The Iranian delegation, led by Foroud Asgari, Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance and Head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA), participated in the three-day meetings alongside Fatemeh Etemadmoghadam, Adviser to the IRICA Head and Director General for International Affairs.
On the sidelines of the WCO sessions, the heads of customs administrations from BRICS member states—including India, China, Russia, Brazil, Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates, and Iran—discussed practical initiatives to facilitate trade, expand cooperation, strengthen capacity building, organize a technical meeting on the Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) programme, and accelerate the digitalization and smart transformation of customs procedures.
Separately, in Yerevan, Changeez Khanari, Director General of Transit Affairs at IRICA, outlined Iran's transit corridor development strategy during a bilateral meeting with Armenian customs and transport officials.
The discussions focused on establishing a Green Corridor, expanding preferential arrangements for AEO-certified businesses, enhancing customs data exchange, and implementing additional trade facilitation measures aimed at expediting border clearance procedures and increasing bilateral trade and transit volumes.
Meanwhile, Reza Akbari, Deputy Minister and Head of Iran's Road Maintenance and Transportation Organization, said the meeting was intended to facilitate trade and transit while removing barriers to international road transport between the two countries.
Armenia's Deputy Minister of Economy reaffirmed Yerevan's commitment to eliminating road transport bottlenecks, reducing transit costs and border charges, increasing cross-border truck traffic, and maximizing the utilization of bilateral transit and logistics capacities.
The WCO Customs Co-operation Council sessions will continue over the next three days.