BLUE LINE APPLICATION IN EXPORT

Mustafa Mithat BOZTEPE
Customs Consultant

With the liberalization of trade in the world, efforts to remove obstacles to foreign trade, facilitate and simplify trade, and thus reduce the costs of foreign trade have accelerated. Trade facilitation is broadly defined as the simplification and harmonization of all transactions and procedures, reducing formalities and removing obstacles from the production of goods until they reach the end user. Trade facilitation also includes strengthening foreign trade and logistics infrastructure through the application of information technologies and automation.

 Simplification, harmonization, standardization and automation of international procedures carried out by customs administrations and other institutions and organizations involved in foreign trade, especially in import, export and transit transactions in the world economy, and in this context, minimizing unnecessary repetitions in foreign trade transactions and procedures, especially in goods transition to modern practices such as electronic payment, risk management, post-control, single window system, pre-arrival transaction, e-commerce, authorized obligor, approved person status in delivery and customs clearance, reducing costs in foreign trade transactions, ensuring transparency in trade practices and increasing reliability, foreign trade It aims to improve the infrastructure and effective cooperation between border authorities.

 Blue Line Application in Export is an application used by companies aiming to facilitate foreign trade and step into modern practices, eliminate temporal obstacles in customs procedures and ease the workload, and its most important feature is based on reliability. The work and transactions to be carried out within the scope of the blue line application, the conditions for benefiting from the blue line, and the procedures and principles regarding the use, suspension and withdrawal of this right are determined by the Ministry of Commerce.

"Blue Line in Export" has been implemented as a "simplified procedure" that is used by people with "Approved Person Status" determined by the Ministry of Commerce in exports, and in which the goods are not subject to document control or inspection during exit procedures.

 Approved Person Status Certificate was made available to foreign trade companies in 2002, and A, B and C statuses, which have undergone many changes over time, were finally replaced by OKS and 42/A models. Currently, OKS continues to exist as a simplified procedure in which the blue line is used only in certain regimes in exports and the blue line application is abolished in imports. The control of the export declarations processed on the blue line of companies holding an Approved Person Status Certificate is carried out within the procedures and principles determined by the Ministry after the exit procedures of the goods are completed and the actual export is realized.

Approved Person Status Certificate is a document that is granted to persons who have proven their reliability in customs transactions, have a certain foreign trade volume or fixed capital investment, whose financial sufficiency has been confirmed, whose records are traceable, and allows certain facilities in customs and foreign trade activities.

Public institutions and organizations, foreign trade capital companies, group exporters that export on behalf of group manufacturers affiliated with the same group of companies, group importers that import on behalf of group manufacturers affiliated with the same group of companies, manufacturers, R&D centers, commercial air transportation companies that carry out maintenance and repair activities, Non-manufacturers who export and/or import on their own behalf may have an Approved Person Status Certificate.

With the regulation made in the "Communiqué on Amendments to the Customs General Communiqué on Approved Person Status" published in the Official Gazette dated 23.11.2016 and numbered 29897, the A, B and C class distinction regarding approved person status has been abolished, effective as of 15.08.2017. Certificate holder companies are divided into two as those who benefit from Article 42/A of the Customs General Communiqué on Approved Person Status and those who do not. The first of these is a document in which only export 1000 regimes are processed through the blue line and all other rights are given together with the receipt of the document. The second is a document obtained pursuant to Article 42/A in the "Customs General Communiqué Serial No: 1 on Approved Person Status". This document provides exemption from compulsory goods transactions for imports made within the scope of the Inward Processing Regime, where export declarations made under export 1000 regimes as well as other regimes such as 3151-1040 are processed through the blue line, which has more benefits than the first type of document.

When the "Customs General Communiqué on Approved Person Status" no. Series 1 is examined, it is seen that emphasis is placed on changes related to the Blue Line Application in exports.

In this context;

• Being a manufacturer, except for foreign trade capital companies, sectoral foreign trade companies, group exporters, group importers, people with R&D center certificates and commercial air transportation companies that carry out maintenance and repair activities,
• Meeting at least one of the following conditions:
• Actual exports of at least 5 million FOB/US dollars must have been made in any period, in two separate periods of twelve months, within 2 years from the date of application for this permit to the competent regional directorate,
• The total amount of imports and actual exports carried out in any period must be at least 20 million US dollars, in two separate twelve-month periods, within two years from the date of application for this permit to the competent regional directorate.
• It employs at least 100 workers within 1 month from the date of application for this permit to the authorized regional directorate, excluding foreign trade capital companies, sectoral foreign trade companies, people with R&D center certificates and commercial air transportation companies carrying out maintenance and repair activities. to be,

It is necessary. 

