On the establishment of simplified customs corridor among

11.11.2022

AGREEMENT

of the Organization of Turkic states

The Government of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Cabinet of Ministers of the Kyrgyz Republic, the Government of the Republic of Turkiye, and the Government of the Republic of Uzbekistan (hereinafter referred to as “the Parties”),

CONFIRMING firmly established cooperative relationship among the Parties,

RECOGNIZING the need to enhance the efficiency of customs control of goods and vehicles moving among the Member States of the Organization of Turkic States,

AIMING the reduction of terms of carrying out and creation of conditions for simplification of customs control of the goods and vehicles moving among the States of the Parties,

UNDERSTANDING the important role of customs administrations in supporting the movement of goods through the supply chain;

HAVING REGARD TO the provisions of the national legislations of the States of the Parties, the standards and recommendations of the United Nations and the World Customs Organization, as well as international practices of information exchange,

ENSURING development of the Simplified Customs Corridor and its security,

Have agreed as follows:

ARTICLE 1 BASIC TERMS

For purposes of this Agreement, the following terms shall have the meanings set forth below:

a. “The simplified customs corridor” — an electronic system aiming to exchange information about the goods transported in trade between the Parties in advance, providing the Parties to facilitate the customs procedures as much as possible, open to use on a voluntary basis and can be used in all modes of transport.

b. “Trade Operators” — those who provide reliable information about goods and means of transport, participating in the Simplified Customs Corridor and complete customs procedures in accordance with the provisions of this Agreement.

c. “Information Exchange” — exchange of information on goods exported and means of transport moved among the States of the Parties.

d. “Technical Conditions” — the technical infrastructure and processing data, which will be detailed by another protocol that will constitute an integral part to this Agreement.

ARTICLE 2 GENERAL PROVISIONS

1. The Parties shall authorize the following Customs Authorities of the States of the Parties on implementation of this Agreement:

in the Republic of Azerbaijan: The State Customs Committee of the Republic of Azerbaijan;

in the Republic of Kazakhstan: The State Revenue Committee of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Kazakhstan;

in the Kyrgyz Republic: The State Customs Service under the Ministry of Finance of the Kyrgyz Republic;

in the Republic of Turkiye: The Ministry of Trade of the Republic of Tiirkiye;

in the Republic of Uzbekistan: The State Customs Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

2. The Simplified Customs Corridor (hereinafter referred to as “SCC”) is based on exchange of information on movement of goods and vehicles in accordance with the technologies of the exchange of information between the Customs Authorities of the States of the Parties.

ARTICLE 3 OBJECT AND SCOPE

1. The content of exchanged information is formed according to the Annex to this Agreement, which is an integral part of this Agreement.

2. The exchange of information shall proceed on the consignments carried out by the trade operators benefiting from the SCC and on voluntary basis.

3. The technical conditions of the exchange of information shall be elaborated and approved by the Customs Authorities of the States of the Parties within six (6) months after the signing of this Agreement.

4. The SCC shall be a common practice applicable to all modes of transport and all kinds of goods.

5. The Customs Authorities of the States of the Parties shall avoid contradictions to this Agreement, which may harm the voluntary nature of this regulation as per companies, which are not participating in the SCC.

6. The SCC shall be transparent, predictable, and non-discriminatory. The SCC practices shall not result in any unfair competition.

ARTICLE 4 BENEFITS PROVIDED FOR TRADE OPERATORS WITHIN SCC

The Trade Operators shall have the following benefits:

a) Priority procedure for customs clearance at checkpoints/destinations in accordance with the national laws of the States of the Parties;

b) Facilitated customs formalities, where feasible, including separate lanes enabling to shortened clearance times;

c) Non-use of customs inspection at checkpoints/destinations, except in cases where a risk of violation of the customs legislation of the States of the Parties is identified. If customs inspection is necessary, it shall be carried out as soon as possible.

ARTICLE 5 USE OF INFORMATION AND DOCUMENTS

1. The Customs Authorities of the States of the Parties shall ensure the use of the information, obtained within the framework of this Agreement, for the purposes of performing customs clearance and customs control of goods and vehicles, moving between the States of the Parties.

2. Information obtained by the Customs Authorities of the States of the Parties shall be used exclusively for customs purposes and cannot be forwarded to third parties without a written consent of the Customs Authority of the State of the Party, which provided the information.

3. The Customs Authorities of the States of the Parties, during the organization of electronic exchange of information on goods and vehicles moved between their States, shall use the norms, standards and recommendations of the United Nations, the World Customs Organization, the national legislation of the States of the Parties and the international best practices of information exchange.

