Syria and Lebanon have reached a set of understandings to activate and facilitate the movement of goods and passengers between the two countries.
The Syrian–Lebanese Joint Technical Committee on Land Transport agreed upon these understandings after its meetings held at the Damascus Ministry of Transport on August 12 and 13.
The two sides, according to the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA), on Wednesday, August 13, agreed to coordinate with relevant authorities in both Syria and Lebanon to study the possibility of exempting trucks and public transport vehicles from entry and exit fees, and to exchange the results of these studies as soon as they become available.
The Lebanese “National News Agency” reported today that the sides discussed a range of issues, primarily: reviewing fees imposed on trucks and buses; axle weights and permissible loads; facilitating five-axle or heavier trucks; identifying departure centers and improving infrastructure; easing entry of Syrian vehicles into Lebanese territory; and rehabilitating the departure center in Beirut.
They also addressed modifying shipping data; licensing offices at departure centers; installing vehicle scanning equipment “scanner”; unifying fees in line with income levels; establishing unified standards for airport taxi services; ensuring mandatory insurance for trucks crossing borders; and activating the “orange card” insurance through Arab countries.
Understandings and Proposals
The understandings, according to SANA, include the following:
-
Working on reducing customs tariffs in coordination with competent authorities, and exempting up to three tonnes of “iron rolls” to facilitate customs procedures.
-
Establishing a direct communication cell between transport officials from both countries to promptly resolve issues faced by vehicles or trucks at the border or within their territories.
-
Continuing to explore the draft international transit agreement (“Transit”), by the Arab League’s 1977 Agreement on Land Transport.
The Syrian delegation noted the discrepancy in passenger entry fees between the two countries and expressed readiness to cancel fees on Lebanese passengers if Lebanon reciprocates.
They also discussed allowing empty Syrian buses to enter Lebanon without domestic loading and permitting empty Lebanese vehicles to return via the al-Aarida crossing.
The Syrian side proposed organizing airport taxi services through unified departure centers with standardized fees, and the Lebanese side expressed willingness to reactivate a departure center for Syrian vehicles in Beirut.
The Assistant Minister of Transport, Mohammad Rahhal, led the Syrian delegation for land transport. At the same time, the Lebanese side was headed by the Director General of Land and Maritime Transport, Ahmad Tamer, with several officials present on both sides.
Syrian–Jordanian Understandings
The Syrian–Jordanian Joint Technical Committee on Land Transport decided to amend and unify border transit fees between the two countries to 2% each, down from Jordan’s previous 5%.
This decision was made in line with the principle of reciprocity and to facilitate freight and transport movements between the two countries on June 26.
The committee, which met in Amman, discussed mechanisms for regulating passenger transport vehicle entry and continued technical and administrative coordination between relevant authorities, aiming to raise the daily permitted number of vehicles to ease passenger movement.
The post Syrian–Lebanese Understandings to Boost Land Transport appeared first on Enab Baladi.