The National Customs Service held an intersectoral meeting this Monday (22.08.2022/XNUMX/XNUMX) textile waste from Tarapacá, in northern Chile, to address the role of the public treasury collection services and how goods are valued. The activity was led by the Undersecretary of the Environment, Maximiliano Proaño, and representatives of the public and private sector dand the region.
The event took place in the “Raúl Cámara” hall of the Zona Franca, and was attended by the Presidential Delegate of Tamarugal, Luz González; the regional director of Customs, Cristian Silva; the Seremi of the Environment, Héctor Derpich; and representatives of the Regional Government, the Municipality of Alto Hospicio, National Assets, the health authority and the Agricultural and Livestock Service, as well as executives from Zofri SA, the Association of Users and various companies linked to the import of used clothing.
The meeting began with a general presentation on the situation of textile waste in Tarapacá, referring to its impact on the proliferation of clandestine dumpsites and efforts related to recycling and the circular economy.
Then, the founder of the Iquique startup Ecofibra, Franklin Zepeda, He explained that textile waste can be transformed into high-quality thermal panels and insulation, which, due to costs and markets, is currently installed in the Santiago commune of Renca, given that the taxes to take used clothing out of Iquique do not make his business profitable.
El Regional Director of the Iquique Customs, Cristian Molina, explained the need to contextualize the public function in relation to taxes on goods, both new and used, as well as the different business models and other emerging issues such as vehicle scrapping and the destination of used tires.
He also referred to goods leaving the Free Trade Zone for the rest of the country, to which the valuation methods of the Valuation Agreement of the World Trade Organization are applied, the same one used for all goods arriving from abroad. “Used goods pay 30,14% on the CIF value of the goods entering the Primary Free Trade Zone or on the customs value, which is the value they can reach for the purposes of their import or in the case of undervaluation that requires a valuation according to the international market price.”
El Undersecretary Proaño He stressed the need to work on coordinated solutions to achieve the commitment of different actors, making special mention of the Extended Producer Responsibility Law (Rep) and the possibility of including as priorities some goals associated with textiles and their waste.
The national authority added that the only way forward is to seek solutions together.
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