DUSHANBE, January 29, 2013, Asia-Plus — A US$2 million worth of equipment from Iran that is meant for a joint Persian-language TV project has been held at the depot of the Customs Service under the Government of Tajikistan in Dushanbe for more than four months.
Since the Iranian side does not have appropriate documents confirming that the equipment is exempted from customs duties, Tajik customs officials reportedly demand that the supplier pay a US$400,000 customs duty.
Davlat Nazriyev, a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry, says the Foreign Ministry has applied to the Government with request to exempt the equipment for the joint Persian-language television project from customs duties. “The reply we got says that the government has ordered to consider the opportunity of exempting the gear from customs duties,” Nazriyev noted.
Meanwhile, a source at the Iranian Embassy in Dushanbe has said that the equipment should be exempted from customs duties in line with a government-to-government agreement between the two countries. “I hope the issue will be solved soon,” the source added.
We will recall that Tajik customs officials said in September 2012 that no duties are required if the gear is for use by the Iranian Embassy. Otherwise, they said customs duties must be paid by Iran.
In 2010, implementation of the Persian-language TV station project was postponed due to some reservations expressed by Afghan officials. Afghanistan suggested that the common television network should broadcast programs in Pashto as well.
Tajikistan, Iran and Afghanistan leaders met in Dushanbe in 2006 and agreed to establish a joint television channel. At a two-day ministerial meeting that took place in Dushanbe on March 24-25, 2008, the foreign ministers of Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Iran agreed to establish a new Dushanbe-based Persian-language television channel to broadcast in each country. The programs aired by the joint station are expected to focus mainly on cultural issues.
In August 2008, the heads of state of Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Iran signed appropriate documents on the establishment of the join TV channel in Dushanbe on sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit. The headquarters of the television channel would be based in the Tajik capital, Dushanbe.
