Critical reaction to deputy commerce minister`s remark over not decreasing tariff

Deputy commerce minister Mahdi Ghazanfaris recently said that 10 percent mobile sets import tariff have not been decreed by ministers who are members of telecommunication committee.
He added that the tariff would not change up to the end of current Iranian year (around March 2009). These comments were met by critical reaction from the economic experts.
“Deputy commerce ministers remark are profitable for mobile sets smugglers. Without any decline in 25 percent tariff it is expected that smugglers find the risk to be low and increase mobile sets smuggling,” a university professor Mansour Kamalnia told Mobna news agency.
“In current situation 80 percent of mobile sets in market are imported via illegal means out of which 30 percent are imported via northern borders, 28 percent via southern borders and the rest are imported through other entry points,” he added.
“The only way to ban smuggling is decreasing tariff bellow 10 percent that unfortunately the authorities have failed to do so,” he said.
“Keeping the current mobile sets import tariff is aimed at protecting domestic production, but domestic production has not succeeded,” he added.
“However, the existing domestic production can not compete even with third class mobile producers, so how can it supply Iran markets 14 million sets need annually,” another economic expert said. 
“200,000 mobile sets have been produced domestically in previous Iranian year (ending March 2008). This figure shows inefficiency of domestic production,” he added.
“Domestic made mobile sets lack innovation and are being assembled poorly,” he said.
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