As a modern type of caravan trade, Russians were transporting goods in suitcases to sell them in certain marketplaces in Turkey and were purchasing Turkish products to sell in their own markets on their return. However, citing the lack of necessary regulations in terms of quality and national standards and the possibility that this trade was causing an increase in the unregistered economy, Russia introduced excessive duties on this trade and also changed baggage limits from 50 kilos to 35 kilos in 2004 to restrict it. In addition, the restrictions included limiting the value of merchandise in a Russian’s suitcase to a maximum of $1,000 from the previous $10,000.
As a consequence of the mutual talks between the two prime ministers, Russia agreed to remove some of the restrictions in an attempt to raise the trade volume between the two countries to the desired level of $100 billion in five years. The volume of the shuttle trade, in this context, is likely to increase to $15 billion by 2010 and $25 billion by 2012 from its current levels of around $6 billion. Considering the two countries are planning to abolish visas by May of this year, reaching $15 billion in the suitcase trade seems likely. The shuttle trade was around $10 billion before the Russian’s imposition of restrictions, but afterwards it shrank to $3 billion.
Today’s Zaman also learned from anonymous sources that the commerce ministers from Turkey and Russia will meet in the coming days to have further discussions on the details of this issue. The ministers will try to rework the current restrictions. It was learnt that they will increase the maximum value of goods in suitcases from $1,000 to $3,000 and the baggage limit to 100 kilos.
The shuttle trade between Russia and Turkey hit its peak in 1996 with $8.8 billion. In 1997, it was sharply down to $5.8 billion and in 1998 it fell further to $2.2 billion as a consequence of an economic crisis that shook Russia.
Restrictions brought about by amendments to the Russian customs law in 2004 caused Russian tradesmen to utilize opportunities in China. However, this change in direction didn’t last long as Russian merchants realized that the lack of quality of Chinese goods was damaging their sales. As a result, those who had previously made good profits in the suitcase trade started to petition the government to make concessions in their strict policy against the shuttle trade with Turkey.
A similar process was also experienced in Turkey. Following the falling numbers of suitcase traders from Russia because of the restrictions, Turks started to conduct more trade with people from the Turkic republics, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya. Currently, merchants from 40 countries participate in the shuttle trade in Turkey.
