Sending a package to Turkmenistan: Customs, VAT and delivery time

Sending a package to Turkmenistan: What companies should know before shipping

Turkmenistan is located in Central Asia and borders:

• Kazakhstan
• Uzbekistan
• Afghanistan
• Iran
• Caspian Sea

Unlike classic landlocked states, Turkmenistan does have access to the Caspian Sea, however:

no direct access to the open ocean.

International sea freight therefore always requires a multimodal connection.

For trade to Europe and Asia, the following are particularly important:

• Street
• Train
• Caspian ferry and RoRo connections
• Airfreight

relevant.

What documents do I need for Turkmenistan?

Commercial imports may typically require:

• Commercial invoice or trade invoice
• Packing List
• CMR for road transport
• Bill of Lading for sea transport
• Air Waybill for air freight
• Customs Declaration
• Certificate of Origin
• quality certificates
• Certificate of Conformity
• Import license or other permits may be required.

For imports handled under contract, prior registration of the underlying import contract may also be required.

The contract should include information on, among other things:

• Commodity
• Origin
• Currency
• Price
• Total Price

The required registration should be completed before the goods reach Turkmenistan.

Certificate of Origin can play an important role

The Customs Code explicitly requires proof of origin of goods.

Depending on the import, Customs may:

Declaration of Origin

or a:

Certificate of Origin

desire.

The origin should be indicated with:

• Commercial invoice
• contract
• Transport documents

to match.

The country of dispatch and the country of origin are not automatically the same.

Check product certification before importing

The state standardization agency:

Turkmen Standard

is responsible for the certification of products.

The following may be required for the certification of imported goods:

• Application
• Customs documents
• Import agreement
• Commercial invoice
• Quality documents

Not every import scenario is treated identically.

For example, goods that are merely packed in a customs warehouse and then re-exported may be exempt from certain certification requirements.

For a normal final B2B import, the importer should therefore check early on which conformity requirements apply.

How long does it take for a package to arrive in Turkmenistan?

DHL currently lists the following for standard parcel shipping:

8 to 14 working days.

The storage period is:

60 days.

The actual runtime can also be affected by:

• Customs clearance
• Contract registration
• missing documents
• Certification
• Import permits
• Receiver location

For:

• urgent spare parts
• Production material
• high quality components
• technical systems

An express service should also be considered.

Which language should I use for the customs declaration?

DHL currently states:

English

as well as for deliveries to branches:

Russisch

as permitted languages.

Therefore, a precise English product description is suitable for international B2B shipments.

Not:

“Machine parts”

but for example:

“Stainless steel replacement shaft for industrial textile machine”

This makes the product type, material and intended use much clearer.

Write the address for Turkmenistan correctly

DHL requires:

• Latin letters
• Arabic numerals

for the recipient address.

An example of a business address could be:

ABC Industrial Company
25 Atabayev Street
744000 ASHGABAT
TURKMENISTAN

Additionally, the following should be considered if possible:

• Phone number
• Email address

be transmitted to the recipient.

DHL explicitly points out that this contact information can improve delivery coordination and avoid costly returns.

Ashgabat is the most important economic and import center.

Ashgabat is the capital and most important administrative center of the country.

Many:

• importers
• Authorities
• industrial company
• Wholesalers
• international companies

are located there.

The capital region is therefore particularly relevant for smaller B2B shipments and express transport.

Türkmenbaşy is the country's maritime gateway

The:

Türkmenbaşy International Seaport

It is located on the east coast of the Caspian Sea.

The port has specialized terminals for:

• Containers
• General cargo
• Bulk Cargo
• RoRo and ferry traffic
• Polypropylene
• Oil products

This makes Türkmenbaşy particularly important for international multimodal freight.

For German goods, for example, a transport chain can include:

Europe → Caucasus → Caspian Sea → Türkmenbaşy → Ashgabat

be eligible.

Trans-Caspian routes connect Turkmenistan with Europe

One important logistics option leads via the Caspian Sea.

Depending on the carrier and route, goods can be transported via various methods, including:

• Azerbaijan
• Georgia
• Turkey
• Caspian Sea

to Turkmenistan.

This makes the port of Türkmenbaşy part of various international transport corridors.

Therefore, for machinery, pallets and containers, one should not only consider the pure sea freight price.

The entire multimodal chain up to the recipient is crucial.

The Aşgabat–Türkmenbaşy railway line will be modernized in 2026.

In January 2026, a comprehensive modernization of the railway line was undertaken:

Ashgabat–Turkmenbaşy

announced.

The connection is strategically important because it links the port with the interior of the country.

At the same time, it is a component or link of international corridors such as:

• TRACECA
• Lapis Lazuli
• North-South Corridor
• East-West Corridor

For larger flows of goods, the expansion can improve the connection between the port, the capital city and regional transit routes in the long term.

TIR-EPD facilitates road transit

For international road transport, Turkmenistan is connected to:

TIR system

tethered.

TIR-EPD is integrated with ASYCUDA World.

This allows advance information for goods in transit to be transmitted electronically.

Priority lanes also exist at border crossings for corresponding truck traffic:

Green Channels.

For road freight transport and transit, this can speed up border crossings.

Turkmenistan is not yet a WTO member.

Turkmenistan has possessed:

2020

Observer status at the World Trade Organization.

The formal WTO accession process was subsequently initiated.

A Working Party has existed since:

23 Februar 2022.

Technical work to prepare for the actual accession negotiations will also be underway in 2026.

For example, in May 2026, the WTO assisted Turkmenistan in updating its memorandum on the foreign trade regime.

Therefore, the following currently applies:

Turkmenistan is a WTO observer and candidate for accession, but not yet a WTO member.

No general EU tariff preference for German exports

Trade relations between the European Union and Turkmenistan are currently governed, among other things, by:

Interim agreement on trade and trade-related issues

.

This has been in effect since 2010.

However, this is not a modern free trade agreement that generally grants a reduced Turkmen import duty to products of German origin.

For:

Germany → Turkmenistan

Therefore, the actually applicable Turkmen import tariff should always be checked.

Turkmenistan is not an EU GSP beneficiary

Turkmenistan is classified as:

Upper-Middle-Income Economy

no longer part of the European GSP system.

This distinguishes the country from other Central Asian states such as Uzbekistan or Kyrgyzstan.

This means that Turkmenistan should no longer be listed as: on current customs websites.

• GSP-Land
• GSP+ country
• EBA country

be designated.

Do I need a EUR.1 for Turkmenistan?

For a normal delivery of goods:

Germany → Turkmenistan

There is currently no general preferential arrangement by which an EUR.1 certificate automatically reduces import duties.

Therefore, a EUR.1 should not be factored in as a general expense.

However, the following may be relevant:

non-preferential Certificate of Origin

.

The Customs Code explicitly requires proof of origin when the origin of the goods affects customs duties, taxes, or import restrictions.

Freight to Turkmenistan is usually multimodal.

At:

• Pallets
• Machine
• several packages
• containers

Combinations of the following are particularly common:

• truck
• Train
• Caspian ferry
• Airfreight

in question.

The optimal transport route depends heavily on:

• Departure point
• destination
• Weight
• Type of goods
• Transit states
• Carrier availability

.

You can find out more at International freight shipping for businesses.

Automating recurring exports

Especially in Turkmenistan, it is worthwhile to store recurring article and document data cleanly.

These include:

• Product name
• HS code
• Country of origin
• cart value
• Weight
• Dimensions
• Certification information

This data can be transferred to the shipping process via ERP and shop connections.

Companies using SAP can, for example, SAP shipping interface Use this so that shipping and item data do not have to be manually entered again for each delivery.