Full coordination of customs control practices will be ensured to expedite the import of biological control products.
A meeting was held in Ankara to negotiate measures to fasten the progress in order to prevent the waste of time at customs in the import of beneficial insects and to prevent any harm to live commodities. The meeting was attended by Dr. Yunus Bayram, Head of Plant Protection Products Department, E. Derya Tayfun, Head of Animal and Animal Products Border Control Department, Günay Anakök, Head of Plant and Herbal Products Border Control Department, Ali Eroğlu, President of BIOTED, Ahmet Özgür Ateş, Mehmet Oba and Lerzan Erkılıç, members of the Board of Directors, Hakan Tayfun Aydın, Murat Yalçın and Ali Atılgan, customs consultant, representing BIOTED member companies.
The directors board of BİOTED, the Biological and Biotechnical Control Products Manufacturers and Suppliers Association, had sent a letter to the relevant authorities requesting for expedited operations at the customs.
The Board of Directors of BİOTED, the Association of Manufacturers and Suppliers of Biological and Biotechnical Control Products, had sent a letter to the relevant authorities requesting expedited operations at customs.
Upon the letter, the Phytosanitary Department and the Department of Animal and Animal Products Border Control invited BİOTED administration for a meeting. During the meeting in Ankara on March 10, 2016, participants discussed applications to expedite customs operations.
The meeting was chaired by Yunus Bayram, head of the department. It was announced that the customs procedures will be accelerated through the coordination of the departments.
Accordingly, during import, the importing company will make an online notification for veterinary inspection one day before releasing the goods from customs. With this notification, the veterinary control authority will assign one of its staff to coordinate with the agricultural quarantine officer, and the controls will be carried out in a single operation without delay. Thus, it will be possible to quickly withdraw the live commodity from customs during the import.
There will be checkpoints in customs bonded areas.
The Head of Animal and Animal Products Border Control Department, E. Derya Tayfun proclaimed that they will establish a center first in Antalya and then in the customs bonded area in Izmir, like the currently functioning units at the airports in Istanbul.
The Antalya center is expected to come in service by the beginning of 2017. Upon the opening of the center, all control procedures within the customs bonded area will be completed without any delay and without the need for any kind of coordination.
BİOTED President Ali Eroğlu said that as an association, they are working to find solutions to the problems of their members as soon as possible and added: “It was a very important necessity of our sector for products to be withdrawn from customs without retardation. Thanks to the responsive attitude of our department heads, we have received good news that the procedures on this issue will be expedited. We would also like to thank our board members and members of our association for contributing to our efforts in this regard”.
