Elvira Kadyrova
On 14 June 2021, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, acting in his capacity as depositary, notified that Turkmenistan had deposited its instruments of accession to the Customs Convention on Containers, 1972 and the Convention on Customs Treatment of Pool Containers Used in International Transport, 1994.
Both conventions, which establish the legal basis for the customs regime applied to temporarily imported containers, will enter into force for Turkmenistan on December 14, 2021.
The Customs Convention on Containers, 1972 is based on two major principles governing the use of containers.
The first principle provides for the mandatory export of containers that granted temporary admission into the territory of one of the contracting Parties in an unchanged state. Thus, the same container approved for temporary importation under these regulations must be removed after its use and cannot be replaced by another similar or equivalent container.
The second principle fixes restrictions on the use of temporarily imported containers in internal traffic i.e., the container is brought to or nearer to the place where the export cargo is to be loaded or from where is to exported empty. The container is used only once in internal traffic before re-exported. These restrictions prevent the use of containers that are not in free circulation, i.e., which are not charged duties and fees.
The Container Pool Convention, which aims to create an international legal framework that applies universally and to all modes of transport, complements the traditional core requirements governing the temporary admission of containers with the concept of “equivalent compensation”.
The concept provides that a particular previously imported container may not be re-exported after a certain period of time, but another container of a similar type may be exported. This principle applies to pool containers, which means the use in common of containers established by an agreement.
Containers of the pool can be granted admission without payment of import duties and taxes, free of import prohibitions or restrictions of an economic character, without limitations as to use in internal traffic and without requiring, on their importation and exportation, Customs documents and security.
The container is a suitable compartment for the transportation of textile products, food, household chemicals and appliances. The demand for container transportation in Turkmenistan is growing due to the increasing cargo turnover by rail and sea through the international port of Turkmenbashi.
To date, 41 countries have acceded to the Customs Convention on Containers of 1972, and 15 countries – the Container Pool Convention. /// nCa, 17 June 2021