Cargo Transit Becomes Priority for Azerbaijan
President Ilham Aliyev on October 21 established the Coordinating Council for transit cargo. The Minister of Economy and Industry Shahin Mustafayev was appointed the Chairman of the Council.
The Council includes the Chairman of the State Customs Committee Aydin Aliyev, the Chairman of the State Border Service Elchin Guliyev, the Chief of the State Maritime Administration Gudrat Gurbanov, the Deputy Transport Minister Musa Panahov, the Deputy Minister of Justice Togrul Musayev, the Deputy Foreign Minister Khalaf Khalafov, the Chairman of CJSC Azerbaijani Railways Javid Gurbanov, the Chairman of CJSC Azerbaijan Caspian Shipping Company Rauf Valiyev, the head of CJSC Baku International Sea Trade Port Taleh Ziyadov, and the Vice-president of the State Oil Company (SOCAR) Elshad Nasirov.
The Coordinating Council is entrusted with the implementation of the principle of "single window" for cargo transportation by rail and sea transport, through ports and terminals.
The Council is prescribed to provide a single, flexible and transparent tariff policy of railways, ports and terminals, simplified border crossing and cargo handling procedures, and coordination of specialized organizations.
The Cabinet of Ministers is in charge for 3 months to bring the legal framework into line with the decree. The Ministry of Economy and Industry has to create a single portal that is associated with the transit of goods within two months, developing a tariff policy and rules of tariff concessions for rail and maritime services, the transportation of goods in transit, as well as their handling in ports and terminals, establishment of administrative rules of electronic application to transport cargo across borders, and rules of signing contracts on transit and handling of cargo.
The formation of tariffs for transit cargo is entrusted to the Tariff Council.
The President also approved the Regulations on the Coordinating Council on transit cargo, whose main task is to increase the competitiveness of the transit corridor to attract additional transit cargo, improvement of quality and reduction of terms of cargo handling.
The Coordinating Council twice a year is to report to the President on the transit of goods. -0-
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