Azerbaijan, Baku, Sept. 5 / Trend A. Akhundov /
The Azerbaijani Cabinet of Ministers' decision to abolish exemptions for imported grain, meslin (a mixture of wheat and rye), wheat and rye flour from VAT from July 10 is of great importance for promoting the internal market of the country, Deputy Agriculture Minister Bahram Aliyev said.
These exemptions were introduced on Dec.3, 2010, and were supposed to be enforced until Aug.1, 2011. The VAT rate in Azerbaijan is 18 percent. The decision on VAT exemptions on imports of these products in 2010 was linked with the need to import grain to meet domestic demand, because of the natural disasters which caused a low crop yield in 2010, the ministry said earlier.
"There is no need for importers' benefits, Aliyev told media."Imposing VAT is important as it is necessary to maintain exports, rather than imports to preserve and to develop the internal market."
Aliyev said that the Ministry aims to ensure Azerbaijan's full requirements in crops at the expense of domestic production.
As of August 22, about 2.3 million tons of grain (increased by 24.2 percent) were collected from an area of 930,800 hectares (decreased by 0.2 percent per year).
In general, the harvest is expected to be collected from an area of 933,600 hectares, or 0.5 percent less than last year.
Wheat was collected by 1.64 million tons more during the reporting period (an increase of 25.5 percent) from an area of 654,020 hectares (decreased by 0.4 percent per year).
According to the recent data, about 99.97 percent of the area sown with wheat was cultivated.
Spring field operations were completed in the country in June.