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FY 1999: Turkmenistan |
CHAPTER VI: TRADE REGULATIONS AND STANDARDSTrade Barriers, Including Tariffs, Non-Tariff Barriers and Import Taxes
The GOTX imposes excise taxes on certain goods imported into and exported from Turkmenistan. In February 1998, a Presidential Decree approved an updated list of those goods.
When considering importing or exporting goods from Turkmenistan, the following should be considered:
-- the importation of alcohol into Turkmenistan is licensed by the Ministry of Trade and Resources; -- goods and products imported in accordance with intergovern- mental agreements, governmental decrees and orders, and for the implementation of projects and contracts, including those involving foreign investment, state loans, and humanitarian assistance, are exempt from excise taxes. In addition, the raw materials and/or semi-finished products imported into Turkmenistan with a purpose of further processing as well as finished and/or semi-finished goods and products made of these raw materials and exported from Turkmenistan are also exempt from excise taxes. -- excises are paid in the national currency, the manat, at a foreign exchange rate determined by the Central Bank of Turkmenistan on the date of contract registration with the State Commodity and Raw Materials Exchange.
According to customs rules issued on February 10, 1997, excise taxes on imports are computed on the basis of one of the following:
(a) the physical volume or weight of goods (in which case the excise rate is set in U.S. dollars); or (b) trade contract value (in which case the excise rate is expressed as a percentage), provided the resulting tax equals or exceeds the amount of tax customs would collect under (a).
The following goods imported into Turkmenistan are subject to excise taxes:
(1) Beer $0.50 per liter (2) Grape wines including strong wines $1.00 per liter (3) Vermouth, other grape wines $1.50 per liter (4) Alcohol, liquors, other drinks $1.50 per liter (5) Coarse-ground salt 30% of contract price (6) Mineral water except mineral water 100% used for medical purposes (7) Beverages: from September through March 50% from April through August 30% (8) Ice cream 50%, but not less than $1.50 per kilo, beginning June 1, 1998 (9) Macaroni 50%, but not less than 0.50 per kilo (10) Tomato paste 30% (11) Preserved tomatoes 50% (12) Tomato juice 50% (13) Pickled, sour cabbage 50% (14) Cherry-plum, plum, apple compotes 30% (15) Apple, plum, cherry-plum jam 30% (16) Apple, carrot, pumpkin, melon jam 50% (17) Pickled eggplants 30% (18) Pickled beets 30% (19) Watermelons, melons, gourds 100% (20) Grapes 100% (21) Fresh vegetables including tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, cabbage, cucumbers, onion, garlic 100% (22) Lemons 50% (23) Cigars including cigars with cut ends, cigarillos and their substitutes except cigarettes without filters 20%, but not less than $0.10 per pack (24) Tobacco and its substitutes $0.25 per pack (25) Jewelry made of precious and semi- precious stones and metals, plated with precious metals, or natural and cultivated pearls or precious and semi-precious stones 10% (26) Automobiles: -- with engine capacity up to 2,000 cc $0.25 per one cc of engine capacity -- with engine capacity 2,000 cc or greater $0.35 per one cc of engine capacity (27) Cotton fabric (coarse calico) 100% (28) Denim fabric 100% (29) Cotton yarn (all sizes) 100% (30) Knitted cotton fabric 100% (31) Knitted cotton garments 