Türkiye, Azerbaijan and Georgia have agreed on a new roadmap aimed at strengthening customs cooperation, accelerating transit procedures and enhancing regional trade connectivity.

A delegation headed by Türkiye's Deputy Minister of Trade Sezai Uçarmak attended the Fifth Joint Customs Committee Meeting of Türkiye, Azerbaijan and Georgia, held on September 28 in Azerbaijan's Goygol district. The meeting was also attended by Chairman of Azerbaijan's State Customs Committee Shahin Baghirov and Head of Georgia's Revenue Service and Deputy Finance Minister Mamuka Baratashvili.

During the meeting, the three sides welcomed the positive momentum in trade and economic relations among their countries and stressed that deeper cooperation in customs matters would further strengthen their economic partnership while contributing to regional development and trade facilitation.

The participants reviewed the implementation of agreements reached during previous committee meetings, assessed the current level of cooperation and identified priorities for the next phase of joint work.

The delegations agreed to accelerate customs procedures along the Middle Corridor and the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) Railway, both of which have become increasingly important routes linking Asia and Europe.

The meeting also focused on expanding the implementation of the New Computerised Transit System (NCTS) and the eTIR system, strengthening the infrastructure required under the BTK Railway Project and accelerating efforts toward the mutual recognition of Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) programmes.

In addition, the three countries discussed expanding electronic data exchange, improving advance cargo information sharing, strengthening risk management mechanisms, enhancing cooperation against customs violations and further simplifying border-crossing procedures to ensure faster and more secure freight transport.

Officials emphasized that closer coordination among the customs administrations would help reduce transit times, improve logistics efficiency and ensure the uninterrupted movement of goods across regional transport corridors. They also underlined the growing strategic importance of the Middle Corridor as cargo volumes continue to increase.

At the conclusion of the meeting, the parties signed the Protocol of the Fifth Joint Customs Committee Meeting of Türkiye, Azerbaijan and Georgia, formally adopting a roadmap that will guide customs cooperation among the three countries in the coming period.

On the sidelines of the event, Türkiye also held separate bilateral meetings with Azerbaijan and Georgia. In addition, Azerbaijan and Türkiye convened the sixth meeting of their Joint Committee on Customs Affairs, where officials discussed NCTS implementation, TIR and eTIR mechanisms, faster border crossings, customs information exchange, risk management, joint operations and training programmes.(ILKHA)