Illegal Processors Hurt Legitimate Business In Iran

Speaking at the recent Iran Plast 2002 exhibition, Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh, president of state-owned polymer producer NPC, Tehran, Iran, and Iran’s Deputy Oil Minister, urged that the more than 1000 illegal processing operations in eastern Tehran, be shut down to insure the health of the domestic industry.

According to A. Ali Saatnia, editor of Iranian magazine PIM, illegal operations are taking substantial business away from legitimate injection molders and thermoformers, which are already struggling for market share. The illegal operations reportedly are often controlled by groups of refugees from Afghanistan and sell inexpensive but questionable goods, including medical and pharmaceutical products, processed in unhygienic conditions, using off-spec or waste polymer. They, of course, also avoid taxation, and also reportedly have ties to conservative elements within the government.

“We have more than 2 million Afghan refugees who have been here for more than 15 years and need to return to their country,” said Nematzadeh. “It is a problem for the government to control this element and curtail such operations. We need to approach this situation more seriously.”