Carpet Restorers Migrating to Neighboring Countries

More and more Iranian restorers of carpet are migrating to neighboring countries, particularly Turkey, Pakistan, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan, according to a board member of Producers and Exporters of Handmade Carpets Union.
“As per the regulation of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration, the return of used goods back into the country is subject to customs fees. This makes the procedure [of restoring carpets imported to Iran] very costly,” Morteza Mir was also quoted as saying by the news portal of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture.
The official noted that this regulation prevents Iranian producers and sellers to offer after-sales services to foreign customers.
“Due to this problem, designers and restorers of carpet are leaving the country to work in places where regulations are more friendly,” he said.
Mir said the union, together with the Chamber of Cooperatives and the National Carpet Center, has been working for more than four years to fix this defect in regulations but the Ministry of Industries, Mining and Trade has not been cooperative.