GOV’T HOPES BORDER FREE-TRADE ZONE WILL PREVENT SMUGGLING

Today’s Zaman
May 6 2009
Turkey

The government has taken steps to develop a comprehensive solution
to the problem of smuggling in the border provinces of eastern and
southeastern Anatolia by creating a free-trade zone in 12 provinces
bordering Georgia, Nakhchivan, Iran, Iraq and Syria where no customs
taxes will be applied on goods imported from Turkey’s neighbors.

The new policy will go into effect next month and will cover an annual
maximum of $100 million worth of imports, of which $30 million will
be reserved for agricultural products and $70 million will be for
industrial products. Oil and oil products are not covered in the
policy, the details of which will be finalized soon. To benefit from
the new regulations, traders must have been engaged in local trade
activity that was subject to taxation for at least two years.

Trade along the border was one of the first issues to be addressed by
the new Cabinet. The new policy will allow an individual or company
to import a maximum of $50,000 worth of goods each month. The 12
provinces that the policy applies to are Artvin, Ardahan, Igdır,
Agrı, Van, Hakkari, Å~^ırnak, Mardin, Å~^anlıurfa, Kilis, Gaziantep
and Hatay. Border trade centers will be set up in Agrı’s Sarısu
district, Hakkari’s Esendere district, Van’s Kapıköy district and
Igdır’s Dilucu district. The border crossings to which the policy
applies include the Sarp border crossing in Artvin, Turkgözu in
Ardahan, Gurbulak in Agrı, Habur in Å~^ırnak, Nusaybin in Mardin,
Akcakale in Å~^anlıurfa, KarkamıÅ~_ in Gaziantep, Oncupınar in
Kilis and Cilvegözu in Hatay.

According to the new policy, imports must be based on the needs of the
importing province. The Foreign Trade Undersecretariat will coordinate
the amounts and varieties of goods that will be eligible to benefit
from the new policy. The border trade centers will operate under the
jurisdiction of each province’s special provincial administration.

Zafer Caglayan, state minister responsible for foreign trade, said
the policy would prevent unregistered economic activity and boost the
economy in border provinces. Noting that there have been calls for such
a policy for many years, Caglayan said the decision was widely welcomed
in the region. He noted that the goods imported through the new policy
can be exported after being processed in Turkey and that product and
capacity quotas would be applied to avoid unfair competition.

Asked if a similar border trade policy would be introduced for Armenia,
Caglayan underlined that the Armenian issue was still "sensitive."