Since 2003 North Macedonia has been part of the World Trade Organization (WTO). In line with this, North Macedonia as a WTO member country, has obliged itself to follow three basic principles of trade conduct. Transparency in laws and fairness while extending the opportunities of MOSTFA to foreign and domestic investors and citizens. As a candidate country for acceding to the Union, North Macedonia’s customs legislation is harmonized with those of the EU. However, as it will be further explained, North Macedonia’s national customs legislation does not fully meet the EU standards concerning EU legislation and legal acts. The majority of the imported goods into the region of this nation are levied with customs duties.
Overview of customs tariffs and import regulations in North Macedonia
On the customs, the tariffs ranged from 0 to 35 percent in 2018. Amendments and alterations to the Combined Nomenclature of the EU relate to the customs tariffs and are made annually. System of designations, system of numeric marking, and unit prices are the goods and the notes to the specific sections and chapters. Customs duties set out in the Customs Tariff Law (Official Gazette of the Republic of Macedonia No: The cases so far are 2003, 69/2004, 10/2008, 35/2010, 11/2012, 93/2013, 44/2015 and 81/2015.
Therefore, the importer/exporter is obliged to generate the import/export documents, common trade, transport and customs documentation, certificates of origin, quality assurance and licenses in North Macedonia.
Service providers are not bound by customs regulations, but for foreign trade operations, they are required to make a one percent documentation fee.
Most of the raw materials are not related to tariffs. Alcoholic products, cigarettes and other tobacco products, mineral oils, tobacco and petroleum coke and passenger vehicles are excisable goods. Besides, excise duties can be determined depending on the kind and amount of product introduced to the market with the help of the other method of customs tariffs. Both new and second-hand automobiles attract a 5 percent customs tariff. However, when they are assembled cars manufactured in EU countries are not subjected to tax. All industrial products of products that are originating from the EU, EFTA, CEFTA, Turkey or Ukraine are also free from duties. Specifically, the subjects of the investigation, the levies on agricultural and food products, are variable. The other products are tobacco, wine and fruits for which import tariff quotas are also offered. The import quotas are granted on a first come; first serve basis through Exim’s online single window.
Value-added tax (VAT)
VAT is an 18 percent tax on almost all products and services including locally manufactured and imported goods and services. The food supplies, potable bottled water, newspapers and magazines supplies. Also, educational books and raw materials are used for the production of agricultural products. The same can be said for medicines, medical and orthopaedic equipment, public transport vehicles, computer hardware and software, solar energy systems, crude animal and vegetable oils for industrial use and foodstuff for human consumption which are allowed a preferential rate of 5 percent. When imported to North Macedonia, the customs value of the imported goods, in conjunction with customs duties and excises is subject to value-added tax.
As a result of cutting the shares of the GDP in the current energy and food shortage, the Government of North Macedonia has reduced the VAT and excise duties on fuels as a part of the number of transition measures which have been taken. On the one side, and has eliminated the VAT on staple food on the other side, enhanced the quality of life of its citizens and the solvency of domestic enterprises.
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