4. In accordance with their national legislations, the Customs Authorities of the States of the Parties shall take appropriate measures on violations of this Agreement and inform each other about those violations, as well as on discrepancies and/or falseness of data, that were received during the information exchange, on goods and vehicles moving between the States of the Parties.

ARTICLE 6 IMPLEMENTATION PROCESS

The Customs Authorities of the States of the Parties shall determine the list of appropriate authorized customs officials to establish direct contacts for the purposes to:

a) develop and agree the technical conditions of the exchange of information and technologies of data processing and transmitting, as well as data security requirements,

b) settle the technical problems occurred during the implementation of this Agreement.

ARTICLE 7 PILOT PROJECT

1. In order to elaborate the technologies of the exchange of information envisaged by this Agreement, the Customs Authorities of the States of the Parties shall organize and carry out a Pilot Project with the duration of six (6) months after entry into force of this Agreement that could be prolonged upon the mutual written agreement of the Customs Authorities of the States of the Parties.

2. During the first three (3) months of the Pilot Project, the Customs Authorities of the States of the Parties shall agree on:

a) the main technical conditions of the exchange of information;

b) the list, structure and format of the data to be transmitted;

c) the requirement for the information security;

d) the procedure of organization of the cooperation between the Customs Authorities of the States of the Parties within the framework of the SCC procedure;

e) the Customs Authorities of the States of the Parties shall determine the customs bodies of their respective Administrations in which the customs operations for the goods which are transported under the SCC shall be carried out.

3. The Customs Authorities of the States of the Parties shall inform each other in written about their readiness to begin the Pilot Project and customs bodies participating in the project.

4. In the following three (3) months the Parties shall carry out the practical realization of the SCC.

ARTICLE 8 RELATION TO OTHER INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS

The provisions of this Agreement shall not affect the rights and obligations of the Parties resulting from other international agreements and conventions to which they are parties.

ARTICLE 9 SETTLEMENT OF DISPUTES

1. Any disputes that may arise from the interpretation or application of this Agreement shall be resolved principally by negotiations and consultations between the Parties. Unresolved issues through such process shall be settled via diplomatic channels.

2. Each Party may request consultation from the other Party regarding the disputes in the interpretation, implementation and amendment of this Agreement or the settlement of any possible dispute that may occur.

3. Any negotiations or consultations to be conducted among the Parties within the scope of Paragraphs 1 or 2 of this Article shall commence within twenty (20) days following the receipt of the written request, unless otherwise decided.

ARTICLE 10 ADDITIONS AND AMENDMENTS

1. This Agreement may be amended at any time by mutual written consent of the Parties by separate protocols that will be integral parts of this Agreement.

2. The amendments shall enter into force in accordance with the provisions of Article 11 of this Agreement.

ARTICLE 11 ENTRY INTO FORCE, DURATION AND TERMINATION

1. The Parties shall inform, in written through diplomatic channels, the Depositary about the completion of their internal legal procedures necessary for entry into force of this Agreement. This Agreement shall enter into force on the thirtieth day following the date when Depositary has informed other Parties that all Parties completed internal legal procedures required for the entry into force of this Agreement.

2. This Agreement is concluded for an indefinite period and any of the Parties may terminate its participation in this Agreement by sending a written notification of its intention to terminate the Agreement to the Depositary through diplomatic channels. In such case, this Agreement shall be terminated three months following the date of such notification. The termination of this Agreement shall not affect the transactions already in progress.

3. The Depositary of this Agreement is the Secretariat of the Organization of Turkic States. The Depositary shall provide a certified copy of this Agreement to all Parties.

Done at Samarkand on 11 November 2022 in six original copies in Azerbaijani, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Turkish, Uzbek and English languages, all texts being equally authentic. In case of any controversies regarding interpretation of this Agreement, the text in English language shall be used.

(signatures)

ANNEX

THE CONTENT OF SHARED INFORMATION

Export customs authority code

Consignor/Exporter name

Consignor/Exporter address

Items

Total packages

Reference number

Consignee name

Identity, nationality of means of transport at departure

Container

Delivery terms

Identity, nationality of active means of the transport crossing the border

Currency and total amount invoiced

Office of exit

Packages and description of goods (marks and numbers, container no, number and kind)

Item nr.

Commodity code (10 digits)

Country origin code

Gross mass — kg

Net mass

Supplemental units

Additional information / Documents produced / Certificates and authorizations

Office of departure

Office of destination (and country)

The number and the date of the invoice

Entry customs authority code

Import customs authority code

Name and number of transport document

Number of attached documents

Date of transport document

Data of the country of origin

Customs value