CUSTOMS CODE OF TURKMENISTAN

This Code defines the legal, economic, and organizational basis for state regulation of customs, contributing to the development of Turkmenistan's economy and ensure its economic security.

SECTION I. GENERAL PROVISIONS

Chapter 1. MAIN PROVISIONS

Article 1. Customs policy of Turkmenistan

Turkmenistan implements the single customs policy, which is a compound part of the internal and foreign policy of Turkmenistan.

Article 2. Customs affair in Turkmenistan

Customs affairs in Turkmenistan is a set of methods and means of customs regulation issues related to moving through customs border of Turkmenistan goods and vehicles, determining the order and conditions of customs clearance, application of customs regimes and levying of customs duties, customs control and other measures for the implementation of customs policy of Turkmenistan.

Article 3. Customs legislation of Turkmenistan

1. Turkmenistan’s Customs legislation is based on the Constitution and consists of this Code and other legal acts of Turkmenistan regulating relations in the field of customs.

2. If an international treaty of Turkmenistan establishes rules other than those contained in this Code, the rules of the international treaty are implemented.

Article 4. Customs territory and customs border of Turkmenistan

1. Turkmenistan territory, including the territorial water and airspace above it, is the customs territory of Turkmenistan.

2. Customs territory of Turkmenistan also includes those located in the exclusive economic zone of Turkmenistan and on the continental shelf of Turkmenistan artificial islands, facilities, and installations over which Turkmenistan exercise jurisdiction under the legislation.

3. In accordance with the legislation in the territory of Turkmenistan may be created special economic zones, which are part of the customs territory of Turkmenistan. Goods placed in special economic zones are treated as being outside the customs territory of Turkmenistan for customs duties and taxes, as well as prohibitions and restrictions of economic nature, established by the legislation of Turkmenistan, except as specified in this Code and other normative legal acts of Turkmenistan.

4. The limits (bounds) of customs territory of Turkmenistan, as well as the limits (bounds) of the territories referred to in the second and third parts of this article, are the customs border of Turkmenistan.

5. Customs Turkmenistan border coincides with the State borders, except within the territory specified in the second and third parts of this article.

Article 5. Basic terms used in this Code

1. This Code uses the following basic terms:

    1) interested persons - persons whose interests are affected by the decisions, actions (inaction) of customs authorities in respect of goods and(or) vehicles directly and individually, if this Code provide otherwise;

    2) foreign goods - goods that are not Turkmen products under paragraph 25 of this section;

    3) foreign person - a person who is not a person of Turkmenistan under paragraph 26 of this section;

    4) carrier - a person performing the carriage of goods across the customs border of Turkmenistan and (or) transport of goods under customs supervision within the customs territory of Turkmenistan or responsible for the use of the vehicle;

    5) declarant - the person submitting  a customs declaration, or person on behalf of who the customs declaration is submitted;

    6) free circulation - circulation of goods in the customs territory of Turkmenistan without the restrictions and limitations specified by law;

    7) Customs procedure - set of regulations providing for the procedure of customs operations and determining the status of goods and (or) vehicles for customs purposes;

    8) Customs declaration - a customs document in the prescribed form, which shall include the information required for submission to the customs authority under this Code;

    9) Customs broker (representative) - intermediary performing customs operations for and on behalf of the declarant or other person to whom entrusted the duty or who has been granted the right to perform customs operations under this Code;

    10) Customs regime - set of standards established by this Code, defining the status of the goods and vehicles for customs purposes depending on the purpose of their movement across the customs border and use in the customs territory of Turkmenistan or outside it;

    11) Customs authorities - the authorized state body on customs affairs and customs authorities subordinated to him;

    12) Customs control - set of the measures exercised by the customs authorities of Turkmenistan to ensure compliance with customs laws and international treaties of Turkmenistan,  control over the execution of which vested  to the customs authorities of Turkmenistan;

    13) activities in the field of customs affairs - activities of legal persons as owners of temporary storage warehouses, owners of customs warehouses and customs brokers (representatives);

    14) authorized state body on customs affairs -- the central executive body carrying out the governance of the customs affair in Turkmenistan;

    15) status of the goods and vehicles for customs purposes - the availability or absence of prohibitions and restrictions on the use and disposal of goods and vehicles under Turkmenistan legislation;

    16) Customs operations - certain actions in respect of goods and (or) vehicles committed by individuals and customs authorities under this Code while operating customs clearance of goods and (or) vehicles;

    17) Customs documents - documents prepared exclusively for customs purposes;

    18) Customs payments – customs duties, taxes, customs fees.

