the Ministry of Customs and Trade – Muhasebe News

What is the Purpose of Common Transit?

MuhasebeNews — Wed, 11 Oct 2017 09:00:03 +0000

Customs transit is one of the cornerstones of the international trade flow. It enables goods to move more freely and makes customs clearance formalities more accessible. It does so by temporarily suspending duties and taxes that are applicable to goods at importation.

In this regard, Common transit is used for the movement of goods between the EU Member States, the EFTA countries (Iceland, Norway and Switzerland– including Liechtenstein in as far as it forms a Customs Union with Switzerland) Macedonia, Serbia and Turkey.

In the capacity as the 2015 year chairmanship of EU/EFTA Joint Committees of the Conventions on common transit and on the simplification of formalities in trade in goods, The Ministry of Customs and Trade of the Republic of Turkey conducted and finalized the accession process of both Macedonia and Serbia to the Conventions.

Thereby firstly, Macedonia becomes the Contracting Party of the Conventions as of 1 July 2015. Then, as of 1 February 2016, Serbia joined the Common Transit System. By this accession, number of the Contracting Parties to the Conventions increased to 35.

The accession to the conventions enables easier and faster movement of goods due to the realization of the transit procedure by submitting a single transit declaration in electronic form in the place of departure which is valid for the entire journey until the place of destination within the contracting parties of the Convention. The transit declaration is simultaneously used as a so-called entry summary declaration which should be submitted for commodities entering any EU Member State.

The New Computerized Transit System (NCTS) is a system that is based on the use of advanced computer technology and electronic data processing. NCTS is the basis for the implementation of the transit procedure by exchanging electronic messages between agents in the customs procedure and customs offices, as well as among customs offices. It serves as a tool for management and control of the transit operations and provides more modern and efficient management from the system that used to be based on paper.

On the other hand, Turkish Customs Administration completed the technical studies of adoption of the amendments to the Convention and its Appendices both with respect to the substance and terminology on the basis of the decision of EU-EFTA Joint Committee on Common Transit No. 1/2016, for the purpose of their alignment with the requirement of the Union Customs Code as well as its relevant delegated and implementing acts, which has been in effect as of 1st May 2016.

Source: Ministry of Customs and Trade

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eTIR System in Turkey

MuhasebeNews — Tue, 10 Oct 2017 07:00:00 +0000

Having regard to globalization and electronization of the TIR System, Turkish Customs Administration maintains working on to achieve these goals.

In this context, the Ministry of Customs and Trade of the Republic of Turkey has put into practice the Customs to Customs (C2C) exchange of data project with Georgia and Customs to Business/Business to Customs (C2B/B2C) exchange of data project with Iran.

Through both projects, the aim is to make customs procedures and international border crossings quick and simple towards paperless cross-border trade.

The project has 6 stakeholders. It is developed by the UNECE and IRU and conducted by the Turkish and Iranian Customs Administrations.

The signatories of the TOR, thus the stakeholders of the pilot project are: the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), International Road Transport Union (IRU), Ministry of Customs and Trade of Turkey, Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration, the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB) and Iranian Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Mines (ICCIMA).

The first phase of the pilot project covered a period from November 2015 to August 2016, and the second phase covered a period from August 2016 to February 2017.

As the TOR of the pilot project foresees a 1-year implementation, by the end of February 2017, 82 pilot transports in total were carried out with great success.

All of the companies took part in the Project used e-guarantees.

In line with the Terms of Reference, no paper TIR Carnets was used.

Instead, due to legal necessities, “print at home solution” was applied. All through the pilot project, TIR Carnet format was applied as an accompanying document with the exact TIR Carnet layout.

During the second phase of the pilot, more companies and additional customs offices were involved, which allowed multiple loading and unloading.

With the finalization of the project, the actors concluded on the understanding that eTIR transports can continue after the end of phase 2, meaning after 28 February 2017 within the same scope, unless one Party notifies all the Parties of the intention to discontinue.

Turkey and Georgia concluded a Protocol on Data Exchange including the TOR of an eTIR Pilot Project on 26 January 2016, with the occasion of International Customs Day.

Aiming at testing specific features of e-TIR Reference Model, this pilot project will start soon. The data exchange platform on UNECE has already been established and tests to transmit and receive of data via the exchange platform are being conducted.

Source: Ministry of Customs and Trade

Foreign Trade Statistics of Turkey, March 2017

MuhasebeNews — Fri, 28 Apr 2017 07:45:05 +0000

Exports and imports increased by 13.6% and 6.9%, respectively
According to the provisional data, produced with the cooperation of the Turkish Statistical Institute and the Ministry of Customs and Trade, in March 2017; exports were 14 billion 496 million dollars with a 13.6% increase and imports were 18 billion 988 million dollars with a 6.9% increase compared with March 2016.

