Pezeshkian Issues Resolution to Ease Customs Procedures and Direct Cargo Transit

President approves the national Guzar Headquarters resolution, aimed at facilitating customs procedures and enabling through-transit of goods to reduce truck waiting times at borders, speed up delivery to destination customs, and ease trade processes.

According to the reporter of Mehr, the long-term stoppage of trucks at the entry and exit points of the country's borders has become one of the serious challenges of the international road transport industry and foreign trade activists in recent months. An issue that, in addition to the increase in logistics costs and the grounding of the transport fleet, has caused concerns about the loss of Iran's export markets.

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In this regard, the approval letter to facilitate customs processes and one-way transportation of goods with the approach of "the border is a place of passage, not a stop" has been signed by the president, Masoud Bizikian. The resolution that aims to speed up the border processes and facilitate the transfer of goods to the destination customs, determines new criteria to reduce the stoppage of goods at the entry and exit points of the country.

According to the officials of the transportation industry, the increase in the volume of traffic on the country's roads has caused the average time of trucks to stop at the exit borders to 17 to 20 days. A situation that, in addition to imposing additional costs on transport companies and exporters, also removes a part of the operational capacity of the Iranian fleet from the cycle of moving goods.

In the meantime, the difficulty of obtaining a visa for active drivers on international routes, especially European routes, reveals another dimension of this challenge. Drivers usually get a 6-month visa, but when a significant part of this period is spent in border queues, practically part of the visa validity is lost without carrying out the transport mission.

The continuation of this situation, while increasing the cost of transporting goods, can reduce the competitiveness of Iran's export goods in foreign markets and provide the basis for the loss of markets that economic activists have been trying to achieve over the years. On the other hand, the long-term delay of drivers at the borders, sometimes for 20 to 25 days and in conditions with limited facilities, brings many livelihood and humanitarian problems for them and their families.

The consequences of this situation are not limited to drivers and transport companies, and on a macro level, it also affects the country's foreign trade. The sleep of capital, the reduction of fleet productivity and the grounding of Iranian trucks are among the consequences that, if the border processes continue to be disrupted, can show their effects on the performance of the country's transportation and foreign trade sector in the long term.

On the other hand, in the past, the cost of transportation, insurance and other costs related to logistics, based on international custom, usually constituted a maximum of 10% of the value of the goods; However, now the logistics costs have exceeded this amount. Although the increase in fuel rates and other cost components in different countries has also led to the growth of transportation costs, stopping trucks at the borders and disrupting the movement of goods puts additional pressure on Iran's international transportation costs.

In such a situation, facilitating the process of renewing the commercial fleet, increasing the capacity to accept trucks at common borders, removing traffic barriers on international routes and developing diplomatic consultations with neighboring countries are among the measures that can help improve the international transportation situation and reduce the problems of companies and drivers.

Based on this, in its fourth session, which was held on August 10, 1405, based on parts (3) and (4) of clause (a) of article (57) of the Seventh Development Plan of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the approval letter for facilitating customs processes and transporting goods from the entry and exit points of the country and customs places with the approach of "the border is a place of passage, not a stop" was approved. This letter of approval was signed by the president, Masoud Bizikian, on October 16, 1405.

According to this resolution, speeding up the border processes through the modification of the international logistics processes, determining the management method of infrastructure and process matters, and establishing coordination between the organizations and institutions located at the borders, are mentioned as the main goals of this decision.

The text of the approval letter of the National Crossing Headquarters is as follows;

Headquarters: National Transit Headquarters subject to paragraph (a) of article (57) of the law of the seventh development program of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Authorized entry and exit points of the country: the authorized entry and exit points of the country, which are determined as the official border with the approval of the Council of Ministers.

One-way transportation: transportation and passage of goods from the origin to the destination, without unloading and storage at the entry and exit points of the country.

Crossing the border (foreign transit): It is a series of steps during which goods from foreign sources to a third country enter through an authorized border point in the territorial territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran and exit from other authorized border points of the country in the form of combined or one-way transportation.

Amad Center (Logistics): It is a specific area that is created in order to consolidate activities related to Amad and support and transportation of goods, with the aim of optimizing processes and reducing costs.

Customs of destination: a customs that performs the final formalities of determining the nature, obtaining permits, assessment, collection of duties and taxes, clearance or issuance of export permits according to shipping documents, order registration, warehouse receipt, declaration, goods owner's request or logistic requirements.

Administrative transit: Transfer of goods from authorized entry and exit points to destination customs, special warehouse, public warehouse, free or special economic zone, dry port or authorized preparation centers designated by the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development where the customs office is located, without the requirement to obtain a license.