The taxes are excise taxes are entrusted under the law to the customs authorities of Turkmenistan during the importation of  goods into the customs territory of Turkmenistan;

    19) goods - any movable property relocated across the customs border of Turkmenistan, except vehicles referred to in paragraph 28 of this section;

    20) release of goods – actions of customs authorities, to allow interested parties to use and(or) dispose of the goods under the customs regime under which the relevant goods are placed;

    21) moving through the customs border of Turkmenistan goods and (or) vehicles – performing actions on import into the customs territory of Turkmenistan, or removal from the territory of goods and(or) vehicles by any methods:

        a) import of goods and (or) vehicles to the customs territory of Turkmenistan - the actual crossing of goods and (or) vehicles of the customs border of Turkmenistan and all subsequent actions under this Code with the goods and (or) vehicles before they are released by the customs authorities;

        b) export of goods and (or) vehicles from the customs territory of Turkmenistan - submission of customs declaration or commission of action referred to the second paragraph of this subparagraph of actions, directly aimed at export of goods and (or) vehicles, as well as all subsequent actions under this Code with the goods and (or) vehicles to the actual crossing of the customs border of Turkmenistan.

Action directly refers to  export of goods and (or) vehicles from the customs territory of Turkmenistan refers to a person entry (exiting from Turkmenistan) to the customs control zone, the entry of a motor vehicle crossing the state border of Turkmenistan to exit from the customs territory of Turkmenistan, delivery by transport companies renting goods or postal services  international mails to be sent outside the customs territory of Turkmenistan, person's actions aimed directly at the actual crossing of the customs border  by  goods and (or) vehicles outside locations, installed under Turkmenistan legislation;

    22) shipping documents - transport (shipment), commercial and customs documents for goods transported across the customs border and transported under customs supervision within the customs territory of Turkmenistan, which accompany them during transportation;

    23) person - individual or legal person;

    24) commercial documents - invoice, shipping and packing lists and other documents which are used under Turkmenistan legislation and international treaties of Turkmenistan or customs of business turnover in the implementation of foreign trade and other activities which, under law, the parties' agreement or business practices are used to validate transactions involving the movement of goods across the customs border, if  other is not  prescribed by this Code;

    25) Turkmen goods - goods for customs purposes with the status of being in free circulation in the customs territory of Turkmenistan:

        a) completely produced in Turkmenistan;

        b) released for free circulation in the customs territory of Turkmenistan;

        c) made ​​in Turkmenistan from goods entirely produced and(or) released for free circulation in the customs territory of Turkmenistan;

    26) Turkmenistan individual - a legal entity located in Turkmenistan, established under Turkmenistan legislation, as well as a physical person residing in Turkmenistan, including registered in the territory of Turkmenistan as a sole proprietorship;

    27) transport (shipping) documents - bill of lading, invoice or other documents confirming the existence and content of the contract of shipment of goods and accompanying goods at international traffic;

    28) vehicles - any sea (river) vessel (including self-propelled and non-self-propelled lighters and barges), hovercraft, aircraft, motor vehicle (including trailers, semi-trailers and combined vehicles), a unit of railway rolling stock or containers used for the international transportation of passengers and goods, as well as their regular spare parts, accessories and equipment contained in their regular tanks, fuel and lubricants and fuel, if they are transported with vehicles.

2. All other terms are used in this Code in the meanings given to civil and other legislation of Turkmenistan, as well as relevant articles of this Code.

Chapter 2. MAIN PRINCIPALS OF MOVING

GOODS AND VEHICLES

THROUGH CUSTOMS BORDER OF TURKMENISTAN

Article 6. Moving  goods and vehicles across the customs border of Turkmenistan

1. All persons shall have an equal right to move goods and vehicles across the customs border of Turkmenistan in the order prescribed by this Code, except those as provided by this Code and other normative legal acts of Turkmenistan and Turkmenistan international treaty.

2. Goods and vehicles crossing the customs border of Turkmenistan so that is prescribed by this Code.

Article 7. Compliance with the prohibitions and restrictions on the movement of goods across the customs border of Turkmenistan

1. Goods prohibited, under Turkmenistan legislation, from import into the customs territory of Turkmenistan, are subject to immediate removal from the customs territory of Turkmenistan unless other specified by this Code and normative legal acts of Turkmenistan. Export (removal) of the above-mentioned goods shall be made ​​by the carrier.

In case of impossibility of export or failure of non-immediate removal (export) of these products, it shall be placed in temporary storage or in other places that are customs control zones, at expense of the persons referred to in Article 9 of this Code. The time limit for the temporary storage of goods shall be THREE DAYS unless otherwise provided by the Turkmenistan legislation in respect of certain goods. Disposal of the goods at the end of that period execute under Chapter 39 of this Code.

