Suitcase trade –purchasing consumer goods where prices are low and later selling them elsewhere for profit— between Iran and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) amounted to $74.3 million during the eleven months ending to February 19, 2015, indicating a 26.4 percent fall from $93.9 million over the same period last year. Suitcase trade accounted for 0.23 percent of the country’s total non-oil trade in the eleven-month period, Persian daily Donya-e-Eghtesad noted. According to reports by customs authorities, Astara border crossing recorded the highest level of suitcase trade, followed by Bileh Savar and Bajgiran border crossings.
