TEHRAN: Iran and Iraq have reached final agreement on elimination of 10 bottlenecks on customs relations between the two countries.
The agreement was reached during a joint meeting in the Iraqi capital between Iranian Commercial Attaché in Baghdad Nasser Behzad and Director of the Iraqi Customs Administration.
The session touched upon and discussed issues for promoting bilateral trade between the two countries. Iran’s Behzad stated that, during the talks, 10 major axes were examined in detail and agreements were eventually reached on all topics.
He went on to enumerate the agreed-upon issues including appointment of a representative from the Iraqi Customs Administration to hold joint expert meetings with the Iranian counterparts fortnightly, acceptance of Iranian food and dairy products without the need for border tests provided that they present certificates of approval of related Iranian bodies and revision of customs agreement and the decision to use legal clearance officers introduced by the Iraqi Customs Administration and removal of illegal dischargers.
“Other issues were clarification of border terminal systems and establishment of an authorized network of economic activists for customs between the two countries using an electronic mechanism,” the official highlighted.
The official went on to stress that an agreement was also made on holding meetings between heads of Iranian and Iraqi customs as well as on the obligation to declare new customs laws and regulations within a time period of at least a month. The Iraqi customs also announced initial readiness for the implementation of the customs agreement with Iran.
Iran’s trade advisor in Iraq also said recounted on implementation of four types of reduced tariffs for exports to Iraq from early 2018, which would improve monitoring and supervision of costs.
