Pakistan Eases Trade Rules with Iran

By Staff, Agencies

Pakistan has relaxed its rules for trade with Iran amid efforts to boost economic exchanges between the two neighboring countries.

Reports on Sunday said that the Pakistani Ministry of Commerce had exempted 57 goods and products from requirements for Iran trade, including from complying with the country’s Certificate of Origin [COO] rules.

Pakistani business leaders welcomed the move, saying it would promote cross-border trade with Iran and would lead to more economic growth in Pakistan, according to a report by the economic website of the Pakistan Today newspaper.

The report said that a second list of 37 additional items is waiting for the approval of the Pakistani commerce ministry to be exempted from requirements for Iran trade.

Pakistan and Iran have sought to expand their trade relations in recent years amid efforts by Iran to engage more with its neighbors to reduce the impacts of Western sanctions on its economy.

Pakistan’s ambassador in Tehran also announced on Sunday that his country had revised a 2023 Statutory Regulatory Order [SRO] for barter trade with Iran, Russia, and Afghanistan, as he expressed hope that the move could substantially elevate and diversify trade between Pakistan and Iran.

Muhammad Mudassir Tipu said that the revised SRO had taken into account many concerns of the business community of both Iran and Pakistan amid efforts to boost barter trade between the two neighbors.

The developments come more than two months after Iran and Pakistan agreed to more than double the value of their annual agricultural trade.

Under the agreement reached in Tehran on August 18, trade between Iran and Pakistan is planned to increase to $3 billion per year within the next two years from a current figure of $1.4 billion.