FIFTY suspects have been detained, accused of avoiding CNY 73 million (USD 11.57 million) in tariffs by declaring foreign seafood at artificially low prices, customs authorities said yesterday.
The Shanghai Customs said the 50 were able to pay less money to the customhouse by declaring the lower prices, which dropped the wholesale price of the fish by 35 percent to 50 percent.
Despite an increasing price on the international market, the declaration prices of some popular foreign seafood remained unchanged in 2010 and last year, which aroused the attention of customs officers, who start keeping a close eye on the fishery industry.
Last November, Shanghai Customs suspected a ring engaging in the low-balling practice and began investigating.
“We found the real prices of the imported marine products after analyzing more than 200,000 data copies,” an investigator told reporters at a news briefing yesterday.
