Customs Committee talks reasons for imports growth

Apress conference on the results of 2017 attended by a number of government officials was held in Baku on January 19.

While making remarks at the conference Chairman of the State Customs Committee Aydin Aliyev noted that the growth of imports in 2017 is related to supplies as part of investment projects being implemented in Azerbaijan

“A number of investment projects have been implemented in the country in recent years. In this regard, Azerbaijan imports equipment and construction machinery and materials. In general, the growth in imports is related to these supplies,” explained Aliyev.

Azerbaijan imported products worth 8.78 billion manats in 2017 that is by 2.9 percent more than in 2016, according to the State Customs Committee.

Addressing the question about a possible merger of the State Customs Committe and the Ministry of Taxes, Aliyev noted that decisions on the options for the functioning of customs authorities in Azerbaijan should be made by the country’s leadership.

He also said that the State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan granted 28 permits so far as part of the “green corridor”. Aliyev added that 25 companies obtained these permits.

Explaining the difference between the number of companies and the number of issued permits, the chairman noted that this is due to the various categories of products.

“Permits are issued separately for the turnover of ordinary products and for the turnover of excisable goods,” he said.

The previous year was successful for the customs bodies of Azerbaijan in terms of fighting against smuggling, said the chairman.

Noting that large quantity of narcotics was seized during an attempt to import it into Azerbaijan the chairman added that attempts to smuggle big volume of foreign currency out of the country were prevented in separate cases.

The attempts to smuggle $1.6 million, 22 million rubles and 50,000 euros were prevented in 2017, noted the chairman.

Meanwhile, the export of gold, gemstones and other valuables worth 1.2 million manats from Azerbaijan was prevented in 2017.

Moreover, the import of 2,770 kilograms of narcotic and psychotropic drugs into Azerbaijan was prevented, said Aliyev adding that 2,550 kilograms of this volume accounted for marijuana and more than 100 kilograms were heroin.

The chairman also noted that the State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan has prepared proposals for strengthening the fight against the illegal imports and sale of cigarettes.

"New proposals imply the introduction of restrictions on the timing and volume of cigarette imports, more precisely, we suggest that citizens can import only one block of cigarettes for personal use and only once a month," Aliyev said.

It should be noted that Recall the current rules allow citizens to import into the country three blocks of cigarettes for personal use.

While addressing the event, the Head of the Committee's Main Department for Evaluation of Efficiency and Development Programs Igbal Babayev noted that differences in oil export indicators published by Azerbaijan’s State Customs Committee and state oil company SOCAR, are explained by a different methodology of calculation.