The Armenian parliament is reviewing a draft law aimed at significantly reducing the administrative burden on companies engaged in foreign economic activities. This initiative is particularly important for the country’s tech sector, where issues related to the classification of dual-use goods often create additional barriers for businesses.
Speaking at the National Assembly’s plenary session on January 21, Armenia’s Minister of High-Tech Industry, Mkhitar Hayrapetyan, explained that the proposed changes would amend laws on licensing and the export of dual-use goods. The primary goal is to optimize customs clearance procedures and reduce business costs.
Currently, companies are required to conduct costly examinations for each shipment to determine whether the goods fall under the category of military or dual-use items. The cost of such procedures, conducted by accredited organizations, ranges from $121 to $151 per day.
This system creates a paradoxical situation: a significant portion of the goods undergoing examination are unrelated to military or dual-use products. Nevertheless, businesses are still required to perform these checks for customs declaration purposes. Moreover, the law lacks clear criteria for including goods in the list requiring examination and does not specify how frequently the list should be updated.
The new draft law proposes the creation of a public registry of goods that have already undergone examination and been classified as non-military and non-dual-use. According to the authors of the draft, this measure will allow businesses to avoid redundant checks for identical goods and will significantly streamline customs clearance procedures.
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