Iran-Iraq Customs Ink Fresh Accords to Ease Trade Bottlenecks

Iran and Iraq signed a number of customs agreements in Tehran on Monday aimed at cutting red tape and boosting cross-border trade. Officials said the deals represent the most senior customs engagement between the two neighbors to date. They are designed to update freight flows, harmonize tariffs and remove barriers that businesses say have long slowed trade.

The accords were reached during a visit by an Iraqi delegation led by chairman of the Border Ports Commission Lieutenant General Omar Adnan Al-Waeli, who met Foroud Asgari, Iran’s deputy economy minister and head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA).

Iraq, which controls 21 official border crossings and serves as a regional transit hub, is central to Iran’s export push. Easing bureaucratic choke points could speed Iranian access to Iraqi and Persian Gulf markets.

The two sides also agreed to draft a trilateral memorandum with Kuwait to facilitate the movement of goods and passengers, officials said. They discussed allowing more temporary vehicle entry under the “Carnet de Passages” system and simplifying transit procedures for heavy machinery.

Business grievances featured prominently in the talks. Traders complained about import licensing concentrated in Baghdad, sudden bans on shipments, and inconsistent tariffs between the central government and the Kurdistan region.

Iran pressed for an end to what it called the monopoly over manifest processing by a single company, and urged inspection agencies to be stationed at border posts to align product standards. “We expect border trade and the passage of lorries and passengers to move with greater speed and ease,” Asgari said, pointing to what he called a shared vision between Tehran and Baghdad.

Thamer Qassem Daoud, director general of Iraq’s General Customs Authority, said the scale of the frontier required regular coordination and pledged that Baghdad was ready to step up enforcement of the new undertakings. - Iran Daily