The bulk of Iranian dates were exported to European and American markets in the period 2001-2006, this has now shifted to Asia upon the enforcement of international sanctions against Iran, according to Seyed Mostafa Hojatnezhad, chairman of agriculture commission of Ahwaz chamber of commerce, as reported by ILNA.
“The main export destination of Iranian dates are now Canada, Australia, Philippines and Russia”, Hojatnezhad said.
It is not “economical” to export dates in small packages given the customs duty and tariff, thus exporters prefer bulks export of the product. Unfortunately, in the absence of sales centers, Iran could not sell dates to European markets under Iranian labels, according to Hojatnezhad.
“Legally speaking, exporters are not obliged to pay tax including VAT, however, the ministry of economy and finance requires them to leave certain amount of deposits with the ministry which has not been refunded yet”, Hojatnezhad added.
