Latvia, Legislation, Markets and Companies, Transport

The criminal case was opened on March 23, 2006, and the Revenue Service determined during the investigation that a total of 398.7 tons of fresh garlic was brought to Latvia by sea in 2004 and 2005, and the recipients of the freight submitted fraudulent documents to customs to avoid paying the applicable taxes.

The documents stated that the garlic was brought to Latvia from Bulgaria and Turkey and therefore the freight was exempt from customs duty. The investigators determined though that the documents were fraud and the garlic had actually been imported from China. The total amount of tax that should have been paid on the freight is LVL 417,663, the Revenue Service informs.

The investigators also determined that the enterprises that imported the garlic did not actually have the right to import food products, because none of these enterprises had the necessary licenses from the Food and Veterinary Service.

According to the Revenue Service, six residents of Latvia, of which three were running the said companies, will be prosecuted according to the Criminal Law's Section 190 Part 3 – large-scale smuggling, Section 218 Part 2 – evasion of taxes and payments imposed together therewith, and Section 319 Part 1 – failure to act by a state official. The applicable sentence is five to ten years in prison.