DUSHANBE, June 17, Asia-Plus  -- Complex customs and transportation procedures have become breeding ground for corruption in Tajikistan, Temirbek Shabdaliyev, the head of the Congress of Business Associations of Central Asia (CBACA), remarked at the fourth two-day session of the Central Asia Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) in Dushanbe on June 17.     

According to him, the results of survey, conducted in Tajikistan by the CBACA, Association of International Road Carriers of Tajikistan (ABBAT) and the Association of Shipping Agents of Tajikistan, have shown that Tajik drivers “are subject to corrupt pressure more than carriers in other Central Asian countries.”  

Mr. Shabdaliyev noted that to leave out all these complex customs and transportation procedures in Tajikistan “carrier is forced to illegally pay anybody for simplifying movement of cargoes across the border.”   

“For example, while carrying cargoes via the transport corridor China-Kazakhstan-Uzbekistan-Tajikistan, driver is forced to unoffiically pay totaling $433 to traffic police, transportation inspectorate, customs and phytosanitary services,” said the CBACA head.  “The survey’s results have shown that driver is stopped 221 times throughout the entire journey.”  

Unofficial payments made by drivers to Uzbek customs officers average $248, unofficial payments to Kyrgyz customs officers amount to $179, Kazakh customs officers - $93 and Tajik customs officers - $59.   

The survey has also shown that while crossing border, driver loses not only money but also quite a lot of time for passing customs clearance procedures.   “As a whole, to cross the border carrier spends more than three days or 50 percent of the total carriage time for haggling and making unofficial payments,” Mr. Shabdaliyev said.   

For example, to carry cargo via the Tajik-Uzbek border driver loses 21 hours and 15 minutes and pays unofficial payments of $142 in the territory of Tajikistan, while in the territory of Uzbekistan, driver loses 28 hours and 30 minutes and pays $505 in unofficial payments plus $205 he pays officially.  In all, driver loses more than two days and pays $852 while crossing the Tajik-Uzbek border.   

Shabdaliyev also named discrepancy of laws of Central Asia’s states as one of factors impeding development of free trade among the Central Asian countries and underlined the necessity of harmonization of them.    

The two-day session of the Central Asia Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) has been staged by the governments of the United States and Tajikistan and its participants  include Afghan Trade and Industries Minister Muhammad Amin Farhang, Turkmen Economic Development and Trade Minister Qurbanmurad Gurbanmuradov, the first Uzbek Deputy Foreign Economic relations, Investment and Trade Minister Nasreddin Nazhimov, and the Kazakh Deputy Industries and Trade Minister Almaz Kosunov.  Representatives of Kyrgyzstan are also attending the meeting.  

The Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) is a flexible structure that the United States Trade Representative (USTR) employs to build stronger commercial relations with other countries; the framework is particular to the member countries creating a mechanism for discussion on mutual issues related to trade, investment, development, regional cooperation, economics, and regulatory frameworks.  The Central Asia TIFA, which includes the frequent participation of Afghanistan, is unique because it is the only regional as opposed to bilateral TIFA. The TIFA is a major component of the U.S. agenda to promote trade, investment, and development in the region; it is flexible enough to allow discussion and action on any pertinent issue.