By Azernews

By Aygul Salmanova 

The customs bodies of Azerbaijan and Iran will prepare a plan of activities in the framework of cooperation in the fight against customs offenses, according to the State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan.

Representatives of the customs authorities of the two countries held a meeting, where they touched upon the issues of strengthening cooperation in combating customs violations and the exchange of primary data on goods and vehicles passing through the border.

An agreement was reached as a result of the meeting according to which Azerbaijan and Iran are completing the test regime and moving to an active exchange of primary information on goods and vehicles passing through the border of the two countries.

This exchange of information will make it possible to apply the "green corridor" system for goods and vehicles passing through the border and speed up their customs clearance, according to customs authorities.

The customs bodies of Azerbaijan and Iran will prepare a long-term plan for cooperation in the framework of combating customs violations and mutual assistance issues. This plan will be submitted for approval by the heads of customs services of the two countries.

Azerbaijan and Iran have had fruitful diplomatic relations since 1918. Iran recognized Azerbaijan's independence in 1991, and diplomatic relations between the two countries were established in 1992. 

Currently, the two countries are focused on expanding economic ties in various fields, including industry, agriculture, energy, alternative energy, and transportation.

Iran’s exports to Azerbaijan reached to highest level in the fiscal year to March 2013, when accounted to $493 million. But it sharply decreased in the two years of the sanctions against Tehran and reached the lowest level in the fiscal year to March 2016, standing at $?231.8 million.

The figure revived by 55 percent (to $358 million) next year, when the Iranian economy was free of international sanctions.

Iran’s exports to Azerbaijan has gradually shifted from high price manufactured products such as shoes and dresses to raw materials such as cement, bitumen or potato in recent years, according to the TOPI. 

The latest statistics by Iran’s customs administration indicates that Iran’s exports to Azerbaijan has experienced a fall by 7 percent during the first seven months of the current fiscal year to $237 million.