New data released by the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development show the volume of road transportation is on the rise.
A total of 290 million tons of cargo were transported by road during the first seven months of the current Iranian year (March 21-Oct. 22), registering a 2% rise compared with the similar period of last year and marking a 10-year high, News.mrud.ir reported.
The report noted that 5.7 million tons of foreign goods were transited by road through Iran during the same period, indicating a 12% year-on-year rise.
The highest volume of transit via road during the first seven months of the past 10 years was registered in the fiscal 2014-15 with 7.2 million tons.
The report also noted that 74 million passengers were transported by road during the same period, registering a 28% rise compared with the corresponding period of last year.
The highest record in passenger transportation by road during the first seven months of the past 10 years was registered in the fiscal 2012-13 with 132 million.
First Cargo Transit Under eTIR Carnets Along INSTC
The first transit shipment under eTIR carnets (TIR Convention) has been successfully accomplished along the International North-South Transportation Corridor, an Iranian customs official said recently.
“The transit shipment included industrial alcohol weighing 21,970 kg worth $82,000. It was declared to the customs terminal at Shahid Rajaee Port [in the south] by India and sent in one container to Russia from Astara customs terminal [in the north],” Hossein Saeedi, a Shahid Rajaee customs official, said.
Shahid Rajaee is Iran’s biggest container port.
“Transit documents and carnets used to be sent physically and manually to the customs and transportation companies, which process used to take two to three weeks. But now all documents are being sent to customs online in one day and as soon as possible. Electronic TIR procedure will facilitate transit procedures, help the development of the north-south corridor, electronic exchange of information between countries and trade,” he was quoted as saying by IRIB News.
The eTIR system allows the two countries to have access to all related information at any time and view the information of cargo before delivery, which is useful for both sides and decreases the risk of deception, accelerates customs formalities and reduces costs. TIR Convention is a multilateral treaty concluded in Geneva, Switzerland, on Nov. 14, 1975, to simplify and harmonize the administrative formalities of international road transport.
So far, no TIR carnets project has been carried out by two companies, said Behnam Faramarzian, the head of International Transportation and TIR Carnet Department of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture.
“Generally, only one company conducts TIR carnet projects. The transfer of goods from India to Iran to Russia was carried out by two companies, one Indian and the other Iranian,” he said.
“This method accelerates customs process and the time needed to transfer goods from the origin to the destination. This pilot project has been successful so far; if it produces desirable results, it can help the development of transit through Iran. Iran has the necessary infrastructure to implement this project; we are ready to carry out this project again if other countries are willing to cooperate and have needed equipment,” he was quoted as saying by Otaghiranonline.ir.
INSTC Gains Momentum
Iran and Russia have agreed on details of their plan to transit 10 million tons of goods along the International North-South Transportation Corridor, the news portal of the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development of Iran reported.
The agreement was made during a meeting of the two sides’ transportation officials in Moscow on June 28-29.
INSTC is a major transit route designed to facilitate the transportation of goods from Mumbai in India to Helsinki in Finland, using Iranian ports and railroads, which the Islamic Republic plans to connect to those of Azerbaijan and Russia.
The corridor, which will connect Iran with Russia’s Baltic ports and give Russia rail connectivity to both the Persian Gulf and the Indian rail network, was high on the agenda of Iran’s Minister of Roads and Urban Development Rostam Qasemi in his recent visit to Moscow.
With the operationalization of the corridor, goods could be carried from Mumbai to the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas and further to Baku. They could then pass across the Russian border into Astrakhan before proceeding to Moscow and St. Petersburg, before entering Europe.
INSTC substantially cuts the travel time for everything from Asian consumer goods to Central Eurasia’s natural resources to advanced European exports.
“The conflict between Ukraine and Russia, together with Iran’s unique geopolitical location, have given boost to this international route.
Central Asian nations worried about bottlenecks at Caspian Sea ports that have caused weeks of delays — as well as a war raging in Ukraine that has impeded Eurasian traffic — are looking to Iran to get goods back and forth,” says Borzou Daragahi with the Atlantic Council’s Middle East Security Initiative.
“Commercially, the use of Iran as a land route also makes sense. A global container shortage has upped the cost of sea freight and the threat of piracy or terrorism at sea has jacked up insurance rates. A land option roughly coinciding with the ancient Silk Road connecting Asia to Europe reduces transit times, lowers insurance and refrigeration costs, eases other transport bottlenecks, and could alleviate supply-chain shortages, benefiting businesses and consumers worldwide.”