100% (32) Knitted cotton men's jersey or sweaters 30% (33) Knitted cotton women's pajamas 30% (34) Cotton robes except for terry robes 100% (35) Cotton terry towels 20% (36) 100% cotton bed linens 50% (37) Cotton underwear 50% (38) Denim trousers 50% (39) Mattresses, blankets, cotton pillows 100% (40) Cotton mittens 100% (41) Cotton and denim clothing used for industrial and agricultural work except for clothing made of tarpaulin material or other fabrics processed with special materials 100% (42) Cotton wool except for medical cotton wool 100% wool (43) Cotton sheet wadding 50% (44) Quilted cotton wool for furniture 50% (45) Strips of cotton carpets 50% (46) Machine-made wool carpets, rugs and carpet items 50% (47) Machine-made partial wool carpets, rugs and carpet items 50% (48) Machine-made synthetic carpets, rugs and carpet items 50% (49) Astrakhan fur coats 100% (50) Sheep wool except sardjinskaya, merenosnaya and angora wool 50% (51) Raw silk 50% (52) Silkworm cocoons 50% (53) Lamp holders, sockets, switch outlets 30% (54) Window glass with 3-4 milli- meter thickness except for shaded, reinforced and patterned glass $1 per square (55) Cauldrons with 3,5,9,15,25, 50 and 100 liter capacity 50% (56) Aluminum teapots 50% (57) Enameled bowls with a capacity of up to 2 liters 30% (58) Enameled mugs with a capacity of 0.4 to 1 liter 30% (59) Gas stoves 20% (60) Saws of PMP00183 type 100% (61) Saws of 4AP05002 type 100% (62) Cream mixing machines of MV-60 and MV-35 types 20% (63) Pouring equipment (USN-175 type) 10% (64) Drilling equipment (BPR-70) 10% (65) Dough, pastry mixing equipment (TMM-1M) 20% (66) Carbon dioxide 20% (67) Technical sulfur acid 20% (68) Aluminum sulfate 20% (69) Oxygen 20% (70) Ferro bromide 20% (71) Ozocerite 20% (72) Technical carbon K-354 30% (73) Sodium sulfate (A and B type) 30% (74) Technical magnesium chloride (bishofit) 30% (75) Natural magnesium sulfate (epsomit) 30% (76) Glauber's salt 50% (77) Potassium iodide 30% (78) Technical iodine (A type) 30% (79) Tetrabrominedifeninololpropan 30% (80) "Belizna" bleach 30% (81) Sea salt 50% (82) Gypseous and anhydride stone 30% (83) Oil coke 30% (84) Bitumen 30% (85) Sulfur 30% (86) Technical salt 30% (87) Fans (VG-70, VG-50, ZVG-25 types) 30% (88) Equipment (USN-175 type) 30% (89) Rotor (V16VG-70 type) 30% (90) Conductors (types: APV-4, APV-6, APV-12 APV-16, APV-25, APV-35, APV-50, APPV-2*4) 30% (91) Cord 30% (92) Cable (types: AVVG-2*4, AVVG-3*4, AVVG-4*4, AVVG-4*6, ACCG-4*10, AVVG-4*16, AVVG-4*25, AVVG-4*35 15% (93) Radio cord PRPPM-2*0.9 15% (94) Control cable AKVVG-4*2.5 15% (95) Cement (M-300 and M-400 types) $5 per ton (96) Slate $20 per one thousand of conditional slab
The Government levies excise taxes on a limited number of exported goods. The list includes:
(1) Pure wool and partial wool yarn $100 per ton (2) Cattle leather: -- leather from cows, camels, bulls, etc. $100 per ton -- leather from sheep and goats $0.50 per piece -- non-standard leather $50 per ton (3) Ammonia saltpeter $100 per ton (4) Superphosphate * $100 per ton (5) Ammonium phosphate * $100 per ton (6) Ammonium sulphate * $100 per ton (7) Turkmen sheep-dogs (license required from the Nature Protection Ministry) $300 per dog
*) Note: all marked products are exempt from excise taxes when sold for hard currency through the State Commodity and Raw Materials Exchange. Trade contracts for the export of these products, if registered with the SCRME before March 1, 1998, are also exempt from excise tax payments.
