Minutes of the second Coordinating committee on trade facilitation meeting
01.05.2017
7. Other related issues Under the supervision of the Minister of Economic Development and Trade N. Hikmatullozoda - Chairman of the Coordination Committee on trade facilitation the second meeting of the Coordination Committee was held. The representatives of relevant ministries and agencies, members of the Committee (Committee) members of the private sector and international organizations attended the meeting. It was proposed that given the fact that adoption of a number of documents is planned, issue #5 (Approval of the list of representatives of enterprises and organizations and public associations for membership in the Committee to be substituted with issue #2 (Approval of the draft action plan on ensuring compliance of the legislation of the Republic of Tajikistan with the provisions of the Trade Facilitation Agreement and the action plan on ensuring the compliance of the customs legislation of the Republic of Tajikistan with the provisions of the International Convention on facilitation and harmonization of the customs procedures (revised Kyoto Convention ). According to the meeting agenda two presentations in regards to the existing problems related to the export, import and transit procedures will be made by the representatives of public enterprises, organizations and associations. It was also noted that there are great difficulties with the access to information. For example, although the official websites of ministries and departments have been established and running necessary for the entrepreneurs information is not available. It was requested by the private sector that the recommendations proposed in presentation should be adopted by the relevant decision of the meeting and sent for implementation to the ministries and agencies of the country. The representative of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Committee member) raised an issue related to the customs value of goods, as well as the certification of goods and fresh products, which requires a lot of time and unnecessary costs. It was noted that it is necessary to obtain a certificate from the Agency of Standardization (Tajikstandard) and the Ministry of Agriculture in order to export fresh products, which creates additional technical barriers. N. Hikmatullozoda proposed, in accordance with the working procedures to establish a working group under the chairmanship of Tajikstandard and in cooperation with the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade, Agriculture, Chamber of Commerce and Industry and review the issue of certification of fresh products. Chairman of the Committee - Minister of Economic Development and Trade Minister N. Hikmatullozoda summarized the presentation and noted that the issue of the existence of the technical barriers in trade is extremely important and their elimination can contribute to export growth in the country and advised that this issue should be deeply analyzed by the responsible authorities. It was noted that the Committee members may submit their proposals concerning the presentations to the Secretariat. It was also requested that proposals for the improvement of the Republic of Tajikistan’s position in the World Bank 'Doing Business' report should be submitted to the work plan of the Committee. Then 12 representatives of the enterprises, organizations and public associations were presented for the membership in the Committee and were approved by the relevant decision of the meeting. The members of the Committee unanimously accepted the Action plan on ensuring the compliance of the legislation of the Republic of Tajikistan with the provisions of the Trade facilitation agreement and the action plan on conformity of the customs legislation of the Republic of Tajikistan with the provisions of the International convention on facilitation and coordination of customs provisions (revised Kyoto convention) which were presented for the approval. In regards to the third issue of the meeting (the draft decree of the Republic of Tajikistan on approval of the action plan on reduction of time and costs for export, import and transit operation of goods for the subjects of foreign economic activity) discussion took place and N. Hikmatullozoda proposed to the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade to submit the draft proposal to the ministries and agencies. It was proposed to present the comments to the tajik version of the draft to the secretariat within 10 days and to be sent to the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan for the review. Committee's work plan for 2017-2018 was discussed and adopted by the members of the Committee. It was proposed that reports by the relevant authorities on the implementation of the relevant provisions of the action plan to be submitted at each meeting. According to the meeting agenda with the aim of promoting the issues of single window clearance of export, import and transit of goods operations Technical Working Group under the supervision of the representative of the Customs Service (Committee member) should be established. In regards to the establishment of this group it was noted that some ministries and agencies need to provide the required information. Therefore it is necessary for the ministries and agencies to provide the required level of the experts and again to present their representative in the level of Head of the department for the membership in the technical working group. The Director of the Trading center Ashan talked about 2 issues, such as the issue of differences between the cashier funds and the existing information in the document and the existing problems with the tax authorities and provision of the shopping center with domestic products through cooperation with farmers. As a response, the representative of the Tax committee said that