Iran says it has lifted the customs tariffs on certain agricultural products that are exported to Eurasian countries – a move which is expected to encourage exports to countries such as Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
Abdollah Mohajer, the head of Mazandaran Province Chamber of Commerce, was quoted by the domestic media as saying that the measure had been adopted only a few weeks ago and after the start of the second term of President Hassan Rouhani.
Mohajer added that the products for which no customs tariffs would be charged included pistachios, cabbages, dates, and raisins.
He said the final price for those products would be accordingly lowered by 15 percent to 20 percent.
The official nevertheless emphasized that exports northwards still faced a series of problems the most important of which he said included the lack of major shipping companies.
Mohajer said Iran’s Mazandaran Province has numerous potentials for exports of non-oil goods particularly agricultural products.
He added that Mazandaran produces around 6 million tonnes of agricultural products in a year and it exported some $200 million worth of such products over a period of five months from the start of the current Iranian calendar year (21 March 2017).
Exports from Mazandaran over the past Iranian year stood at above $520 million and the target markets mainly included Russia and Iraq, IRNA added.
The province is responsible for the production of 40 percent of Iran’s rice, 50 percent of citrus fruits as well as 10 percent of poultry meat.