BAKU, Azerbaijan, December 22. Kazakhstan is set to sign the TRACECA single transit permit agreement, a move that aims to streamline and enhance international road freight transport across the participating countries of the TRACECA corridor, TurkicWorld reports, citing a draft government decree.
The draft decree, developed by the Ministry of Transport of Kazakhstan, outlines the conditions and procedures for the issuance and use of a single transit permit for cargo transportation across the territories of TRACECA member states.
The agreement seeks to establish a unified mechanism for transit permits, simplifying and accelerating cross-border road transport, increasing transparency, and digitalizing procedures.
The agreement is expected to boost transit flows along the TRACECA routes, which are vital for connecting Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia. The first practical results are anticipated to be seen after the agreement comes into force, which will occur 30 days after the receipt of the fourth notification from member countries. The introduction of the Annual Transit Permit Cycle from January 1 to January 31 the following year will allow for stable planning and more predictable freight transport operations.
The implementation of the agreement’s provisions is expected to improve coordination between relevant authorities, reduce border crossing times, and enhance control over transit shipments.
The TRACECA International Transport Corridor includes the transport systems of 14 countries participating in the multilateral agreement for the development of the Europe-Caucasus-Asia corridor. These countries are Azerbaijan, Armenia, Bulgaria, Georgia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Romania, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Türkiye, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.
In Kazakhstan, five major international transport corridors run through the country:
- North and South Corridors of the Trans-Asian Railway: North - connecting Western Europe to China, Korea, and Japan through Russia and Kazakhstan (Dostyk-Astana-Petropavlovsk), and South - connecting Southeast Europe to China and Southeast Asia via Turkey, Iran, Central Asia, and Kazakhstan (Dostyk-Saryagash).
- Central Asian Corridor: Connecting Central Asia to Russia and the EU (Saryagash-Arys-Kandagach-Ozinki).
- North-South Corridor: Connecting Northern Europe and the Persian Gulf countries via Russia and Iran, with Kazakhstan playing a key role in the Aktau Port-Ural regions-Aktau-Atyrau section.
- TRACECA: Connecting Eastern Europe, the South Caucasus, the Caspian Sea, and Central Asia.
