Israeli importers already began on Tuesday, after learning of Turkey's decision to ban 54 items for export to Israel, to examine indirect import routes for Turkish goods, sources have informed "Globes."
One of the main options found is delivery to the ports of Koper or Ljubljana in Slovenia, and from there to Israel. How is this possible? If on the bill of lading of those items, including for example cement, marble, steel and aluminum, a port of delivery in Israel is listed then the shipment will be blocked. But there are still no restrictions on the transfer of money between the countries.
In the case of Turkey and Israel, channeling money is not complicated, but paperwork and transport routes complicate the situation. If it appears on paperwork as Koper in Slovenia, even Turkish customs, which is considered one of the toughest in the world, will not be able to thoroughly investigate the final destination in practice. They are unable to undertake the task of checking where the payment came from for any goods that are among the 54 items that are banned from being exported to Israel, but are routinely exported to many countries around the world.
Transferring to another ship and continuing to Israel
Israelis are considering the Slovenian option because Cyprus, which is closer, does not work with Turkey, due to their hostile relations. On the other hand, the customs in Koper in Slovenia is considered easy to work with. As soon as the goods arrive in the Slovenian city or any port in another third country, the goods can be unloaded on the quayside, whether it is a whole or partial container At this stage, local customs are told that the goods will not be entering the country. Bills of lading are exchanged, and the goods are reloaded onto another ship and from there shipped to the final destination.
This procedure may double and even more the shipping costs, because these days, merchant ships move on the Turkey-Israel route routinely and the shipping via Slovenia will take three weeks. Shipping directly from Turkey to Israel takes only a few days. Nevertheless, when there are Turkish suppliers who are able to produce the goods but not deliver them directly, this is a reasonable solution.
"Turkish customs, or in general, any customs, has a very limited ability to monitor the destinations of export shipments. Unless they go through each and every export, and strictly check the details of the transaction. In a country the size of Turkey, this is impossible," says Elad Barshan cofounder and CEO of SlickChain, a digital international shipping platform and an expert in international shipping and customs brokerage.
"It's a practical solution, but not for products of particularly low value. A basic container with marble from Turkey is valued at about NIS 5,000. It's so cheap that if an amount valued at, for example, $1,000 is added - the viability of continuing to purchase from the same supplier drops significantly."
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on April 10, 2024.
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