Are you moving to Azerbaijan from New York? If you are relocating from the Tri-state area to Baku, we provide door to door service and take care of your move.

IMPORT REGULATIONS ON HOUSEHOLD GOODS AND PERSONAL EFFECT SHIPMENTS

  • The consignee should be present at the destination and should have a valid visa.
  • A registered company in Azerbaijan should employ the consignee.
  • Expatriates are permitted to import HHG and personal effects duty and tax-free on temporary basis, which is valid till the time expatriates has finished their tenure and are ready to export their HHG out of Azerbaijan.
  • Expatriates are permitted to import household goods and electrical appliances tax and duty free on temporary import basis. In order to facilitate the temporary import declaration all electronic and electrical appliances should be clearly marked on the packing list along with their serial numbers.
  • Import of all kind consumables goods like clothing, cosmetics, foodstuff, beverages and etc. are subject to the payment of customs duties and VAT.
  • All import duties are charges in CIF (cost, insurance, freight) value.
  • Azerbaijan citizens are not permitted to import the HHG and personal effects on temporary import basis and therefore, are liable to pay full tax and duties.
  • Shipment of household goods and personal effects is subject to payment of customs levy, which varies from 0.18% up to 0.30% depending on the nature of goods.
  • Per each group of goods the customs declaration should be issued at the Customs department. The cost of each declaration is US$ 35.00/-. The number of groups and declarations respectively depends on variety of the goods inside the shipment. For example, cloth is one separate group, kitchen ware is second separate group, wooden furniture is third separate group, plastic furniture is fourth separate group, etc.

 

Prohibited items:

  • Weapons of all kinds.
  • Pornography.
  • Narcotics.
  • Toxic material
  • Radioactive material.

 

Note: Precious jewelry, stones and currency can be imported only as accompanied baggage and must be declared with the customs authorities at the airport at the time of arrival. The declaration should be kept in the safe custody because the same will be required for presentation to the customs authorities at the time of departure.

Import of pets:

Import of pets is allowed. The following documents are required:

  • Vaccination certificate
  • Veterinary certificate.

 

IMPORT OF AUTO CARS

  • Auto cars and motor cycles can be imported duty and tax free on temporary import basis.
  • Temporary import is subject to customs fee of 0.2% of CIF value, which is charges on quarterly basis.
  • Temporary imported cars and motorcycles must be exported out of Azerbaijan at the end of expatriate’ stay.
  • Sale of the temporary imported cars and motorcycles are not permitted until full customs duty and VAT has been paid.
  • Permanent import of auto cars and motorcycles are subject to the tax and duties as per customs tariff.

 

SPECIAL INSTRUCTION FOR IMPORT OF CARPETS, PAINTINGS,

ART EFFECTS AND ANTIQUES.

The duty free import is allowed only on temporary import basis and it’s strongly recommended that all carpets, paintings, art effects and antiques in the shipment should be photographed.

Duplicate photograph of each item should be sent to the office of your origin agent in advance by courier enabling them to get the customs endorsement on the back of each photograph at the time of import customs inspection of the shipment. This will help the owner tremendously to avoid problems with the customs authorities at the time of export of these items out of

Azerbaijan. Export of locally purchased carpets and paintings is allowed unless the items are not considered antique and of cultural value. The permission from the Azerbaijan Carpet

Museum and Art Museum is required to export locally purchased carpets, paintings and other effects.

Documents required:

  • Way bill.
  • Packing list.
  • Copy of the passport.
  • Copy of the valid visa.
  • Valued inventory in English or Russian.
  • Power of attorney.
  • Confirmation of employment.

 

IMPORTANT: Valued inventory is strictly required for customs clearance. Separate valid inventory lists should be issued for consumables items and household goods intended for temporary import. Valued inventory list for consumable items should contain very clear description of each individual item, e.g. meat sausages, cotton sanitary napkins, men cotton shirt, tooth paste and etc. such descriptions are very important because it helps the local customs authorities to determine the import duty which differs from item to item. Therefore, in order to minimize the customs duty on consumable items we suggest to under declare the items for customs purposes only. Valued inventory list for items intended for temporary import should also be descriptive, e.g. double bed set, wardrobe, dining table with six chairs and etc. Home electrical and electronic appliances should be very clear mentioned along with their serial numbers. It is also suggested to declare the value for items for temporary import.

NOTE: Valued inventory lists are purely for customs purposes and therefore the value does not have to be the same as used for insurance purposes. However, it is strictly advised not to enclose the list used to insurance purposes along with the shipping documents. The customs duties for consumables items are charges on CIF value, therefore total CIF should be clearly marked on the valued inventory.

IMPORT OF WINE AND SPIRITS:

The allowance limit for the import of wine and spirits for personal consumption is one litre per head. All in excess is subject to duties and taxes as following:

From 1 euro per litter up to 2 euro per litter customs duty (depending on the % of alcohol) 20 % of value VAT

0.2 % of value customs procedures duty.

HELPFUL TIPS:

  • Mark the waybills very clearly “Used Household goods and personal effects”.
  • Packing list should be in English, Azeri or Russian.
  • Do not attach the inventory list used for the insurance purposes with the documents enclosed with the shipment.
  • Two separate valued inventory lists, one for consumables items and another for items intended to temporary import should be attached to the documents enclosed with the shipping documents along with the shipment.
  • Pre-alert along with the copies of the waybill, packing list, valued inventory and shipping schedule should be faxed to your origin agent well in advance.
  • Consign the shipment directly to the consignee c/o his organization’s name, full address and tel. numbers

 

Note: As experienced in the past that the custom regulations can change at any time with or without notice. We’ll do our best to up-date our valued customers and agents with such changes.

We also strongly recommend to issue all the shipping documents very carefully according to the above mentioned instructions, which we understand, can be time consuming but it will definitely help you to avoid unnecessary delays and heavy storage charges at the end.

Please note:

The information on this page is intended as a guide and NOT as a complete or definitive resource. The information on this page should not be used as an authoritative reference.

Updated July, 2005

Written by Einat Mazafi
Einat Mazafi is the owner of NY International Shipping, an International Shipping and moving company based in New York. She is also a specialist in providing the best relocation solutions to clients worldwide.