Goods restricted for import into the customs territory of Turkmenistan are allowed to import (and in cases stipulated by this Code - released by the customs authority), subject to terms and conditions prescribed by Turkmenistan legislation or international treaties of Turkmenistan.

2. Goods prohibited for export are not subject to the actual export from the customs territory of Turkmenistan.

3. Goods restricted for export from the customs territory of Turkmenistan are allowed to export are subject for export if it meets the requirements and conditions established by Turkmenistan legislation or international agreements of Turkmenistan.

4. Expenses incurred by the persons referred to in Article 9 of this Code, declarants, carriers, or other persons in connection with prohibitions and restrictions on import of goods into the customs territory of Turkmenistan or their removal from the territory, the CUSTOMS AUTHORITY SHALL NOT REIMBURSE.

Article 8. Customs clearance and customs control

1. Goods and vehicles conveyed across the customs border of Turkmenistan are subject to customs clearance and customs control in the manner and on the terms provided for in this Code.

2. When carrying out customs clearance and customs control the customs authority and its officials are not entitled to establish requirements and restrictions not provided for by the customs legislation of Turkmenistan and other normative legal acts of Turkmenistan.

Article 9. Obligation to carry out customs operations for the release of goods

The obligation to carry out customs operations for release of goods, unless otherwise provided in this Code are:

    1) if the movement of goods across the customs border of Turkmenistan carries out  in accordance with the foreign economic transaction and concluded by a person of Turkmenistan - Turkmenistan person who has entered into a foreign trade transaction or in whose name or on whose behalf the transaction is enclosed;

    2) if the movement of goods across the customs border of Turkmenistan done without entering a foreign trade transaction by  Turkmenistan person:

        a) A person having the right of ownership and (or) the right to use the goods in the customs territory of Turkmenistan;

        b) other persons acting as lawfully sufficient under the civil legislation of Turkmenistan and (or) with this Code to make legal actions on their behalf with the goods under customs control.

Chapter 3. INFORMING AND CONSULTING

Article 10. Information on normative legal acts in the field of customs

1. Authorized state body on customs affairs and other customs authorities shall ensure free access, including the use of information technology to information on normative legal acts in the field of customs.

2. Authorized state body on customs affairs shall ensure publication in periodicals normative legal acts in the field of customs adopted by this body.

Article 11. Consultation on customs issues and other issues within the competence of customs authorities

1. Customs authorities shall consult interested parties on customs issues and other issues within the competence of these bodies. Information on the request of the concerned person is given as soon as possible, but no later than one month from the date of receipt of the request.

2. Counseling is free of charge by the customs authorities in both orally and in writing.

3. Information provided by interested parties during the consultation is not a basis for a decision or action (inaction) of the customs authorities in the implementation of customs operations in respect of goods and (or) vehicles.

4. Customs officials are responsible under the Turkmenistan legislation for the accuracy of the information provided to persons under the provisions of this chapter.

Chapter 4. COUNTRY OF ORIGIN

Article 12. Identification of the country of goods’ origin

1. Identification of the country of goods’ origin carries out in accordance with the provisions of this chapter in all cases where the application of customs and tariff regulation and prohibitions and restrictions prescribed by Turkmenistan legislation, depending on the country of goods’ origin.

2. The country of origin of goods shall be the country in which the goods were completely produced or sufficiently processed in accordance with the criteria of sufficient processing established by Article 14 of this Code.

3. Country of origin may be considered a group of countries, customs unions of countries, a region, or part of the country if to determine the country of origin needs such a selection.

4. Upon request of the declarant or other interested person, the customs authorities shall make a preliminary decision on determining the origin of goods under Chapter 6 of this Code.

Article 13. Goods completely produced in given country

Goods completely produced in given country are:

    1) mineral products extracted from the subsoil of the country, in its territorial waters (sea) or on the seabed;

    2) vegetable products are grown or harvested in a given country;

    3) animals born and raised in given country;

    4) products obtained in given country of animals raised therein;

    5) products obtained from hunting and fishing in given country;

    6) products of sea fishing and other products of fishing vessel obtained by given country’s boat;

    7) products obtained aboard a factory ship of given country solely from products referred to in paragraph 6 of this Article;

    8) products obtained from the seabed or subsoil of the sea outside the territorial waters (sea) of given country, if that country has exclusive rights for the development of that seabed or those marine mineral resources;

    9) waste and scrap (secondary raw materials) derived from manufacturing or other processing operations in given country, and used products collected in given country and suitable only for the processing of raw materials;

    10) goods produced in given country solely from products referred to in paragraphs 1-9 of this Article;

    11) electricity produced in given country.

