Study of Small and Medium Enterprises in Azerbaijan - IFC

Table 9.1 A comparison of the procedures necessary to import and export standardized cargo of goods
in Azerbaijan and Georgia
Nature of Export Procedures (2008) Duration (days) Cost (in USD)
Azerbaijan Georgia Azerbaijan Georgia
Document preparation 28 5 150 255
Customs clearance and technical control 7 2 250 140
Ports and terminal handling 5 2 375 235
Inland transportation and handling 8 3 2,300 750
Totals 48 12 3,075 1,380
Nature of Import Procedures (2008) Duration (days) Cost (in USD)
Azerbaijan Georgia Azerbaijan Georgia
Document preparation 28 8 170 255
Customs clearance and technical control 8 2 275 150
Ports and terminal handling 6 2 375 235
Inland transportation and handling 14 2 2,600 700
Totals 56 14 3,420 1,340
Source: IFC/WB Doing Business 2009.
In fact, to fulfill an import or export operation, an entrepreneur needs to complete
overly complicated procedures, obtain numerous documents, and visit/contact
various state agencies. For example, pursuant to chapter VI of the Decree on Foreign
Trade, in order to complete the customs declaration procedure (and formalize an
export transaction), an entrepreneur is required to submit the following documents
to the customs authorities: (1) the code issued by the State Statistic Committee 55 ; (2)
an export contract signed with foreign entities; (3) documents evidencing origin of
exported items; (4) documents evidencing prepayment of exported items or letter of
credit issued by the relevant bank; (5) in cases provided for by the decree, approval
of the Cabinet of Ministers or positive opinion of MED; (6) customs cargo declaration;
and (7) in case of exportation of sea food from Azerbaijan to the EU countries,
a quality certificate.
To perceive the real difficulty of this procedure, it is necessary to take into account that
for obtaining each of these documents, an entrepreneur needs to file other documents
with other authorities, which is often time consuming and costly.
55
As a result of application of “one stop shop” to corporate registrations, the State Statistics Committee no longer
issues certificate on registration of an entity. Instead, the registration number assigned to an entity by the Ministry
of Taxes substitutes for the statistics code previously issued by the Statistics Committee. Therefore, the enlisting
of this document in the rules appears to be obsolete, and is expected to soon be amended to reflect the current
situation.
Aze r b a i j a n Bu s i n e s s En a b l i n g En v i r o n m e n t Pr o j e c t 147