Customs Valuation
To pass through customs, an importer of goods must submit the following documents: -- A trade contract registered with the SCRME. The contract should contain information about quantities and costs in hard currency that will be the basis for the customs valuation; -- A bill of lading with similar information on qualities and costs; -- A customs declaration form that can be obtained in the Ashgabat-Expertisa firm of the Chamber of Commerce of Turkmenistan at the following address:
"Ashgabat-Expertisa" Firm 17 Baymukhamed Batyrov Street Ashgabat, Turkmenistan 744000 Tel: [9](9312) 35-13-52, 35-53-26
-- A conformance certificate confirming the quality of delivered goods. The certificate can be obtained from the State Standards Inspectorate at the address below:
State Chief Standards Inspectorate 14 Seidi Street Ashgabat, Turkmenistan 744000 Tel: [9](9312) 51-14-94, 51-14-32 Fax: [9](9312) 51-04-98
The Cotton Inspectorate under the State Cotton Association issues a separate conformance certificate for cotton exported from Turkmenistan. -- A Central Bank document confirming a money transfer for pur- chasing goods or an irrevocable Letter of Credit.
During the customs clearance process, Customs charges a service fee of 0.2% of the contract cost and 20% of the value added tax assessed on the customs service fee sum.
Import/Export Licenses
Issued in November 1994, a presidential decree outlines two separate sets of goods where import or export must be licensed by the President and the Cabinet of Ministers. The following is the list of goods where import or export is controlled by the President:
1. Arms and military equipment and special items used for military production and services; 2. Gunpowder, explosive substances, explosive and pyrotechnic devices; 3. Radioactive materials, technology, equipment and installations, special non-nuclear materials and radioactive wastes; 4. Precious metals and alloys, ores, scrap material and wastes; 5. Precious stones and items including wastes, powder, recuperation of precious stones, pearls and amber; 6. Narcotics; 7. Special kinds of raw materials, equipment, technology and scientific information used for arms and military equipment production; 8. Materials, equipment and technology ostensibly produced for peaceful purposes but which may be used for production of nuclear, chemical and other kinds of weapons of mass destruction; 9. Investment abroad; 10. Export of scientific and research works, expertise and innovations; and 11. Poisons (except those that are included in the list below).
The Cabinet of Ministers licenses export or import of the following goods:
1. Chemicals; 2. Poisons; 3. Industrial wastes; 4. Turkmen national jewelry; 5. Cultural valuables; 6. Ancient printed products and manuscripts; 7. Archaeological findings; 8. Numismatics; 9. Art pieces; 10. Collections of materials on mineralogy and biology; 11. Middle Asian sheep-dog; 12. Ahalteke horses; 13. Pedigree cattle; 14. Wild animals; 15. Wild plants, bones of fossil animals, ivory, horns, hoofs, corals and other such materials; and 16. Information about energy resources and minerals broken down according to regions and fields located throughout the territory of Turkmenistan and within the continental shelf and offshore zone.
The Ministry of Trade and Resources issues licenses for the import of alcohol. The Precious Stone and Metal Fund under the Central Bank of Turkmenistan provides licenses for export or import of precious stones and metals.
To promote the export of Turkmen goods, a special Presidential Decree has authorized the State Commodity and Raw Materials Exchange to regulate prices for goods produced in Turkmenistan and exported from the country, and to control implementation of export contracts. Also, beginning July 1, 1998, state and non-state enterprises and agricultural entities are exempted from value added tax payment on part of the profit received from export of goods and services.
Import/Export Documentation Requirements
The SCRME is authorized to issue import/export licenses for all commercial transactions involving foreign participation.
To register direct trade contracts that are not involved in auctioning at the SCRME, three original copies of the contract along with a product quality certificate and a document confirming product availability must be submitted to the SCRME.
Those goods that are auctioned at the SCRME can be exported from or imported into Turkmenistan without licensing.
To register a contract for selling or purchasing goods at the SCRME, an application should be submitted at least five days prior to the sale or purchase. The application must contain information about the goods: quantity, prices, place of origin and current location, terms of delivery and payment and the seller's contact information. In addition, the following documents must also be submitted: a product quality certificate issued by the producer of goods offered for sale; a written confirmation of product avail- ability issued by the seller; and a guarantee document containing the date and terms for delivery of goods in Turkmenistan. A buyer must present a bank confirmation of sufficient funds to cover the cost of the goods.
Contracts and treaties concluded on the basis of clearing agree- ments, trade credits and investment barters (as well as those entailing the import of a part of joint venture capital goods, and charitable donations) must also be registered with the SCRME.