The conditions specified in this paragraph are not required for group exporters and group importers. However, in applications made by group exporters or group importers, the condition in this paragraph must be met by the group manufacturers on whose behalf it is reported that they act as intermediaries in foreign trade transactions. In meeting this condition, the total number of insured employees of the group manufacturers is taken into account. In calculating the amounts specified in this paragraph, the second, fifth and sixth paragraphs of Article 24 of the Customs Regulation are also taken into account.

Import and export goods within the scope of the customs declaration belonging to status certificate holders who meet these conditions are subject to less inspection than status certificate holders who do not meet these conditions.

Customs declarations for goods that require identification in accordance with the relevant regime provisions, except for containers, packaging, pallets and similar goods related to exported goods, cannot be processed on the blue line. Export taxes accrued for goods within the scope of the customs declaration processed on the blue line must be paid electronically from the bank account of the person holding the approved person status certificate or through this person's Gumkart. The bank where the payment is made is responsible for checking that the bank account used to pay the export taxes accrued for the goods within the scope of the customs declaration processed on the blue line belongs to the person holding the status certificate. After the export taxes accrued for the goods within the scope of the export declaration processed on the blue line are paid or secured, the goods are released.

By determining the export declarations that have been processed on the blue line within the scope of the status certificate and whose exit procedures have been completed, at least 1% of these declarations with 1000 regime codes, and at least 1% of those with 1000 regime codes, within the 6-month periods starting from the date the status certificate is issued by the authorized regional directorate. At least 2% is determined by sampling for the control of the declaration after the goods are released. The control procedures mentioned here are completed within 50 business days at the latest after the end of the 6-month period.

The information contained in the determined declarations and the declaration annexes are examined by the inspection officers and, without prejudice to the provisions regarding the under-declaration procedure, it is determined whether there are documents that are not required to be added to the declaration in accordance with the third paragraph of Article 114 of the Customs Regulation, but must be kept in accordance with the same article. It is checked whether the documents are appropriate, whether the information and documents regarding the origin, tariff, value and quantity of the goods within the scope of the declaration are appropriate, whether the export taxes are calculated correctly, whether the collection and guarantee procedures are carried out correctly, whether the prohibitive and restrictive measures are complied with.

 In cases where status certificate holders who are entitled to benefit from the blue line application are not required to attach documents to the export declaration in accordance with Article 114 of the Customs Regulation, these documents must be submitted if requested by the customs administration. If the specified violation is repeated by status certificate holders whose permission to benefit from the facilitation related to the control type of the declaration has been suspended within the validity period of the status certificate, following the end of the suspension period, the permission of these persons to benefit from the facilitation related to the control type of the declaration is withdrawn until the end of the validity period of the status certificate.

Source:

Customs General Communiqué Regarding Approved Person Status Order No:1

10.2009 Official Gazette Number: 27369 Customs Regulation Articles 22 to 26

https://ticaret.gov.tr/

https://www.oaib.org.tr/tr/bilgi-merkezi-ihracat-belgeleri-oksb-ve-yetkilenendilmis-yukumlu-statusu-onaylanmis-kisi-statu-belgesi.html

https://ugm.com.tr/

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Question 1. What is the “Blue Line Application”? Is it also used in imports?

Answer: Blue Line Application in Export is the line used by people with approved person status determined by the Ministry in exports, where the goods are not subject to document control or inspection before the exit procedures are completed. In imports, the blue line application has been abolished.

Question 2. What are the facilities provided according to the control type of the declaration in the blue line application in exports?

Answer: Only in export transactions, there is a Blue Line Application for the 1000 regimes in the OKS document, and for the 1000-1040 and 3151 regimes in the 42/A status.

Question 3. Which regimes does the blue line application in export cover?

Answer: The first one is a document where only export 1000 regimes are processed from the blue line and all other rights are given together with the receipt of the document. The second is; It is a document obtained pursuant to Article 42/A in the "Customs General Communiqué Serial No: 1 on Approved Person Status". This document is for Inward Processing, where export declarations made under export 1000 regimes as well as other regimes such as 3151-1040 are processed through the blue line. It provides exemption from goods transactions for imports made within the scope of the regime.

Question 4. Are goods that need to be identified for export processed on the "Blue Line"?

Answer: Customs declarations for goods that require identification in accordance with the relevant regime provisions, except for containers, packaging, pallets and similar goods related to exported goods, are not processed on the blue line.

Question 5. What is done to the declaration after the goods processed on the blue line for export are released?

Answer: By determining the export declarations that have been processed on the blue line within the scope of the status certificate and whose exit procedures have been completed, at least 1% of these declarations with the regime code "1000" and "1000" in 6-month periods starting from the date the status certificate is issued by the authorized regional directorate. At least 2% of those with regime codes other than those with regime codes are determined through sampling for the "control of the declaration after the goods are released" procedures. The control procedures here are completed within 50 business days at the latest after the end of the 6-month period. The information contained in the specified declarations and the declaration annexes are examined by the inspection officers and the control is carried out.