“Customs plays an important role in the promotion of the national industry”

Cyprus International University (CIU) Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences Academic Staff Assist. Prof Dr. Hasan Rüstemoğlu, stated that customs is an effective tool in the direction of trade, and went on to say, “In this context, customs play an important role in assisting national economies in gaining more from international markets and in the promotion of the national industry”.

Speaking within the scope of World Customs Day, Rüstemoğlu advised that the concept of customs was first taken to hand as fiscal tax in history and stated that the customs regimes gained more diversity in the following years due to the development of trade and the industrial revolution during the 18th century.

Rüstemoğlu explained that 98 percent of the world trade today is held by approximately 180 countries, who have come together to form the World Customs Organization, and that each year the organization sets a theme for 26th January World Customs Day, and the theme of 2021 is to draw attention to the efforts of the scope of combating the economic dimension of the Covid-19 pandemic, with Rüstemoğlu noting that it has been defined as "Customs in Supporting Revival, Renewal and Durability in Sustainable Supply Chains”.

Recalling that in the TRNC an important topic of discussion relates to the scale of customs duties, Assist. Prof. Dr. Rüstemoğlu elaborated that whether due to political obscurity or the fact that we can only perform direct trade with Turkey, we are constantly feeling the adverse effects of these situations.

Noting that high custom taxes cause an increase in the prices of imported goods, Rüstemoğlu elaborated, “sales prices are also increasing due to the higher cost of many products. When the general level of prices increase, this situation leads to inflation".

Reconstruction efforts will gain importance in the area of customs following the Covid-19 outbreak
Rüstemoğlu pointed out that the efforts in the field of customs will gain importance following the Covid-19 epidemic, and within the scope of such studies, a more sustainable structure can be achieved for the customs administrations. However, it is important that the business world actively supports it, he noted. "Among the important issues are adopting the digital transformation process and cooperating with all the stakeholders in the supply chain."