GUC and importers battle over values of imported textiles

Since Mar. 1, GUC has instituted "more careful clearing procedures" to assess the value of imported textiles, in order to protect domestic textile producers from under-priced imports. Importers believe GUC is imposing minimum values for textiles, which would violate World Trade Organization (WTO) and General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) agreements. "These are not minimal prices," said GUC spokesperson Krystyna Urbanska. "Indeed we have distributed a list of so-called price examples and based on these prices custom officers are obliged to question textile imports if they think the value of the import was understated." Said Tomasz Cecelski, head of the import tariffs department at Deloitte & Touche and former GUC deputy preside nt, "If this is really going on, the regulations seem to violate provisions of the WTO, which Poland has been a member of since 1994." (Warsaw Business Journal, page 1)