How to Start a Representative Agency in Iran for Importing Goods and Services
In this article we discuss How to start an agency in Iran for importing goods and services of commercial purposes. For a number of reasons, Governments all over the world do not allow importers to sell their products to local distributers, unless they first establish an agency in the domestic commercial spots representing the brand of goods they are supplying to the internal market. One of the main causes of this requirement comes from the necessity of after sales services. Another ground for this thread of legalities reflected on the regulations of compulsory standards. through following text boxes, you can have a glance at the substantial rules and principles governing this field.
Commercial Fields of Import Requiring Official Certificate of Establishing a Representative Agency in Iran
Since early 2016, Iranian government has banned import of branded articles produced by foreign companies in general. According to this rule, the only entities permitted to import such goods are their official representative agencies, located in Iran, and has been already recognized by the government. In other words, customs clearance process could not be triggered for a list of pre-determined goods unless these agencies request so. It implies that if you want to import a load of articles to Iran, but you don’t know if your container includes items inscribed in that list, you have to check it out first. If the answer was positive, you must first go through a process of establishing a representative agency of the relevant brand company.
General Fields of Commercial Import in Need of a Representative Agency
A certain number of articles are subject to specific instructions on how to meet the requirement of setting up a representative agency that we further discuss. Generally, there are a range of disparities as to process and procedure of every single group of goods. The Ministry of Industry, Mining and Trade is the competent authority for issuing the certificate of establishing a representative agency, but there are also other bureaus when it comes to request a permit for a special pool of goods. Now and here, the most frequent categories of goods in need of first establishing a representative agency are as follow:
Automobiles, Car Battery, Machineries (heavy of light), Agricultural Equipment, Tractors, Household Appliances, Electronic Devices, Road Construction Equipment, like: Excavators, Road Rollers, Asphalt Paving Machines.
Medical Equipment in Commercial Scale
Import of a sensitive group of goods relating to Medical Equipment is rather simple and straightforward. The competent authority here is the National Medical Device Directorate. You start the process by registering the producer company in the import.imed.ir, then you input the letter of authorization issued by the foreign company confirming you as a representative agency. You can find a sample form of this letter by clicking here. Then you have to determine the type of representation, either exclusive or non-exclusive. In the upcoming stage, you register the list of articles covered by the authorization and which you want to import from that company. If the article is a general item, you will find the corresponding generic name of it in the list prepared by the bureau. If not, you have to submit the relevant details in a text file. The rest of the process will be carried out automatically.
Goods Subject to Agency Requirement in Iran
Certainly, importers cannot launch an agency for any sorts of retails they inject into the market. On the other hand, there is not an exhaustive list of goods proclaimed by the government determining goods subject to agency requirement one by one. The rule is all capital goods plus all durable ones are included. The test to ascertain specific goods to fall under this category could be as simple as if the producer company accepts any agency or provides spare parts or after sales services. However, in Iran like every other country there is a reference named Center for Trade Unions and Merchants, available at www.gatc.ir, through which you can explore the precedents of your trade field to see if you need to establish an agency for the sort of goods you are trying to import..
Seeking a License of Official Agency for Representing Foreign Companies in Iran
For starters, you sign the agency contract with the company you are importing their products to Iran. then you go to www.ittc.ir, put your initial information there. Hopefully, it will be confirmed and you will be asked to send your documents to the Center for Trade Unions and Merchants. The Centre communicate to the foreign company to make sure you signed a valued contract with them. The whole process by the Center will be conducted within a period of 15 days.
Validity Period of the License of Official Agency for Representing Foreign Companies in Iran
In the first step the validity period of the license totally depends on the termination time of the contract between the foreign company and the agency. In the second step, there is also a regulatory expiry date beyond which no license is valid, even if the mentioned contract would be still effective. This expiry date for the automobile industry is due after five years and for other capital or durable goods is not later than three years. For agencies in clothing market, the expiry date of license arrives after two years.
Calculating Sanction Factor in Iran Agency License Regulations
It frequently occurs that due to United States sanctions imposed on Iran, many manufacturers and producer companies overseas are dubious about directly entering into contract with Iranian agencies. Nonetheless, indirect options are also available as middle parties could offer their services. Accordingly, there would be two separate contracts. One of the middle party with the future agency in Iran and another with the company of the origin. Both contracts must be sent to the Iranian Chamber of Commerce and confirmed thereby.
