IRU Secretary General is confident in the great potential of the East-West corridor through Turkmenistan and Iran
The Secretary General of the IRU (International Road Transport Union), Umberto de Pretto, highly appreciated the potential and capacity of the southern East-West corridor connecting China with Europe via Turkmenistan, Iran and Turkey.
In his opinion, simplification of border crossing and customs procedures, including through the introduction of best practices and international standards, such as the TIR system, could reduce transportation costs and time and optimize the corridor. He said this at talks in Geneva with the head of the Customs Administration of Iran, Mohammad Rezvanifar, according to the IRU website.
The two sides discussed the latest developments in the international logistics chain, especially given Iran's key geographical location and its active role in the region of the Economic Cooperation Organization, which makes it an important transit country connecting East and West, as well as North and South.
The reduction of physical control through the use of a single global secure transit system, the introduction of TIR-EPD green stripes (with the transmission of electronic preliminary cargo information), the digitization of customs documents, the promotion of unhindered transportation, rather than transshipment of goods at the borders, as well as the transfer of import and export customs formalities from borders to internal customs will allow reduce congestion at borders and increase transit volumes.
Both sides agreed to work together to optimize border crossings and facilitate transit in Iran, including by conducting research and making recommendations.
The State Customs Service of Turkmenistan integrated the TIR-EPD information system with the ASYCUDA World internal automated customs data system in 2022.
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