Economy Min. proposes removing customs duties on industrial merchandise

The Economy Ministry wants to enlarge the list of the goods which will be exempted from custom duty. It will consist mostly of industrial merchandise. Suspension of the duty would be valid only for 2000 and would contain goods classified in 54 groups, which are imported from the European Union (EU) zone, EFTA countries, Hungary and Czech Republic. Some of the items on the list are zinc ore, wax, vaseline, industrial alcohols, polymers and cocoa oil. Customs duty for 28 of these items will be equal to the amounts in the European Union and others will be lower. "It is another step on the way to make Polish customs duties equal to European levels," said the Ministry. The bill will cause revenues to decrease by zl. 40 million. (Rzeczpospolita, page A1 and B2) M.M.