The heads of the customs services of Iran and Armenia met in Jolfa, Iran, on Saturday and agreed on a number of measures to simplify customs procedures and speed up border movement in order to promote trade development and facilitation, Iranian media report.

The meeting between Deputy Minister of Economy and Finance as well as Head of Customs Administration of Iran, Foroud Asgari, and Chairman of the State Revenue Committee of Armenia, Eduard Hakobyan, took place in Jolfa.

As a result, the parties signed a draft protocol on expanding customs cooperation and simplifying customs procedures between the Customs Administration of Iran and the State Revenue Committee of Armenia.

The parties emphasized the importance of continuing and developing customs cooperation, as well as its role in facilitating trade and cross-border movement between the two countries.

Also, they agreed to introduce a simplified “green” customs corridor on the Iranian-Armenian border. In particular, Iran and Armenia agreed to launch a simplified customs corridor at the Norduz-Meghri border checkpoint between the two countries. Its creation should speed up the passage of customs procedures and reduce the waiting time for cargo at the border. Another agreement envisages enhancing the electronic exchange of information before the arrival of cargo (pre-arrival), which will enable reducing the amount of administrative procedures during the entry of trucks. The parties agreed also to simplify the verification of documents by replacing paper documents with electronic ones. In addition, the parties confirmed that the text of the protocol on the simplified “green” customs corridor is ready for signing. The document was signed during negotiations by the heads of the customs services of the two countries. At the same time, the specific requirements and procedure for its practical application will be further agreed upon by experts. Furthermore, the parties discussed and approved the document on mutual recognition of the status of authorized economic operators (AEOs). This status is granted to selected companies that meet the established requirements of the customs services. Also, the parties agreed to extend the agreement on the joint use of the Norduz-Meghri border checkpoint for another ten years, to ensure electronic data interchange (EDI), as well as to unify those trucks that transport goods under one commercial invoice.