Azerbaijan, Russia deepen co-op in customs controls

/By AzerNews/

By Aynur Karimova

Azerbaijan and Russia have deepened cooperation in customs control. The two countries signed a protocol on mutual recognition of the results of customs controls on some agricultural products, Azerbaijan's State Customs Committee said on July 3.

The document, which was signed by Aydin Aliyev, the chairman of the Customs Committee of Azerbaijan and Andrey Belyaninov, the head of the Federal Customs Service of Russia, will simplify the export of certain agricultural products of Azerbaijan to Russia.

Also, the sides signed the schedule of working meetings at the level of heads of customs offices and posts of the State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan and the Federal Customs Service of Russia.

The abovementioned documents were signed during Azerbaijani delegation's visit to Moscow.

Agriculture is one of the largest sectors of the country’s economy. It has great potential and attracts both local and foreign entrepreneurs.

High quality Azerbaijani products have been in demand in neighboring countries for quite some time, however, the country did not previously have the capacity to export these products in large quantities.

Foreign countries are now showing an increasing interest in the agricultural products of Azerbaijan, which has focused its efforts on developing the sector, declaring 2015 as the Year of Agriculture.

Azerbaijani produce has become attractive to Russia after western sanctions over the Ukraine crisis in late 2014. Through Russia, Azerbaijan can enter the Eastern Europe's markets.

The trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Russia amounted to $799.4 million in January-May of 2015 or by 5.8 percent more than in the same period of 2014, the State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan said. Some $138.6 million accounted for the exports of Azerbaijani products to Russia in January-May 2015.

Azerbaijan is cooperating with 78 entities of Russia. Currently, about 600 companies with Russian capital are operating in Azerbaijan.