Order Renewal Extension and Standards-Veterinary Parallel Testing: Key Challenges in Iran’s Feed Grain Imports
Mr. Seyedjalal Tayebatayeba, Member of Iran Feed Grain Importers’ Union
He considered the parallel work of the Standards and Veterinary Organizations as another challenge for this industry, and said: Importers are required to ensure the quality and compliance of the goods with Iranian standards and receive an inspection certificate through international inspectors approved by the Standards Organization before loading the goods at the port of origin.
However, after the goods arrive at domestic ports, the Standards Organization takes samples and tests the goods again. This is despite the fact that about 95 percent of the tests conducted by the Standards Organization are identical and parallel to those conducted by the Veterinary Organization, which is the main authority responsible for importing inputs.
In fact, this parallel work, in addition to imposing additional costs, also slows down the clearance process. In addition, the standard organization charges eight percent of the imported value of the goods (in euros or dollars). Importers consider this amount, which amounts to about 5 billion Tomans for a 60,000-ton ship, to be unreasonable, because they believe that the service provided (sampling and testing) costs only about 30 million Tomans and the rest is charged as an unreasonable fee to the importer.
The period of allocation of foreign exchange for import of inputs has reached 10 months!
He continued by stating about the status of foreign exchange allocation and said: The status of foreign exchange allocation in the past year, especially since the second half of the year, has been very deplorable. Currently, the period of debt settlement with foreign sellers has reached more than 10 months, which has reduced the credibility of Iranian importers with foreign sellers and will face a slowdown and crisis in the process of purchasing and importing. This situation has excluded small importers from the trade cycle and has created a kind of monopoly for large importers, which could negatively affect the supply of goods in the future.
