On April 27, the de facto State Customs Committee of Abkhazia discussed the simplification of strawberry export to Russia. According to reports, the volume of exports will increase at least three times this year. Jamal Tseiba, the Head of the Main Department of Customs Enforcement, noted that the issue of simplification of customs control is actively worked on every year.

According to Tseiba, a periodic customs declaration procedure was developed to facilitate the export of products, which is time-saving and allowes increased volume of goods turnover. With the use of periodic customs declarations, more than 25 thousand tons of citrus fruits were exported in 2020, which amounted to more than 46% of total exported agricultural products throughout the year. More than 200 cars a day were accumulating at the Adler customs checkpoint during the citrus export, but their number decreased after the start of the periodic declaration.

It should be noted that in 2020, 294 tons of strawberries were exported from Abkhazia to Russia. In Abkhazia, strawberries are grown both in the open and in greenhouses. According to Batal Avidzba, an entrepreneur engaged in the production of strawberries, transportation of strawberries, one of the most perishable goods, requires special conditions.  In November, a periodic “customs” declaration process was approved for export. According to Avidzba, it is planned to export more than 1000 tons of strawberries this year.

The meeting was attended by the Representative of the Russian Customs Service in Abkhazia, Konstantin Kozlov, who noted that the preliminary declaration would prevent the overload at the “border” point and said that the Russian side was ready to implement a new procedure.