Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

The Turkey – Iran eTIR Pilot Project kickoff ceremony was attended by TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu, Customs and Commerce Minister Bülent Tüfenkci and Islamic Republic of Iran Ambassador Alireza Bikdeli at the ministry.

Speaking at the ceremony, Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that the axiom of consultation is tradition has always been true for them, that they have achieved great leaps in the economy by working together and that there is a long ways to go yet.

Stating that Turkey has set itself a great goal with 500 billion USD exports volume, Hisarcıklıoğlu emphasized the necessity of increasing the capacity for both the industry and logistics infrastructure in attaining this goal.

- 30 billion USD goal

Hisarcıklıoğlu, stating that they will be co-promoting the eTIR Project in order to increase trade with Iran, “This is an important step in reaching the 30 billion USD trade goal we have set with Iran for 2016.”

Pointing out that Turkey is situated in the center of one of the most lucrative markets in the world, Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that decision-makers have been making use of geopolitics since the turn of the 20^th century.

Stating that Turkey’s geopolitical advantages are not fully utilized to generate value, Hisarcıklıoğlu went on:

“In recent years, we’ve made great strides in turning Turkey’s position into opportunity. 40% of our exports are transported via international roads. We neglected our customs gates for many years. Our entrepreneurs who undertook to export their goods had to wait in lines which stretched for kilometers on end. With the support and positive approach of our government, we achieved a first in our country. We’ve begun to modernize the customs gates via the build-operate-transfer model. We’ve made sure that this costs the government nothing. Quite the opposite, effective and efficient working of customs gates have greatly increased tax income.”

Hisarcıklıoğlu reported that the modernization of 7 customs gates has been completed and that customs gates in Çıldır-Aktaş, Dilucu and Esendere are under construction. Turkey’s largest customs inspection center İstanbul, the İstanbul Halkalı Customs Office which was a mire for exporters, has been modernized.

Adding that they’ve begun the construction of the Kapıkule TIR Park to put an end to kilometers of TIR queues at customs, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “As the private sector, we’ve made our commitment to bring a solution to this issue. The wait times in customs gates we’ve modernized have been reduced by half, passage procedures have increased by 4 times. According to the work conducted by the Ministry, this has resulted in 400 million TRY in savings regarding transportation for exporters. We’ve been instrumental in increasing the income of the country’s industrialists, merchants and entrepreneurs by 400 million TRY annually.”

- “UN has selected the project as best practice”

Stating that this project, actualized by public and private sector partnership, has garnered great admiration throughout the world, Hisarcıklıoğlu reported that the United Nations have selected it as best practice globally and are working to export this project to the countries of the region.

Emphasizing the strategic importance of transportation, Hisarcıklıoğlu reported that the TIR system, which is considered to be the backbone of the international road transportation system, is managed by TOBB in Turkey.

Expressing TOBB’s desire to be party to the computerization of the TIR system by the United Nations, the eTIR Project, Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that they would be a role model for the process with their digitization of the Iran TIR system.

Reporting that this is a world first, Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that they are pioneering this application to be spread out to other countries as well.

Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that procedures would be even easier to complete and freight costs would decrease with the eTIR Project as well as bringing increased transparency and efficiency to operations, “Both the traders and our countries will benefit from this.”

- Customs and Commerce Minister Bülent Tüfenkci

Customs and Commerce Minister Bülent Tüfenkci reported that the eTIR Project is one of the prioritized projects of the 64^th term government, “With the eTIR Project, we are aiming for increased secure data exchange as well as safe and coordinated shipment of goods between countries.

Turkey will pioneer the implementation of the eTIR System globally. This will also result in real-time monitoring of the warrant system as well as minimizing illegal actions with the help of electronic data exchange.”

Tüfenkci reported that the project developed by the United Nations European Economy Commission (UNEEC) and International Road Transport Union (IRU) has been put into effect in Turkey and Iran, saying:

“Pilot projects will show us the parts of the system which require improvement or change. The eTIR Pilot Project Legislation entered into effect on October 26^th, 2015, with preliminary testing conducted on November 5^th, 2015. Based on the success of these trials, the first pilot shipments departed from Turkey and Iran on the 27^th and 28^th of November. With successful deliveries, the return shipments were also conducted, reaching completion successfully. All parties were able to track all procedures electronically throughout the test in real-time.”