Iran, Armenia agree on simplified customs corridor

Iran and Armenia have agreed to launch a simplified “green” customs corridor at their shared border, with the new mechanism planned for the Norduz–Agarak crossing in the Meghri area to speed up cargo processing and reduce vehicle waiting times.

The agreement was reached in Julfa during a meeting between Farhad Asgari, Iran’s deputy economy minister and head of the Customs Administration, and Armenia’s State Revenue Committee Chairman Eduard Hakobyan. Following the meeting, the sides signed a protocol on establishing the simplified customs corridor.

Under the agreement, the parties plan to expand the electronic exchange of advance information on cargo. Customs authorities will receive the necessary data before trucks arrive at the border, allowing clearance procedures to be expedited.

The two sides also intend to gradually replace paper documents with digital ones and simplify their verification. They discussed the mutual recognition of Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) status, Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) for customs information, and simplified processing for multiple trucks traveling under a single commercial invoice.

The new measures are expected to reduce the time required for cargo to pass through one of the key land crossings between Iran and Armenia.

By Jeyhun Aghazada