Why is it important?

Trade is linked to development, as it can act as an incentive for innovation, lead to a boost in prosperity and expand the choices available to people. For many countries in the Asia and the Pacific region, international trade has been the engine of growth for many years. As a result poverty has broadly declined in the region, and hundreds of millions of people have experienced significant improvement in their quality of life.

Unfortunately, the link between trade, human development and poverty reduction has weakened in recent years as many developing countries have had a hard time gaining a share in the benefits of globalization due to inequitable trade terms.  Trade has thus been identified as a priority area for UNDP and targets Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 8, which is to develop a global partnership for development.

In order for developing countries to benefit from the new opportunities that are brought forth in the global marketplace, equitable trade terms are required as well as the technical capacity needed to integrate into global trade.

In recent years, the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA) has reformed existing customs clearance procedures so that they are simpler, modernized and compatible with international standards. These reforms have been supported by the Government of Iran on the basis of a national policy on making e-services increasingly available to Iranian communities, a strategy developed and approved by the parliament in the third and fourth Five Year Development Plans (2000-2009).

As a result, IRICA and UNDP initiated the project to implement and install the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development’s (UNCTAD) customs software programme the Automated System for Customs Data Administration (ASYCUDA). The benefits of this software are many, it:

• eases custom procedures
• requires only a small number of trained staff to function well and
• is widely used around the world.

In addition the software handles custom declarations and manifests, accounting, transit and suspense procedures. Furthermore it takes into account the codes and standards set by the International Organisation for Standardization (ISO), the World Customs

Organization (WCO) and the UN and helps countries generate data for statistical economic analysis.

What is our goal?

The project strives to improve the efficiency of customs operations in the country by using information technology (IT).  The following are the objectives of the project:

• to make the new concept of e-customs, which includes e-government, transparency and free flow of information, available at traditional customs offices
• to improve the efficiency of customs
• to simplify the trading environment
• to provide and exchange data with external partners.

How will we reach it?

The project supports the government of Iran with the necessary information to create a paperless customs environment. This ASYCUDAWORLD project is implemented in two phases:

Phase 1 introduces a prototype and pilots the system at the Customs Headquarters and a designated pilot site.

Phase 2 rolls out the ASYCUDAWORLD system to all customs offices and fiscal points in the country.

The project assists the government of Iran by supporting technology transfer through technical and functional training activities led in cooperation with UNCTAD.

In order to maintain the sustainability of the project, UNDP will strive to ensure that the ownership of the system remains with IRICA.

What have we achieved?

The earlier versions of the ASYCUDA system have already been put in place in almost all customs offices throughout the country and ASYCUDAWORLD, which is the latest web-based version of ASYCUDA, is now being implemented.

Under the project the following have been achieved:

• Local staff have received relevant training.
• The system has been built and implemented at Tehran’s  Mehrabad Airport customs, which was chosen as a pilot site.
• The system has been expanded to cover most of the customs offices of the country, and most of the ASYCUDA models are in use.
• IRICA’s system has been integrated into a more general governmental system through the Customs Automated System which interconnects different governmental agencies.
• A higher efficiency in the customs clearance processing and in the statistical sector.

The ASYCUDA project was registered as a national project in TAKFA (National ICT Agenda’s initials in Farsi), which was the first countrywide plan for Information and Communication Technology (ICT).

By executing previous phases of the project, IRICA has achieved some major objectives such as:

• improvement in revenue control,
• reduction of clearance time,
• accurate customs and trade statistics,
• standardization of procedures and codification,
• risk management techniques,
• exchange of data with other organizations,
• simplification of procedures and
• more transparency.

Financial Delivery

The following is the breakdown of expenditures per year since the inception of project activities.

NATIONAL MDG FOCUS

Develop a Global Partnership for Development

PROJECT AT A GLANCE

Project Title:

Implementation of E-Customs ASYCUDAWORLD in the Islamic Republic of Iran

Location:

Iran

Duration:

Start Date           End Date

08.03.05            31.07.11

Budget:

UNDP $814,000

IRICA $520,150

Total $1,334,650

Implementing Partners:

I.R. Iran Customs Administration (IRICA)

UNCTAD

Project Status:

Ongoing

UNDP Program Staff:

Ali Farzin  / Melina Seyfollahzadeh

National Project Director:

Reza Jomhouri

National Project Manager:

Ahmad Salehi

Implementing Partner:

I.R. Iran Customs Administration

Project Document:

Implementation of E-Customs ASYCUDAWORLD in the Islamic Republic of Iran