Goods imported through the temporary import scheme will no longer be insured by the Central Insurance company of Iran – the primary regulator of the insurance industry in Iran. According to the deputy of the Iran Export Confederation, a bank guarantee is necessary instead to provide assurance for these goods.
“According to some customs regulations going back 20 years, temporary import of goods became permissible and as the Iran-Iraq war ended (in 1988) the practice was reinforced to help cut production costs in the country,” Mohammad Lahooti was quoted as saying by mehrnews.com on Wednesday.
“Some domestic firms took advantage of the opportunity to boost their competitive edge in global markets. However, due to some recent cases of misuse and wrongdoing by some parties, such schemes will no longer be insured by the CII.”
The temporary import policy was designed to allow traders to import certain goods into the country for particular purposes for a limited time. According to the Export-Import Law, the temporary entry of goods is allowed provided a valid promissory note is submitted to the customs. Except for regular fees, temporary imports are exempt from custom duties and tariffs.
According to Lahooti, since the production units had difficulty in getting bank guarantees, the Customs Administration had struck a deal with insurance companies for the temporary imports.
But as time went by and “some disagreements and problems emerged between the customs and insurance companies,” the temporary importation will henceforth be covered only by bank guarantees. Yet again the banks are reluctant to issue the guarantees,” he lamented.
