Customs collapse – an article by AgroPortal
Read the full article on the AgroPortal website: “Customs collapse, or How tens of thousands of tonnes of fertilizers ended up held hostage”
Information from market participants about the State Customs Service blocking imported fertilizers at the border appeared back in early January. A few days of delay did not cause concern, as every year at the beginning of the new agricultural season Ukraine has problems with imports of this type of goods.
But the situation dragged on, and importing companies are incurring losses due to customs’ actions. The market has already reacted with higher fertilizer prices, and farmers are not sure whether they will receive the goods contracted in advance on time.
The Ministry of Agrarian Policy notes that it has received appeals from mineral fertilizer importers, and the issue of unblocking fertilizers was already discussed with representatives of the State Customs Service of Ukraine and the Security Service of Ukraine last week at a meeting of the Coordination Council on Logistics in Agriculture operating under the ministry.
BINFIELD Executive Director Ihor Kostyshyn gave a detailed comment to AgroPortal about the customs collapse:
“One day of idle time costs importers who bring fertilizers by road $80 per truck, and by rail — UAH 3-4 thousand per rail car. Given that a rail car holds 60 t of fertilizers, this means that for every day of idle time at customs the company spends an additional $1.5 per tonne of fertilizer.”
Ihor Kostyshyn notes that the situation with fertilizer delays at customs has generally been going on since 4 January, and the inspection procedure is still not clear. Currently, batches of fertilizers imported into Ukraine are sampled for three indicators: chemical composition (whether the substances correspond to those stated in the accompanying documents), country of origin, and precursors of heavy metals, narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances. After that, the entire batch is sent to a holding area until the test results are received, which can take from 10 to 30 days.
At BINFIELD , 13 rail cars of complex mineral fertilizers have been held at customs from 14 January to date, and direct costs have already reached UAH 400 thousand.
Read the full article on the AgroPortal website: “Customs collapse, or How tens of thousands of tonnes of fertilizers ended up held hostage”
