TEHRAN- The Deputy Secretary of the Tehran Provincial Council for Dialogue between Government and the Private Sector has announced an examination of the challenges and crises caused by the war in the trade sector, aiming to expedite the processes of order registration and import of essential goods.

According to IRNA from the Iran Chamber of Commerce, Hooman Hajipour, referring to a joint meeting attended by the head of the Trade Promotion Organization, as well as Mohammad-Reza Ghafrollahi (head of the Trade Facilitation and Development Committee) and Ahmad-Reza Farshchian (member of the Tehran Chamber's Board of Representatives and head of the Import Committee of the Iran Chamber), stated that 10 proposals and solutions have been put forward to accelerate the supply of goods and provide access to raw materials for production units.

Hajipour explained that "facilitating trade processes through interaction with state institutions and via the Government-Private Sector Dialogue Council is being pursued," adding that during the meeting with the head of the Trade Promotion Organization, trade barriers and import-export challenges—especially under current conditions, as the country has endured a 40-day war—were reviewed.

According to Hajipour, it was agreed in the meeting to reduce unnecessary administrative processes and review certain systems. Responsibility for some of these trade systems lies with the Trade Promotion Organization, while others fall under the currency working group of the Central Bank.

Hajipour noted that in the current situation, it is necessary to change the origin, destination, and entry customs points in some cases, and these changes require system updates. 

He added that based on negotiations with the managers of the Trade Promotion Organization, it was decided that for the import of essential industrial goods, the origin, destination, and entry customs point can be edited without requiring approval, system waiting periods, or currency optimization reviews.

According to the Deputy Secretary of the Tehran Provincial Council for Dialogue between Government and the Private Sector, outstanding order registrations from the past Iranian year 1404 (ended on March 20) for importers—especially those who achieved a certain percentage of customs clearance last year—will be exempt from systemic quota restrictions and currency optimization limits.

Hajipour also announced the extension of order registrations until May 30, 2026, and stated that for order registrations from the year 1404 that achieved 90% customs clearance, efforts have been made to allow the remaining 10% to be cleared against a letter of guarantee, considering the wartime situation and related issues.

He stated that under the current circumstances, the priority right for registering orders for 2,800 essential industrial goods will be removed, and the waiting time in the currency allocation queue will be added to the validity period of the order registration.

He emphasized that given the necessity of securing goods and boosting exports, if importers of the 2,800 essential industrial goods use foreign currency obtained from their own or others' exports, they will be taken out of the currency allocation queue. This also applies to order registrations that have already expired.

Hajipour further said that it was also agreed that the 2,800 essential industrial goods, if available in customs warehouses, would be removed from the order registration queue. Furthermore, if these goods are covered by the annual quota, they will be placed in the customs clearance queue; otherwise, they will be cleared through import without currency transfer.

Highlighting the importance of securing raw materials for production units, he said that reviewing the quotas of production units was another topic discussed in the meeting with the head of the Trade Promotion Organization. Due to the damage inflicted on certain industries—including steel and petrochemicals—during the recent war, it is essential to secure raw materials for production units that were previously produced domestically through imports. Therefore, it is necessary to seriously review the quotas of production units and take this consideration into account when determining the currency needs of production units.

Meanwhile, in a joint meeting between the Ministry of Agriculture and regulatory bodies as well as private sector associations, on April 16, issues related to the supply chain of essential goods were reviewed.

According to Mehr News Agency, a meeting to examine and determine mechanisms for supplying essential goods from the northern ports was held at the Ministry's headquarters, attended by the deputy ministers of agriculture, representatives from relevant regulatory bodies, and production and trade associations from the agricultural sector.

During this session, topics such as increasing silo storage capacity, improving the performance of systems, the necessity of strengthening the private sector and enhancing its financial capacity and trust, increasing port facilities and reducing warehousing costs, avoiding parallel work in the goods clearance process, import in exchange for export, as well as managing fuel supply for machinery and managing transportation costs, were discussed and reviewed.

Iran's Customs Administration announced in a statement that during the 39 days of the imposed American-Zionist war against the country, customs clearance procedures for 2,874,000 tons of essential goods were completed at the country's customs offices and dispatched.

According to an IRNA report from Iran's Customs Administration on April 13, the statement reads: "Accordingly, customs clearance and the exit of more than 112,000 trucks carrying essential goods were carried out at the country's customs offices during the 39 days of the war, from February 28, 2026 to April 7, 2026."

In total, during the aforementioned period, 2,874,000 tons of essential goods were loaded and brought into the country through the national transport fleet.

The statement emphasized: "The country's customs offices are ready to carry out customs procedures and 24-hour clearance of essential goods needed by the people, as well as raw materials for production units, and this process continues with the cooperation and solidarity of traders, adjacent organizations, and the national transport network."

Additionally, the support package offering customs facilities to economic actors in emergency situations remains in place at the country's customs offices.

Meanwhile, on April 11, the head of Iran's Customs Administration, referring to the directives and instructions issued during the war, emphasized the continued provision of special customs facilities to economic actors in emergency situations.

According to IRNA from Iran's Customs Administration, Foroud Asgari, while appreciating the relentless efforts of customs personnel as the country's economic border guards during the third imposed war, added: "During the third imposed war, the dedicated and hardworking customs staff, just as in the 12-day war, stood alongside the people in the field of service. With round-the-clock efforts throughout this period, they were present in the arena of service and defense of the homeland. These relentless efforts and hardships deserve appreciation and gratitude."

He stated: "Despite repeated threats at zero border points and ports across the country, bringing satisfaction and contentment to the people, especially economic actors, was the best reward during these difficult days. Customs personnel, as the economic border guards of the country, once again distinguished themselves with honor and pride by maintaining their presence at customs offices and carrying out customs procedures for essential goods and basic necessities around the clock, in defense of the homeland."

EF/MA