Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Aug. 18
By Huseyn Hasanov– Trend:
The State Customs Service of Turkmenistan is gradually moving to electronic customs declaration in the integrated customs information system, Trend reports referring to the service.
Presently, the T1/T2 transit module of this system has been introduced. In this regard, the clearance of goods and vehicles moving across the customs border of Turkmenistan is carried out through this system.
The activities of customs brokers (representatives) are organized at the internal and border customs posts of Turkmenistan, and carriers (forwarders) can use their services.
According to the customs legislation of Turkmenistan, in order to obtain permission for customs transit, the carrier (forwarder) submits to the customs office of any commercial, transport and (or) customs documents.
Documents must contain information about the name and location of the sender (recipient) of goods; about the country of departure (country of destination) of goods; on the name and location of the carrier of the goods or the forwarder, if the freight forwarder receives permission for customs transit; about the vehicle in which the goods are transported through the customs territory of Turkmenistan, and when transporting by road, also about the driver of the vehicle. In addition, information is needed about the types or names, quantity, cost of goods, weight or volume, classification codes of goods in accordance with the harmonized system of description and coding of goods; about the total number of packages; the destination of the goods; the planned transshipment of goods or other cargo operations en route; about the planned date of transportation of goods; the route if the goods should be transported along certain routes.
Moreover, in order to accelerate the process of customs clearance, it is recommend that the documents submitted to the customs authorities of Turkmenistan also indicate the information necessary for customs clearance in the Turkmen language.
Turkmenistan shares land borders with Kazakhstan, Iran, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan, and has maritime borders with Azerbaijan, Russia, Kazakhstan and Iran via the Caspian Sea.
Ashgabat considers the development of large-scale North-South and East-West transport corridors, an increase in the capabilities of the Central Asia-Gulf communication network, and the development of transport links in the Caspian-Black Sea region to be priorities for its policy. These projects concern the expansion of transport and communications between the countries of Central Asia with a further access to the markets of Europe, Southeast Asia, Middle East.
In particular, sea freight transportation in the Caspian Sea is becoming increasingly important in the external economic relations of Turkmenistan. Also, the volume of cargo handled at the berths of the harbor increases. Industrial, agricultural and automotive equipment, as well as metal products, timber and mineral fertilizers are delivered to the country via these routes, while polypropylene, coke and other petroleum products, as well as chemical and building industry products are exported.