AZE.US
Azerbaijan does not plan to change the monthly $300 duty-free limit for goods brought into the country for personal use, the head of the State Customs Committee, Shahin Baghirov, said during a parliamentary discussion on proposed amendments to the Customs Code.
The clarification addresses one of the main concerns among consumers who regularly order goods from abroad through online platforms. Baghirov said the existing limit will remain in place and no change is currently being considered.
At the same time, he said customs authorities are facing growing abuse of the personal-use system. In some cases, individuals buy goods abroad in volumes closer to commercial trade, then divide the shipments across several months or register them under different people’s names to stay within the limit.
Baghirov said such cases are not dominant, but they exist and require closer control as e-commerce expands.
The customs chief also explained another proposed change: goods and vehicles that remain unprocessed for six months after entering customs territory could be transferred to state ownership following a court decision.
According to Baghirov, some goods remain in customs warehouses for years without being claimed. They take up storage space, create additional costs and, in many cases, lose value or become unusable. Under the proposed procedure, if customs clearance is not completed within 180 days, the issue would be referred to a court, which would decide the future of the goods.
Baghirov also commented on recent delays involving orders from Temu. He said the platform’s rapid rise led to a sudden surge in shipments, with nearly 400 tons of goods arriving at the airport without timely electronic data and notifications.
That created delays in customs processing, in some cases lasting up to two weeks. Baghirov said the issue has since been resolved and there is currently no similar problem with those shipments.
The broader challenge, he said, is the fast growth of electronic commerce in Azerbaijan. According to figures cited by the customs chief, more than 1.2 million people in the country used e-commerce channels last year, while the number of registered declarations reached 18 million.
For ordinary consumers, the key message is that the monthly $300 limit remains unchanged. But customs authorities are signaling that they will pay closer attention to attempts to use private online orders as a cover for undeclared commercial imports.
AZE.US