Licensing agencies: executive agencies with special rules in issuing licenses subject to Article 127 of the Customs Law, including the Food and Drug Organization, the National Standards Organization of Iran, the Plant Protection Organization, the Veterinary Organization of the country, and the Environmental Protection Organization.

Article 2 - Entry and shipment of goods from authorized entry and exit points, regardless of the destination listed in the shipping documents or order registration, is allowed to other customs places.

Note 1- The Iranian customs is obliged to accept the request of importers, including traders and manufacturers, transport companies and the request of executive bodies for personal and administrative transit from authorized entry points to the destination customs and complete the customs procedures at the destination customs.

Note 2 - It is allowed to stop the goods at the permitted entry and exit points only for animal and plant quarantine sampling and for a maximum of 2 hours. In the 24/7 authorized entry and exit points, the institutions in charge of implementing the issues listed in this note are required to be established and provide services 24 hours a day. Failure to establish the representatives of the mentioned devices will not prevent the entry and delivery of goods to the destination customs.

Note 3 - In cases where it is not possible to enter and send the goods to the customs of the destination, the Iranian Customs is allowed to carry out definitive import formalities at the authorized entry and exit points.

Note 4 - The requirement of the priority rule of the date of order registration or statistical registration on the date of issuance of bill of lading, unloading or warehouse receipt of goods imported to customs facilities, free commercial-industrial zones and special economic zones is not established in case of currency allocation.

Article 3 - The discrepancy between the year of manufacture, the country of manufacture, the value, the destination customs and the border of entry of the goods with the information contained in the order registration, in compliance with the time limit of the year of manufacture and the permitted volume determined in the laws and regulations of the country, will not prevent the clearance of the goods; Provided that according to the laws and regulations, the said goods are not among the prohibited goods and are not subject to the title of smuggling.

Note 1 - Changing the value of the order registration subject of this article does not mean that the Central Bank will provide surplus currency, and any provision of surplus currency due to the modification is the responsibility of the goods owner.

Note 2- Clearance of imported goods with discrepancies in the year of manufacture, value and country of manufacture, which is subject to obtaining approval from the Ministry of Health, Treatment and Medical Education and subject to the approval of that Ministry within a maximum period of 7 days from the time of declaration. If the opinion is not announced within the prescribed period, it will be acted on according to Article 9 of this approval letter.

Article 4 - Setting the deadline for sampling and issuing legal licenses

According to Article 4 of this approval, the legal licensing agencies are required to start sampling within two hours after the customs announcement, and then the goods and the fleet are sent to the destination customs and take action for joint testing, review, opinion, license renewal, issuance of temporary license without consumption permission or declaration of no legal prohibition for the goods, around the clock and within five days at most from the date of customs announcement or application registration in the relevant system. The list of time-consuming samplings that require a longer deadline (maximum 24 hours) and the list of time-consuming tests that require a longer deadline (maximum seven days), along with the deadline for each sampling and test, are determined in the protocol of note 2 of this article; If a valid inspection certificate of origin is presented, the same three-day deadline is the criterion.

Note 1- Final clearance of imported goods that have direct human, animal, pharmaceutical, sanitary or health-oriented consumption is subject to compliance with relevant sanitary and technical regulations; However, their transfer, storage under supervision, external transit, internal transit, administrative transit, storage and sampling should not be stopped due to the lack of completion of administrative formalities at the authorized entry and exit points.

Note 2- In order to eliminate parallel work, reduce costs and speed up the clearance of goods, the customs, by inviting the highest officials of the National Standards Organization of Iran, the Ministry of Health, Treatment and Medical Education, the Veterinary Organization of the country, the Plant Protection Organization, the Environmental Protection Organization and other relevant licensing agencies, within one month from the notification of this approval letter, should proceed with the compilation and notification of the "Single Instruction for Inspection, Sampling and Issuance of Licensing". The instructions of this note should include the following:

The instructions of this note should include the following:

A- Single or joint sampling of each shipment (according to the mutual understanding) and dividing the sample among the laboratories of the relevant institutions, in such a way that each shipment is not sampled more than once (except in cases of documented technical necessity).

b- Establishing a joint inspection team and a physical and electronic unit window at the border customs; c- Determining a single time limit for the entire review and licensing process that does not exceed the deadlines stipulated in this article.

C- Determining a single time limit for the entire process of reviewing and issuing permits, so as not to exceed the deadlines stipulated in this article.

T- Mutual acceptance of valid laboratory reports and certificates issued by the official authorities of the countries of origin, in acceptable cases, in order to reduce duplicate tests.

D - Determining the mechanism for resolving technical differences between devices without stopping the goods.

C - Determining the sampling sequence of quarantine goods (quarantine sampling at authorized entry points and sampling of other devices at the destination unit or warehouse).

C - Determining the technical coordinator of sampling and reference laboratories for each product group.