Azernews.Az

By Leman Mammadova

The Azexport portal is continuously applying new mechanisms to facilitate access of local manufacturing companies to foreign markets as well as to improve the effectiveness of the portal.

For the first time, the portal has introduced a free sale certificate in Azerbaijan to expand the possibilities of exporting national goods and local products beyond the country, head of Azexport portal Zaur Gardashov told Trend.

This certificate provides Azerbaijani entrepreneurs with access to the export of goods to the U.S., Indonesia, Qatar and a number of other countries.

He noted that Azexport issued 300 certificates to local entrepreneurs in 2018.

“We started to develop this document after a thorough research and study of the local market, as well as the situation in foreign markets. The certificate holders are well-known Azerbaijani companies operating in the country and successfully implementing export operations abroad. Particularly, these are companies such as Azersun, Gazelli, Aznar, and some other, less well-known companies,” Gardashov said.

He noted that the cost of certificates is only 20 manats ($12).

“The manufacturers of food products, cosmetics, equipment and other goods may receive the certificate. This document confirms that the exported products have all the necessary documents pursuant to Azerbaijani legislation for distribution in the country and at the moment are freely sold in the domestic market,” head of Azexport added.

He emphasized that the products of Azerbaijani manufacturing companies which received the certificate are in great demand in foreign markets.

“Azerbaijan is the third country in the CIS offering such a certificate. Azerbaijani exporting companies which have the certificate of free sale may get access to the markets of more than 100 countries,” Gardashov noted.

He said that in order to obtain a certificate of free sale, companies must have a certificate confirming the quality of products manufactured in accordance with international standards, a certificate of conformity and a bar code, if any.

Gardashov stressed that the certificate of free sale is considered a relatively new control and regulatory mechanism in international trade; nevertheless, it is a mandatory document required in many countries for export operations.

Created in 2016, Azexport.az, integrated with the most popular electronic trading platforms, makes products available to potential buyers from anywhere in the world.

The portal offers entrepreneurs the opportunity to export goods produced in Azerbaijan to traditional and new markets via international e-trading platforms. The mission of Azexport is to provide information about products of Azerbaijani origin and to be a beneficial platform for their sales in foreign and domestic markets.

As reported earlier, Azexport is preparing projects to provide its participants with preferences, including issuance of service passports and co-branded Visa cards with interest-free credit limit for exporters, as well as access to the simplified import system for production materials, etc. In addition, Azexport expands the list of international electronic portals with which it cooperates.

Azexport has launched a single exporter declaration, on the basis of which the exporter receives all permits online as well as many other services that provide customer search, export procedures and deliveries to foreign markets.

Azerbaijan received export orders for a total of $178.4 million through Azexport.az portal in January-March 2019.

In March, the total value of export orders amounted to $32.8 million. Russia (11.5 percent), Turkey (9.9 percent), the U.S. (7 percent), India (6.6 percent) and Georgia (5.3 percent) were the top five countries in terms of export orders in March.

Export orders for almost $1.2 billion were received by Azexport portal from 126 countries of the world in the period from January 1, 2017, to March 31, 2019.

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Leman Mammadova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @leman_888

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