Temporary Entry
According to Turkmenistan's Law on Foreign Investment, goods and properties that are imported temporarily and used for personal needs are exempted from customs duty payments. (Note that there are no customs duties levied in Turkmenistan.) The GOTX has been developing regulations on temporary entry requirements which will probably be in effect in 1998.
Current rules on temporary entry require that excise taxes be levied on goods and properties that will be used in Turkmenistan for one year and then exported from the country. However, the excise taxes levied will be paid back upon exporting the goods from Turkmenistan.
Standards, Labeling and Marking Requirements
Turkmenistan joined the International Standard Association in 1991, and, in 1992, began to adhere to the Interstate Council on Standard, Metrology and Certification that covers CIS countries. Also, Turkmenistan became a member of the International Standard Organi- zation (ISO) in 1993 and signed bilateral agreements on cooperation with the National Standard Agencies of Turkey and Iran. Inter- governmental agreements on standards, metrology and certification have been signed with Uzbekistan, Armenia and Georgia. Presently, the Turkmen conformance certificate is accepted in 14 countries.
Turkmenistan has developed "national standards" for locally produced goods. Since Turkmenistan is a member of the ISO, Turkmen national standards are developed to meet international standards requirements. As part of the CIS, Turkmenistan has accepted General Interstate Standards (GOST) and Technical Standards (TS), developed in accordance with an agreement reached between 12 CIS countries. Most of the GOST standards incorporate former Soviet Union standards.
With the exception of cotton, all goods imported into and exported from Turkmenistan must be certified as adhering to quality standards determined by the State Chief Standards Inspectorate. Those countries that signed bilateral agreement on acceptance of national state certificates may enjoy mutually simplified procedures on issuing conformance certificates for imported/exported goods. There is no such agreement signed between Turkmenistan and the U.S. So far, Turkmenistan has not introduced any restrictive packaging or labeling standard rules. However, due to the hot climatic conditions in summer, the government requires that labels for all food products, especially perishables, must contain production and expiration dates. Also, the conformance certificates for food products must be accompanied with the product description in Russian language.
Beginning May 1, 1998, the GOTX introduced a sanitary certification requirement for food products imported into Turkmenistan. The State Sanitary and Epidemiological Inspectorate (SSEI) was assigned to oversee enforcement. The radiological, radiochemical and chemical tests of imported food products must be made by the SSEI which then issues certificates provided that an appropriate document confirming product quality and issued by the country of product origin is presented. If such a document is not available, imported food products will be tested in the Central Laboratory of Hygiene and Epidemiology.
Raw and ginned cotton to be exported from Turkmenistan is certified by the Cotton Inspectorate under the State Cotton Association.
Prohibited Imports
The Government has developed a list of goods that cannot be imported into Turkmenistan. The list includes the following items:
(1) Handmade wool rugs (named Koshma) (2) Yurtas (3) Handmade carpets (4) Astrakhans
Free Trade Zones/Warehouses
According to the Law on Free Economic Zones, a special customs regime that includes duty free treatment for goods and property imported into and exported from free economic zones, with the exception of exported goods of foreign origin, is provided in the free economic zones. All goods and properties must be declared when imported into or exported from free economic zones.
Membership in Free Trade Agreements
Turkmenistan is not a member of any free trade arrangements and is not a member of the CIS Customs Union. It has signed trilateral trade agreements with Iran and the Ukraine, Iran and Armenia, Iran and Bangladesh, Iran and the Philippines, and Iran and India and is interested in concluding more such trilateral agreements. In 1993, Turkmenistan signed and ratified a Most Favored Nation Trade Agreement with the United States. GOTX officials informally have expressed an interest in joining the World Trade Organization.
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Note* International Copyright, United States Government, 1998 (or other year of first publication). All rights under foreign copyright laws are reserved. All portions of this publication are protected against any type or form of reproduction, communications to the public and the preparation of adaptations, arrangement and alterations outside the United States. U. S. copyright is not asserted under the U.S. Copyright Law, Title 17, United States Code.