Azernews.Az

By Nigar Abbasova

Azerbaijan is currently engaged in application of a system of Post Clearance Audit (PCA) at the customs checkpoints.

PCA stands for checks that are undertaken after the clearance of the goods and is aimed at the verification of the accuracy and authenticity of declarations through the examination of the relevant books, records, business systems and commercial data held by persons concerned.

State Customs Committee head Aydin Aliyev, talking to the official press, mentioned that PCA will be implemented in relation to the goods passing through the ‘yellow’ and ‘blue’ corridors at the customs checkpoints.

He underlined that the system can also be used in relation to the goods passing through the ‘green’ corridor. “PCA may be applied in relation to 10 percent of the goods passing through the ‘green’ corridor in accordance with the rules, while the figure amounts to 50 percent in relation to the goods submitted to ‘yellow’ and ‘blue’ corridors,” Aliyev explained.

The head of the committee mentioned that the introduction of four types of corridor at the customs checkpoints is based on the world practice.

“The system is widely used in most of the countries. The ‘green’ corridor provides for the check of all necessary documentation. The difference of the ‘blue’ corridor from the ‘green’ one is the implementation of post-customs audit. The ‘yellow’ one implements partial customs control while the ‘red’ one stipulates a thorough examination,” he added.

The ‘green’ corridors are mainly introduced with a view to ensure more rapid and transparent implementation of the customs clearance of goods and means of transport to facilitate a number of procedures.

Aliyev went on to say that the Customs Committee works to combat unauthorized use of the benefits offered by the state. He said that the Committee has already submitted a proposal on the illegal use of customs benefits by physical entities to the Cabinet of Ministers, mentioning that the Cabinet will take a respective decision in a due course.

Under the rules in effect, each physical entity is eligible for the import of goods, which are not envisaged for the commercial or manufacturing purposes with the total cost amounting to $1,500.

The head of committee also mentioned that the exemption of freight vehicles from the highway-user tax will not influence the amount of revenues to the state budget. He explained this with the low number of annual multimodal transportation in Azerbaijan and poor revenues from the taxation of this sphere in the previous years.

“We expect that the exemption from the highway-user tax will not influence the revenues to the state budget and instead lead to the growth in cargo transportation. The main objective of the decision is making the country more attractive for the freight transportation,” he added.

Under the recent amendments to the Tax Code, load carriers and vehicles with trailer or semi-trailer registered in the foreign countries are free of highway-user tax for the 3 year period.

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Nigar Abbasova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @nigyar_abbasova

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