Article 14. Criteria for sufficient processing of goods

1. If the production of goods involves two or more countries, the country of goods’ origin shall be the country in which the last processing or manufacturing products operations were carried out that meet the criteria of sufficient processing under the provisions of this Article.

2. If, in respect of certain goods or any particular country specificity determination of goods’ origin of imported into the customs territory of Turkmenistan is not specifically stipulated under the third part of this article, the general rule used, according to which the goods are considered as originating from a given country if as a result of processing or manufacturing of the goods has been a change in the classification code of the goods under the nomenclature of foreign economic activity at any of the first four characters (signs).

3. To determine the country of origin is also used the following criteria for sufficient processing of goods:

    1) performance of certain manufacturing or technological operations sufficient to name the country of goods’ origin shall be the country where these operations took place;

    2) changes in the cost of goods, when the percentage of the cost of materials and value-added reaches a fixed share at the price of the final product (the ad valorem percentage rule).

4. Regardless of the provisions set out in the third part of this article, do not meet the criteria of sufficient processing the following:

    1) operations to ensure the safety of goods during storage or transport;

    2) operations to prepare the goods for sale and transportation (division the batch, forming of shipments, sorting, repackaging);

    3) simple assembly operations, that understood as an assembly of components of the product with mounting material (screws, nuts, bolts, etc.) or by riveting, welding, soldering, or by gluing;

    4) mixing of goods originating from different countries, if the characteristics of the final product are not significantly different from those of mixed goods;

    5) slaughter;

    6) combination of two or more of the above operations.

5. When establishing an order to use the criteria of sufficient processing for certain types of goods imported from countries to which Turkmenistan provides tariff preferences,  for the purpose of providing it the Cabinet of Ministers has the right to determine the conditions for using the rules for direct purchase and direct shipment.

Article 15. Features of determination of the country of goods’ origin

1. When determining the country of goods’ origin in unassembled or disassembled type, delivered in several batches if production or transport conditions cannot be shipped by one party, as well as goods, the batch of which is divided into several parties as a result of errors, should be considered at the request of the declarant as a single commodity.

2. Condition  of the practical application of the provisions of the part of this Article are:

    1) prior notification of the customs authority on the goods in unassembled or disassembled type supplied by parties (batches), with an indication of the reasons for such delivery and presentation specifications of each party (batch)  with an indication of the classification codes of goods under the nomenclature of foreign economic activity, value and country of origin of the goods in each shipment. In cases of breakdown parts of goods into several parties as a result of errors or incorrect addressing additional documentary evidence shall be submitted on the fallacy of separating the  product;

    2) delivery of all consignments of goods from one country by one supplier under a single contract;

    3) declaration of all consignments in one customs authority;

    4) the importation into the customs territory of Turkmenistan all consignments within a period not exceeding six months from the date of acceptance of the customs declaration by customs authorities in respect of the first consignment. Upon motivated request, if you cannot supply the goods for reasons beyond the control of the consignee, the remaining term of the import consignments may be extended by the customs authority. Wherein mentioned extension may not exceed one year from the date of importation of the first consignment.

3. Devices, accessories, spare parts and tools for use with machines, equipment, instruments or vehicles considered as originating from the same country as the machinery, equipment, instruments or vehicle, unless devices, accessories, spare parts, and tools are imported and used as a unit with the above machinery, equipment, or vehicles, in the amount indicated in the accompanying technical passport, technical forms, and other technical documents.

4. Package in which the goods are imported into the customs territory of Turkmenistan, considered as originating from the same country as the goods, except in cases where the package in accordance with the Commodity nomenclature of foreign economic activity to be declared separately from the goods. In these cases, the country of origin of packaging is determined separately from the country of goods’ origin.

Article 16. Confirmation of the country of origin

Documents confirming the country of goods’ origin are a declaration of goods’ origin or in cases determined by the legislation of Turkmenistan, a certificate of origin.

Article 17. Declaration of origin of goods

1. A document certifying the country of goods’ origin, under this Code may serve as a declaration of goods’ origin made ​​up in arbitrary form, provided that it contains information that can help determine the country of origin. As such declaration may be used commercially or any other documents relating to the goods, containing a statement of the country of goods’ origin made ​​by a manufacturer, seller, or exporter in connection with the export of goods.

