Gubad Ibadoglu Optimistic about Customs Reform

Professor of the University of Duke (USA), scientist and economist Gubad Ibadoglu believes the Azerbaijani President's order on additional measures for the continuation of reforms in the customs sector creates new conditions for economic development.

In his status on Facebook Ibadoglu says the following:

'This order once again demonstrates that the existing customs system is really one of the sore points in Azerbaijan now.

If this were not the case, the Presidential would not have signed five documents concerning the foreign trade and customs system in the past three months.

Unfortunately, the State Customs Committee, instead of performing the tasks emanating from the presidential order, makes unreasoned replies to the critical articles published in the press.

I believe that from the perspective of an integrated approach, the last order is different from the previous one. In this document a number of measures have been reflected, proposed by the Movement for Democracy and Prosperity of Azerbaijan in the "package of essential and urgent measures in the economy." At the same time the State Customs Committee is tasked with improving customs statistics on foreign trade, the development of it in accordance with international standards and practices to ensure the veracity and timeliness of data. It's all what I said due to the mirror statistics methodology I use in my studies.

I believe that the implementation of measures emanating from this order is very important, especially in the times of crisis. However, it would be good to define the indicators by which it would be possible to assess the implementation of these measures and the determination of their results. The list of such indicators could include the following parameters: the time of entry and exit of road transport that has stopped at the customs territory. In addition, there should be statistics of users of e-services, the number of documents submitted by entrepreneurs, as well as the time spent by them, etc. As a result, it will provide an opportunity to assess the turnover rate at the customs border and eliminate the time wasted.

I note that a similar assessment takes place in the practice of foreign countries. In these countries, the customs authorities make regular reports about how many minutes the customs authorities complete the customs clearance of border passing cars at their checkpoints and monitor this issue.'  --0--