the nature of this issue is also subjective and depends from the experience and knowledge of the tax committee employees. It was proposed by the Chairman of the Committee, Minister of Economic Development and Trade, to establish an Interdepartmental Working Group consisting of representatives of the Ministries of Economic Development and Trade, Ministry of Finance, Tax Committee and other relevant agencies to review the issue on site and present a proposal. The representative of the Agrobusiness association of Tajikistan (member of the committee) expressed his views on existing difficulties between the entrepreneurs and tax committee concerning the customs value of the goods and stressed that this issue in most cases leads to fining of the entrepreneurs. It was proposed that a presentation concerning this issue be made in the following Committee meeting. N. Hikmatullozoda expressed his views concerning the difference in the statistics in calculating the import and export procedures. At the same time it was stressed that the authorities should adhere to the provisions of the Trade facilitation agreement and the export of the agricultural products should be conducted via green corridors. It was proposed by the members of the Committee to establish a working a group related to tax issues. The ITC consultant Amer Durrani participated in the meeting and expressed his views concerning the Committee Action plan and the report on the establishment of the Committee that was prepared by him and with the support of ITC. In particular, Durrani noted that the issues brought in the Committee Action plan should be grouped and be correlated to determine priorities. At the same time he advised the members of the committee to introduce themselves with the report. The chairman of the Committee – Minister of economic development and trade invited the members of the committee to present their suggestions to the Secretariat for the development of the work plan for 2017 until the next committee meeting. It was also noted that taking into consideration the proposals made in the meeting, the minutes should be prepared. From the discussions made in the meeting the Committee decided of the following:
1. In order to discuss the differences between the cashier funds compared to the existing information in the document and the existing problems with the tax authorities and provide the shopping center with domestic products establish a interdepartmental technical working group consisting of the representatives of the Ministries of Economic Development and Trade, Ministry of Finance, Tax Committee and other relevant agencies, review the issue on site and provide a relevant report.
2. The draft Decree of the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan “ON approval of the Action plan about the reduction of time and cost of the subjects of the foreign economic activities for export, import and transit of goods” to be improved and sent to the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan for review.
3. Establish the technical working group for reviewing the tax issues.
4. Establish a technical working group for entering amendments to the customs legislation of the Republic of Tajikistan in order to adapt it to the provisions of the Trade facilitation agreement.
5. Established a Technical Working Group in order to carry out analysis and presentation on the practical implementation of international conventions in the field of transportation and transit.
6. The members of the Committee are obliged to provide the state of implementation of the relevant paragraphs of the Committee work plan to the Secretariat of the Committee, at the same technical working group managers shall submit reports on the status of implementation of the relevant provisions of the Action plan in each meeting of the Committee.
7. Analysis of the Article 1 of the Trade Facilitation agreement (publication and access to information) which was proposed by the representatives of the firms and public associations of Tajikistan to be sent to the ministries and agencies for review and inform the secretariat of the Committee about the state of implementation.
Minutes of the second Coordinating committee on trade facilitation meeting
Minutes
of the second Coordinating committee on trade facilitation meeting
Dushanbe # 2 April 5 2017
Chairman: Minister of Economic development and trade N. Hikmatullozoda
At the Committee meeting from the 24 members of the Committee, determined by the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan decree dated December 24, 2016 under the №529 - 20 people participated. Representatives of the Executive office of the President of the Republic of Tajikistan, ministries of justice and finance with unknown reasons did not participate in the meeting. The representatives of the Ministries of transport, foreign affairs, health and social protection of the population, boarder forces of the State committee on national security, Tax committee, state phytosanitary control service, veterinary service, pharmaceutical service instead of ensuring the participation of the members of the committee lower status representatives participated. At the same time from the 12 representatives of the business sector and the public associations of Tajikistan (members of the committee) only 7 participated. The representatives of the business associations and public organizations of Tajikistan, such as Pharmaceutical Association of the Republic of Tajikistan, Insurance company “Mehnat”, Gazprom neft, Olim textiles and internet associations (members of the committee with unknown reasons did not participate in the meeting. According to the agenda of the meeting 6 issues were presented for the discussion:
1. Presentation on existing issues related to the export, import and transit of goods made by the representatives of the business firms and public organization of Tajikistan.
