In connection with the last statement by Deputy Minister Michał Kołodziejczak on TVN that “lazy and corrupt customs officers” were responsible for the poor quality of products imported from the UA, the Inter-Enterprise Trade Union Trade Union Alternative in the National Tax Administration sent a call to the deputy minister to apologize to the officers. – The services subordinate to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development are responsible for the quality of agricultural products, so please do your job and do not insult KAS members – they write.
The statements of the Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Michał Kołodziejczak, are usually not mild. But this time – it seems – the tide has changed….
– In connection with your statement, broadcast on TVN24 on February 12, 2024, in the program “Fakty po Faktach”, which concerned, among others, poor quality products imported into the EU from Ukraine, which in your opinion are caused by, among others, “corrupt and lazy customs officers” (i.e. officers of the Customs and Tax Service) as the chairwoman of MZZ Zwiedźkowa Społecznej in KAS, I would like to inform you that we are moved by your TV speculations. These words harm the good name of the officers of the Customs and Tax Service as well as the entire National Tax Administration. Therefore, as a representative of the social side I call on you to publicly retract these words regarding “corrupt and lazy customs officers” and at the same time publicly apologize for the words you said against them – writes Agata Jagodzińska, president of the Association.
And he adds further:
– In our opinion, your scandalous and unfair statement, which hit all those working and serving in KAS who contribute to their homeland with their daily service, will cause a wave of undeserved criticism and hate directed against KAS members.. Referring to your statement that over the last 8 years there may have been incidents among the services working at the border – as you said: corruption among “customs officers”, which would result in today’s difficult situation on the eastern border, I inform you that these words are unfair and harmful.
The work of customs officers must be appreciated
Jagodzińska points out in the letter that the officers of the Customs and Tax Service perform the duties entrusted to them with great care and precision 24 hours a day.
– They work many times beyond their strength due to staff shortages, devoting themselves to service at the expense of their private lives and private matters. Border service is specific and unique in terms of the imposed rigors of its performance and the specificity of handling crossing control, analyzing documentation and entering it into IT systems.
In accordance with the principle of political neutrality, the assigned tasks are performed by KAS employees and officers regardless of the political option that currently resides in the Ministry of Finance. Pursuant to Art. 146 of the Act on the National Revenue Administration, we are obliged to be subordinate and follow the orders of our direct superiors. Thanks to this, it is possible to implement the assumptions of the Ministry of Finance and the Prime Minister on a national scale and no employee or officer acts arbitrarily.
We operate within the limits of the law
The trade unions point out that each officer of the Customs and Tax Service performs his duties on the basis and within the limits of the law and in accordance with the orders of his superiors.
– Officers are not responsible for law-making functions, but for monitoring compliance with the principles and legal provisions created by the legislator. It is the MPs and Senators who, as a rational legislator, have the ability to create legislation, and you are an MP and a Minister. In your statement, you also insinuate that “corrupt and lazy officials” are responsible for the poor quality of products imported from Ukraine. KAS officers serving at the state border are responsible, among others, for: for supervising the transport of agricultural products, and not the quality of these products. These are essentially two different aspects and institutions that cannot be combined – emphasizes Agata Jagodzińska.
It is Minister Kołodziejczak who has the power
And he reminds Minister Kołodziejczak in the letter that various services work at the border where goods are handled, “but these three services are subordinated to your ministry.” These are:
• Border Veterinarian – subordinated to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development;
• State Plant Health and Seed Inspection – subordinated to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development;
• Commercial Quality Inspection of Agricultural and Food Products – also subject to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development
– You hold power in the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. Therefore, if you have any doubts about the quality of the imported goods, no one other than you has the ability to implement corrective actions – the trade unionists point out in the letter.
The representative of KAS emphasizes that since the beginning of the crisis, transports from Ukraine have been responded to and monitored, with ongoing implementation of regulations that expanded the catalog of goods subject to the Act of March 9, 2017 on the monitoring system for road and rail transport of goods and trade in heating fuels, known as the SENT Act. The SENT register, which records all transports of goods subject to monitoring, works efficiently. All vehicles that cross the border with goods are monitored from the moment they cross. The SENT-GEO system is used for this purpose, in which the locator located in the vehicle constantly transmits the route traveled by the vehicle. Such transport can be inspected at any time.
– Moreover, I would like to inform you that practically all Directors of Tax Administration Chambers in the country supported the eastern border at the crossings with Ukraine by sending their officers there, who often found out about it from one day to the next. KAS also has a representative for the eastern border who monitors the situation on an ongoing basis. Therefore, your statement suggesting that customs officers working at the border are lazy is false – a representative of KAS writes to Kołodziejczak.
We demand an apology
And adds:
– According to the reports provided to us by the officers, each day brings a deterioration of the situation and tensions on both sides of the border.. Therefore, we should focus on how to improve the existing tools we have. We can work out new solutions together, instead of devoting the attention of the media and public opinion to unfair slander and accountability of officers by insinuating their corruption and laziness.
As a media person and a government official of the highest rank, you should be tactful, moderate and highly predictive in your statements, and when commenting on a given topic, seek information from the source. It would be best if you personally saw how customer service is provided by KAS officers, how they work in a system of constant stress and media noise, how documents are handled in programs, including: in the “Digital Border” – then you can actually talk substantively. This would be more appropriate than accusing “customs officers of corruption and laziness”, without knowing the hardship and specificity of their work.
Due to the above, in our opinion, your statement was unfair, untrue and discriminatory, I call on you to publicly withdraw the harmful words regarding “corrupt and lazy customs officers” and publicly apologize to these officers. The difficult situation at the border cannot result in public statements made by the Polish Deputy Minister that are untrue and harmful to the National Fund, especially if he does not know the specifics of work in a given ministry.
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