Russia calls off full inspections of Turkish goods at border gates

Russia has sent an official letter to the Customs Undersecretariat to announce that it has ended a controversial policy of heightened inspection of trucks carrying Turkish exports passing through Russian border gates. Stringent inspections of Turkish goods had been taking place since August 2008 and had sparked a very negative reaction from Turkish businessmen, whose deliveries were delayed by up to 45 days due to the inspections. Hayati Yazici, the state minister responsible for customs, publicized the letter yesterday in a press meeting in Ankara and said commercial relations with Russia had finally returned to normal. The thorny customs affair between Turkey and Russia has been occupying the agenda of the related institutions, exporters and the public, he said, pointing out that the government had long exerted efforts, including an intensified wave of diplomatic negotiations with Russian officials, to sort out the problem. Despite talks between the officials of the two nations, the problem remained unresolved, Yazici noted. However, a memorandum of understanding signed during the most recent meeting between the prime ministers of both countries, which resulted in major energy deals, contributed significantly to finding a workaround for the impasse. One article of this memorandum included the removal of procedures applied specifically to products of Turkish origin, Yazici underlined.