Bulgaria passes duty-free bill

Gavin Lipsith

Print Article E-Mail Article E-Mail Author

The country's border trade will face more stringent legislation from January next year

The Bulgarian government has adopted the country's first duty-free trade bill. The new legislation was called for as the result of a new excise duty act due to be passed later this year, according to a finance ministry spokesperson. The old excise act has previously been used to govern duty-free business at the country's borders. 

Said Bulgaria Duty Free Association chairman Radostin Genov: "It is not exactly the bill we expected, but after long negotiations with the ministry of finance we finally have a bill regulating the tax and duty-free business for the first time in 15 years. The fact that such a bill is exists is better than being subject to a number of different bills and regulations."

The bill provides for open-ended licences for operators, and lays down stricter requirements. Only local citizens or commercial partnerships with capital of more Lev1m ($680,272) and less than Lev3,000 ($2,041) of customs duty liabilities can hold licences, and candidates will have to present investment projects for improving the infrastructure of the border checkpoint. The finance ministry will keep a list of operators who have been issued licences, stripped of their licences or had licences terminated.

The bill will come into effect on January 1 2006, with a three-month grace period.

See DFNI April 15 for industry reaction.