (Fedegán) in the demand to the national government to prevent 30,000 tons of New Zealand powdered milk to enter the country without paying applicable taxes.

 

New Zealand powdered milk is required by law to pay a 98 percent import tariff. These 30,000 tons, however, would be passed off as Venezuelan milk, which under Andean Community of Nations (CAN) regulations is not required to pay a cent as no import tariff is levied on CAN members.

 

According to Fedegán, the milk would enter the country through the locality of Paraguachón, department of La Guajira, on the border with Venezuela.

 

The ton of milk is sold at 6 million Colombian pesos, instead of the 12.5 million pesos it would cost if the tariff were applied.

 

This tactic would cause severe damage to national dairy producers, as it is a blatant case of unfair competition.

 

Fedegán also reports that the milk has a shelf life of less than one year, and thus violates food safety regulations that stipulate that shelf life must be more than 12 months.

 

Robledo called on the national government to act immediately to prevent the powdered milk from entering the country, and he noted that these fraudulent schemes affect more than 400,000 milk producing families.