The agreements were reached during a meeting in Jolfa between Foroud Asgari, Iran’s deputy economy minister and head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA), and Eduard Hakobyan, chairman of Armenia’s State Revenue Committee.

During the meeting, the two sides signed a negotiated draft aimed at expanding customs cooperation and simplifying customs procedures between IRICA and Armenia’s State Revenue Committee.

The officials stressed the importance of maintaining and expanding customs cooperation and its role in facilitating trade and cross-border traffic. They also agreed to introduce a simplified customs, or green, corridor along the Iran-Armenia border.

Under the agreement, the two countries will work to establish the simplified customs corridor at the Norduz–Meghri border crossing, with the aim of streamlining customs formalities and reducing cargo dwell times.

The two sides also agreed to strengthen pre-arrival electronic data exchange to reduce administrative intervention when trucks enter the border crossing and to simplify document checks by replacing paper-based documentation with digital records.

With the draft protocol on the simplified, or green, customs corridor finalized and ready for signature, the document was signed by the heads of the two customs administrations during the talks. The two sides agreed that the operational details and requirements needed to bring the corridor into effect would be addressed through further negotiations and technical coordination between their respective customs authorities.

The officials also discussed a Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA) for Authorized Economic Operators (AEOs), another measure designed to facilitate trade by providing recognized compliant businesses with more streamlined customs procedures.

In addition, Iran and Armenia agreed to extend for 10 years the agreement governing the joint use of the Norduz–Meghri border gate, implement Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) for customs information, and allow the consolidation of trucks associated with a single commercial invoice.

The measures are intended to reduce border delays, digitize customs procedures, and improve the efficiency of cargo movements, strengthening the role of the Norduz–Meghri crossing in bilateral trade and regional transport connectivity.