2. If the declaration of good’s origin has information on the country of origin based on other criteria of sufficient processing than those applied in Turkmenistan, the country of origin of goods shall be determined under the criteria specified in Article 14 of this Code.

Article 18. Certificate of origin

1. Certificate of origin - a document certifying the country of origin issued by the competent authority of the country of origin or the country of exportation of the goods, if, in the country of export, a certificate issued based on information received from the country of origin.

2. When exporting goods from the customs territory of Turkmenistan certificate of origin issued by the appropriate authorized state bodies of Turkmenistan if the specified certificate is required under the terms of a contract on the laws of the country of importation of goods or the presence of such a certificate is specified by international treaty Turkmenistan.

3. Authorized state body of Turkmenistan issuing the certificate of origin shall:

    1) keep a copy and other documents on which the origin of goods are certified, not less than three years from the date of issuance;

    2) at the request of the customs authority in the specified period of time to submit the documents and information necessary to verify the authenticity or validity of a certificate of origin.

4. If the certificate of goods’ origin has information on country of origin based on other criteria of sufficient processing than those applied in Turkmenistan, the country of origin of goods shall be determined in accordance with the criteria specified in Article 14 of this Code.

5. In case of doubt on the authenticity of the certificate or information contained herein customs authority may apply to the competent authority of the country of origin that issued the certificate with motivated request to provide additional or clarifying information.

Article 19. Submission of documents confirming the country of goods’ origin

1. When goods are imported into the customs territory of Turkmenistan document certifying the country of origin presented in case if  Turkmenistan grants tariff preferences in accordance with Turkmenistan legislation or international treaties of Turkmenistan to the country of origin of those goods.

The customs authority may require the submission of a document certifying the country of origin, in other cases where there is a reason to believe that alleged information about the country of origin of goods affects the application of customs duties, taxes and (or) the restrictions and limitations established by the legislation of Turkmenistan, are unreliable.

In these cases, the document certifying the country of origin of goods submitted in the form specified by Turkmenistan legislation or international agreement of Turkmenistan, at the same time with the customs declaration and other documents necessary for the customs clearance.

2. Upon the loss of a certificate of origin of goods, the duplicate issued by the authority referred to in Section 18 of this Code is accepted.

3. Country of goods’ origin established by customs authorities after identification of the information specified in the document certifying the country of origin with the information contained in the shipping documents.

4. Condition for acceptance by customs authority a certificate of origin is the presence at the customs authority officially transferred sample forms, seal impressions, signatures of persons, and addresses of the bodies authorized to certify and issue certificates of origin of goods.

Article 20. Grounds of refusal to release the goods for reasons of goods’ origin

1. Customs authority shall refuse to release the goods if the country of origin is the country whose goods cannot be imported into Turkmenistan under Turkmenistan legislation or international treaties of Turkmenistan.

2. Presentation of improperly issued a certificate or declaration of goods’ origin or not the submission of these documents is not a reason for refusing to release the goods, except those as specified in Paragraph one of this article.

3. In the case, if the country of origin is not confirmed, in respect of such goods the maximum statutory rate of customs duties shall apply.

4. In relation to the goods specified in parts two and three of this article, preferential treatment or most favored nation treatment is applied (restored), provided that the customs authority receives confirmation of the country of origin of this product before the expiration of one year from the date of acceptance of the customs declaration.

Chapter 5. COMMODITY NOMENCLATURE OF FOREIGN ECONOMIC ACTIVITY

Article 21. Commodity nomenclature of foreign economic activity

1. Commodity nomenclature of foreign economic activity approved by the authorized state body on customs affairs based on the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding.

2. Commodity nomenclature of foreign economic activity is used for the application of customs and tariff regulation and prohibitions and restrictions established by the legislation of Turkmenistan, conducting customs statistics of foreign trade.

Article 22. Classification of goods

1. Declaration of goods under Chapter 11 of this Code shall be classified in accordance with which each item has a classification code on the Commodity Nomenclature of Foreign economic activity.

2. In the case of incorrect indication of goods classification code under the Commodity nomenclature of foreign economic activity during the declaration, the customs authority classifies such goods on their own.

3. The decision of the customs authority on the classification of goods in accordance with the Commodity nomenclature of foreign economic activity is mandatory. The declarant is entitled to appeal the decision under the legislation of Turkmenistan.

4. The information included in the shipping documents, as well as conclusions, references, certificates, acts issued by organizations performing expertise, are complementary (information) materials and may be taken into account for the classification of goods.

5. Upon request of the declarant or other interested (concerned) person, the customs authority shall take a preliminary decision on the classification of goods under Chapter 6 of this Code.