2. Approval of the draft action plan ensuring the compliance of the legislation of Republic of Tajikistan with the Trade Facilitation Agreement provisions and an action plan on ensuring the compliance of the customs legislation of the Republic of Tajikistan with the provisions of the International Convention on facilitation and harmonization of customs procedures (revised Kyoto convention).
3. Discussion of the draft decree of the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan “On the approval of the Action Plan for the reduction of time and cost for the participants of the foreign economic activities on export, import and transit of goods.
4. Discussion and adoption of the Committee work plan for the years 2017-2018
5. Approve the list of representatives of business organizations and public associations for the membership in the Committee.
6. Establishment of the Technical Working Group on promoting single window for export, import and transit procedures under supervision of the representative of the Customs Service.7. Other related issues Under the supervision of the Minister of Economic Development and Trade N. Hikmatullozoda - Chairman of the Coordination Committee on trade facilitation the second meeting of the Coordination Committee was held. The representatives of relevant ministries and agencies, members of the Committee (Committee) members of the private sector and international organizations attended the meeting. It was proposed that given the fact that adoption of a number of documents is planned, issue #5 (Approval of the list of representatives of enterprises and organizations and public associations for membership in the Committee to be substituted with issue #2 (Approval of the draft action plan on ensuring compliance of the legislation of the Republic of Tajikistan with the provisions of the Trade Facilitation Agreement and the action plan on ensuring the compliance of the customs legislation of the Republic of Tajikistan with the provisions of the International Convention on facilitation and harmonization of the customs procedures (revised Kyoto Convention ). According to the meeting agenda two presentations in regards to the existing problems related to the export, import and transit procedures will be made by the representatives of public enterprises, organizations and associations. It was also noted that there are great difficulties with the access to information. For example, although the official websites of ministries and departments have been established and running necessary for the entrepreneurs information is not available. It was requested by the private sector that the recommendations proposed in presentation should be adopted by the relevant decision of the meeting and sent for implementation to the ministries and agencies of the country. The representative of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Committee member) raised an issue related to the customs value of goods, as well as the certification of goods and fresh products, which requires a lot of time and unnecessary costs. It was noted that it is necessary to obtain a certificate from the Agency of Standardization (Tajikstandard) and the Ministry of Agriculture in order to export fresh products, which creates additional technical barriers. N. Hikmatullozoda proposed, in accordance with the working procedures to establish a working group under the chairmanship of Tajikstandard and in cooperation with the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade, Agriculture, Chamber of Commerce and Industry and review the issue of certification of fresh products. Chairman of the Committee - Minister of Economic Development and Trade Minister N. Hikmatullozoda summarized the presentation and noted that the issue of the existence of the technical barriers in trade is extremely important and their elimination can contribute to export growth in the country and advised that this issue should be deeply analyzed by the responsible authorities. It was noted that the Committee members may submit their proposals concerning the presentations to the Secretariat. It was also requested that proposals for the improvement of the Republic of Tajikistan’s position in the World Bank 'Doing Business' report should be submitted to the work plan of the Committee. Then 12 representatives of the enterprises, organizations and public associations were presented for the membership in the Committee and were approved by the relevant decision of the meeting. The members of the Committee unanimously accepted the Action plan on ensuring the compliance of the legislation of the Republic of Tajikistan with the provisions of the Trade facilitation agreement and the action plan on conformity of the customs legislation of the Republic of Tajikistan with the provisions of the International convention on facilitation and coordination of customs provisions (revised Kyoto convention) which were presented for the approval. In regards to the third issue of the meeting (the draft decree of the Republic of Tajikistan on approval of the action plan on reduction of time and costs for export, import and transit operation of goods for the subjects of foreign economic activity) discussion took place and N. Hikmatullozoda proposed to the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade to submit the draft proposal to the ministries and agencies. It was proposed to present the comments to the tajik version of the draft to the secretariat within 10 days and to be sent to