On December 20, a meeting with the representatives of insurance companies was organized in the RA Ministry of Finances on the initiative of the Custom Service. The meeting was aimed to discuss the changes provided by the RA Law on Changes and Amendment in the RA Customs Code, which was adopted in May 2014.
Accordingly, it is provided that the customs broker (mediator) must have a guarantee of payment provided by a bank or a credit organization for payment of the customs fees, fines and penalties accumulated as a result of the broker’s activities or a coverage provided by an Insurance agency; at least in the amount of 150 million AMD for 2015 and 300 million AMD for the activities carried out each year after 1 January 2016.
“Application of this practice provided positive results in the of international practice, because as a result of introduction of this mechanism neither the state, the client or the cooperating entity will be prevented from suffering as a result of the mistake caused by the broker’s negligence or omission,” Gevorg Saghoyan, Head of the Customs Control Department of the RA Minister of Finance said.
Harutyun Gevorgyan, representative of “Ingo Armenia” Insurance Company considered the amendment positive saying that the insurance contract will provide guarantees to customs broker, customs body and the entities that they will not suffer as a result of omissions of the broker, and the additional obligations which will result from this omission will be covered by the insurance company and the client will be receive compensation. The Official website of the Custom service of the RA informs.
The Brokers’ Institute is an advanced system which is applied in the developed countries of the world and which began operating in the republic of Armenia since 2008.
