Imrecze meets top OLAF officials

Outgoing Financial Administration President František Imrecze met top representatives of the European Anti-fraud Office (OLAF) in the Hague on Thursday in connection with the customs fraud carried out on Chinese imports. Imrecze had discussions with OLAF Director General Ville Itala and OLAF investigation director Ernesto Bianchi, who confirmed that the Slovak Financial Administration is a reliable partner for the EU body. OLAF's statement provided to the Financial Administration reads that the problem of importing undervalued goods from China is not only an issue in Slovakia and that it is a Europe-wide problem. "We've provided OLAF with the latest information and data that the body will evaluate. We've also agreed on clearly defined steps so that we can conclude talks on OLAF's report by the end of December 2018," said Imrecze. The OLAF report features the results of its investigation into textile and footwear imports from China to the EU during which the EU body uncovered customs fraud totalling €2.2 billion, with goods worth roughly €300 million of the sum entering the EU via Slovakia. All EU member states have twelve months from the delivery of the report to negotiate, discuss and take a stance on the report. The customs fraud mentioned in the report took place mostly in 2013-14, when the Financial Administration, which includes the customs authorities, was run by Imrecze. In the wake of these events Imrecze resigned from his post as Financial Administration president.