Baku / 17.05.18 / Turan: For sure everyone in Azerbaijan has at least once tried the taste of Ceylon tea. But not everyone knows about the multimillion dollar corruption that stretches along the route of its import from Sri Lanka to Azerbaijan.
In 2017, Sri Lanka exported 12,271 tons of tea to Azerbaijan, 16.2% more than in the previous year. Turan obtained information on this in Comtrade UN. According to the State Customs Committee for the specified period, 11,767 and 11,539.5 tons of Ceylon tea was legally transported across the country's customs border, respectively. Official government sources in Sri Lanka estimated the cargo shipped to Azerbaijan in 2017 as $ 62 million 865 thousand, 33.1% more expensive than declared at the Azerbaijani customs. A ton of tea was exported at a price of $ 5,122.9, while in Azerbaijan customs taxes and duties are determined at $ 1,111 cheaper. The difference between the customs data of the two countries was $ 15 million 650.5 thousand. In other words, it is likely that the customs were presented with forged invoices. In 2016, the difference between the customs data of Sri Lanka and Azerbaijan was $ 4.7 million.
In previous years, the difference between the two countries in supplying tea to Azerbaijan was much greater. In 2014-2015 the Azerbaijani customs was declared the import of 12,215 tons of tea. The Sri Lankan sources say about two times more tea exports to Azerbaijan over these two years - 22,828 tons. The volume of imports of tea in value terms over these years was understated by about 4 times (Azerbaijan - $ 25 million, Sri Lanka - $ 98 million).
In the register of certificates of conformity to state standards there is no information on tea importers to Azerbaijan. The processing and packaging of black tea in Azerbaijan is mainly carried out by the companies Beta Tea and Azersun Holding.
In the first quarter of this year, officially imported was 3,066 tons of tea (+ 18%) with a total declared value of $ 11 million 857 thousand (+ 16.5%). -----08B--
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