Good news for businesses. Now, business people interested in the necessary procedures and documents related to import, export and transit of goods through Moldovan customs, can find them online and for free.

This has become possible thanks to the efforts of the Ministry of Economy and Infrastructure and the Customs Service, which developed and launched, with the support of the USAID Structural Reform Program in Moldova, the Trade Informational Portal of the Republic of Moldova, that contains all that information. The new informational system is available at www.trade.gov.md

Until now, the information needed for foreign trade operations had to be searched on the websites of various authorities; in addition, they were incomplete and presented in a language difficult to assimilate even by those with legal or economic education.

Due to the fact that the business environment was not sufficiently informed, did not know the procedures or its rights, there was a risk that corruption would occur in various institutional structures and that certain processes would be intentionally delayed. For this reason, in the most frequent situations, even very simple ones, specialized legal entities (customs brokers) were contracted for services; services that were, however, against payment, not affordable for small exporters. Now, when all the information becomes easily accessible thanks to the portal, these risk factors disappear.

The portal is built around a search engine, which is based on the tariff position or the name of the traded goods. It is enough to enter the code or name of the goods in the search field to obtain all the information necessary to move the goods across the Moldovan border: procedures, fees, excises, necessary documents to accompany the goods, including permissive ones, as well as the legal acts needed are provided here.

Traders also find out from the start if there are restrictions or prohibitions in relation to one product or another in the target market where they are going to sell their goods. At the same time, in case of the existence of limited quotas for some goods, as we have in the case of DCFTA, for example, the quantity not recovered from this quota is indicated. Those who export or import agro-food products, or of animal origin, will find information on the control procedure of the National Food Safety Agency (ANSA), the border crossing points through which the goods in question can pass, but also on the obligation to register the operation in the TRACES system - 24 hours in advance

All information will be accessible in both Romanian and English. As a result, the portal will be very useful for importers, who do not yet have partners in the Republic of Moldova, but also for people who perform transit operations. It’s important to say that a large number of carriers currently avoid transit through Moldovan territory because of the inaccessible information on the necessary procedures.

The Republic of Moldova has undertaken the responsibility to unify the information related to foreign trade under the umbrella of a single specialized portal within the international agreements to which it is a party, the World Trade Organization and the Association Agreement with the EU (DCFTA), which require transit procedures, import and export, full transparency.

We specify that, in February of this year, the Customs Service launched the Contact Point for Foreign Trade, which is also a commitment honored by the Republic of Moldova in accordance with the international up-mentioned agreements. The Contact Point is part of the Single Call Center and was created by reorganizing and modernizing the Single Call Center of the Customs Service with the support of the USAID Moldova Structural Reform Program.