the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan for the review. Committee's work plan for 2017-2018 was discussed and adopted by the members of the Committee. It was proposed that reports by the relevant authorities on the implementation of the relevant provisions of the action plan to be submitted at each meeting. According to the meeting agenda with the aim of promoting the issues of single window clearance of export, import and transit of goods operations Technical Working Group under the supervision of the representative of the Customs Service (Committee member) should be established. In regards to the establishment of this group it was noted that some ministries and agencies need to provide the required information. Therefore it is necessary for the ministries and agencies to provide the required level of the experts and again to present their representative in the level of Head of the department for the membership in the technical working group. The Director of the Trading center Ashan talked about 2 issues, such as the issue of differences between the cashier funds and the existing information in the document and the existing problems with the tax authorities and provision of the shopping center with domestic products through cooperation with farmers. As a response, the representative of the Tax committee said that the nature of this issue is also subjective and depends from the experience and knowledge of the tax committee employees. It was proposed by the Chairman of the Committee, Minister of Economic Development and Trade, to establish an Interdepartmental Working Group consisting of representatives of the Ministries of Economic Development and Trade, Ministry of Finance, Tax Committee and other relevant agencies to review the issue on site and present a proposal. The representative of the Agrobusiness association of Tajikistan (member of the committee) expressed his views on existing difficulties between the entrepreneurs and tax committee concerning the customs value of the goods and stressed that this issue in most cases leads to fining of the entrepreneurs. It was proposed that a presentation concerning this issue be made in the following Committee meeting. N. Hikmatullozoda expressed his views concerning the difference in the statistics in calculating the import and export procedures. At the same time it was stressed that the authorities should adhere to the provisions of the Trade facilitation agreement and the export of the agricultural products should be conducted via green corridors. It was proposed by the members of the Committee to establish a working a group related to tax issues. The ITC consultant Amer Durrani participated in the meeting and expressed his views concerning the Committee Action plan and the report on the establishment of the Committee that was prepared by him and with the support of ITC. In particular, Durrani noted that the issues brought in the Committee Action plan should be grouped and be correlated to determine priorities. At the same time he advised the members of the committee to introduce themselves with the report. The chairman of the Committee – Minister of economic development and trade invited the members of the committee to present their suggestions to the Secretariat for the development of the work plan for 2017 until the next committee meeting. It was also noted that taking into consideration the proposals made in the meeting, the minutes should be prepared. From the discussions made in the meeting the Committee decided of the following:
1. In order to discuss the differences between the cashier funds compared to the existing information in the document and the existing problems with the tax authorities and provide the shopping center with domestic products establish a interdepartmental technical working group consisting of the representatives of the Ministries of Economic Development and Trade, Ministry of Finance, Tax Committee and other relevant agencies, review the issue on site and provide a relevant report.
2. The draft Decree of the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan “ON approval of the Action plan about the reduction of time and cost of the subjects of the foreign economic activities for export, import and transit of goods” to be improved and sent to the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan for review.
3. Establish the technical working group for reviewing the tax issues.
4. Establish a technical working group for entering amendments to the customs legislation of the Republic of Tajikistan in order to adapt it to the provisions of the Trade facilitation agreement.
5. Established a Technical Working Group in order to carry out analysis and presentation on the practical implementation of international conventions in the field of transportation and transit.
6. The members of the Committee are obliged to provide the state of implementation of the relevant paragraphs of the Committee work plan to the Secretariat of the Committee, at the same technical working group managers shall submit reports on the status of implementation of the relevant provisions of the Action plan in each meeting of the Committee.
7. Analysis of the Article 1 of the Trade Facilitation agreement (publication and access to information) which was proposed by the representatives of the firms and public associations of Tajikistan to be sent to the ministries and agencies for review and inform the secretariat of the Committee about the state of implementation.