Administrative Justice Court Annuls Note 3 of Article 6 of the Border Trade Bylaw

Effective from

3 August 2026

Issued by

Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade

Reference

No. 8334148

Iran’s Administrative Justice Court General Board (Heyat-e Omumi-ye Divan-e Edalat-e Edari) has annulled Note 3 of Article 6 of the Executive Bylaw of the Law on Organizing Border Trade, the regulation that governed the sale and outbound transfer of goods imported by border residents and their cooperative companies.

The annulled note, part of Cabinet Resolution No. 64342/T34576H dated June 25, 2006, had provided that once goods imported by border residents or their cooperative companies were sold in bulk or commercial form and moved out of the border province to other parts of the country, that outbound movement was subject — without qualification — to elimination of exemptions, payment of the difference in import duties, confirmation by the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration, and approval of the Border Trade Organization Council. Several border-resident cooperatives and individuals filed suit, arguing that this blanket requirement went beyond the underlying Law on Organizing Border Trade and unlawfully restricted their statutory exemptions.

In its ruling (Case Nos. 140431920000722780 and 140431920001189463, judgment No. 140531390000830265 dated June 23, 2026), the Court’s General Board held that under Article 8 of the Law on Organizing Border Trade, border residents are entitled to import-duty exemptions on goods covering part of their subsistence needs, up to ceilings the Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade sets by region. Under Article 9 of the same law, outbound movement of such goods from a border province to other parts of the country in bulk or commercial form is subject to customs confirmation, payment of the duties difference, and Border Trade Organization Council approval only when the quantity involved exceeds the ceiling fixed under Article 8. Because Note 3 of Article 6 of the bylaw applied these requirements to any outbound movement of imported goods — including quantities that remained within the Article 8 ceiling and were therefore entitled to the exemptions the law itself grants — the Court found the note in conflict with Article 9 and beyond the bylaw-drafting authority granted to the executive branch under Article 138 of the Constitution.

The Court annulled the note under Article 13 of the 2013 Law on the Organization and Procedure of the Administrative Justice Court, read together with Article 1(1) of Article 12 and Articles 31 and 88 of the same law, and applied Article 93 of the amended Administrative Justice Court Law (2023) to make the annulment binding on pending judicial and administrative proceedings. Because the annulment reaches back to the date the bylaw was approved, customs authorities are required to refrain from applying the invalidated note going forward and to reconsider penalties or duties already collected under it, consistent with the Court’s decision.

Key Details

• Approval authority: Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade
• Responsible organization: Not specified
• Classification: Circular
• Affected procedure: Statistical Registration
• Document number: 8334148
• Unique identifier: 405051211114
• Document date: August 1, 2026
• Publication date: August 3, 2026
• Effective date: August 3, 2026
• Expiration date: Not specified

This summary is provided for orientation only. The official Persian text issued by the relevant Iranian authority is the governing version.