Iran's cabinet extends transfer free imports of essential goods to all provinces

At its session on 27 July 2026, Iran's cabinet extended to all provinces its earlier decision permitting the import and clearance of essential goods through the customs offices of border provinces. The decree was communicated by First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref to the ministries of economic affairs and finance, interior, agriculture, industry, mining and trade, and health, as well as to the Plan and Budget Organisation, the National Standards Organisation and the Central Bank.

The original decree, approved on 22 November 2025, had allowed essential goods including rice, vegetable oil, pulses, red meat, barley, corn and oilseed meal to be imported on a transfer free basis, and only through the customs offices of border provinces, subject to an order registration or statistical registration and to obtaining the required legal permits covering health, quarantine and standards. Under the new decision, that route is now available in every province.

Transfer free importing is a method under which the importer does not draw foreign currency from the official system and funds the purchase from its own resources. Widening the geographic scope of this route may affect how essential goods are sourced and supplied in the domestic market.