Foreign trade deficit decreased by 10.3%
In March 2017 foreign trade deficit was 4 billion 492 million dollars with a 10.3% decrease compared with March 2016.

In March 2017, exports coverage imports was 76.3% while it was 71.8% in March 2016.

Seasonally and calendar adjusted exports increased by 3.7%
Seasonally and calendar adjusted exports and imports increased by 3.7% and 2.2%, respectively compared with previous month. Calendar adjusted exports and imports increased by 13.5% and 7.1%, respectively compared with March 2016.
Exports to the European Union increased by 8.1%
As compared with the same month of the previous year, exports to the EU-28 increased by 8.1% from 6 billion 267 million dollars to 6 billion 775 million dollars. The proportion of the EU countries was 46.7% in March 2017 while it was 49.1% in March 2016.

The main partner for exports was Germany
In March 2017, the main partner country for exports was Germany with 1 billion 321 million dollars. The country was followed by UAE with 1 billion 28 million dollars, Iraq with 906 million dollars and the United Kingdom with 874 million dollars.

The top country for imports was Germany
In March 2017, the top country for Turkey’s imports was Germany with 1 billion 783 million dollars. The country was followed by China with 1 billion 770 million dollars, Russia with 1 billion 599 million dollars and the USA with 952 million dollars.

Ratio of exports of high-tech products in manufacturing industries was 3.1%
Foreign trade by technology intensity covers the manufacturing industries’ products in classification of ISIC Rev.3. According to the ISIC Rev.3, the ratio of manufacturing industries products in total exports was 94.4% in March. The ratio of high-technology products in manufacturing industries was 3.1%. The ratio of medium-high-technology products in manufacturing industries’ products was 33.9%.

Ratio of imports of high-tech products in manufacturing industries was 13.9%
The ratio of manufacturing industries’ products in total imports was 81%. The ratio of high-technology products in manufacturing industries’ products was 13.9% in March 2017. The ratio of medium-high-technology products in manufacturing industries’ products was 42.2%.

Foreign Trade Statistics in Turkey, February 2017

MuhasebeNews — Tue, 04 Apr 2017 13:49:30 +0000

Exports decreased by 1.9% while imports increased by 1.6%
According to the provisional data, produced with the cooperation of the Turkish Statistical Institute and the Ministry of Customs and Trade, in February 2017; exports were 12 billion 127 million dollars with a 1.9% decrease and imports were 15 billion 820 million dollars with a 1.6% increase compared with February 2016.

Foreign trade deficit increased by 15%
In February 2017 foreign trade deficit was 3 billion 693 million dollars with a 15% increase compared with February 2016.

In February 2017, exports coverage imports was 76.7% while it was 79.4% in February 2016.

Seasonally and calendar adjusted exports increased by 1.8%
Seasonally and calendar adjusted exports and imports increased by 1.8% and 1.7%, respectively compared with previous month. Calendar adjusted exports and imports increased by 0.7% and 5.5%, respectively compared with February 2016.
Exports to the European Union decreased by 3.2%
As compared with the same month of the previous year, exports to the EU-28 decreased by 3.2% from 5 billion 723 million dollars to 5 billion 539 million dollars. The proportion of the EU countries was 45.7% in February 2017 while it was 46.3% in February 2016.

The main partner for exports was Germany
In February 2017, the main partner country for exports was Germany with 1 billion 119 million dollars. The country was followed by UAE with 938 million dollars, Iraq with 725 million dollars and the United Kingdom with 702 million dollars.

The top country for imports was China
In February 2017, the top country for Turkey’s imports was China with 1 billion 643 million dollars. The country was followed by Germany with 1 billion 439 million dollars, Russia with 1 billion 304 million dollars and France with 767 million dollars.

Ratio of exports of high-tech products in manufacturing industries was 3%
Foreign trade by technology intensity covers the manufacturing industries’ products in classification of ISIC Rev.3. According to the ISIC Rev.3, the ratio of manufacturing industries products in total exports was 93.9% in February. The ratio of high-technology products in manufacturing industries was 3%. The ratio of medium-high-technology products in manufacturing industries’ products was 33.4%.

Ratio of imports of high-tech products in manufacturing industries was 16.1%
The ratio of manufacturing industries’ products in total imports was 80%. The ratio of high-technology products in manufacturing industries’ products was 16.1% in February 2017. The ratio of medium-high-technology products in manufacturing industries’ products was 42.5%.