Newsroom

A recent operation transporting film and photography equipment highlights the growing importance of TIR in Iraq for unlocking efficient, secure and seamless intercontinental trade.

The Middle East is rapidly emerging as one of the world’s most dynamic logistics hubs, led by innovation, investment and smart cross-border solutions. At Logistics Leaders MENA 2025 in Dubai, the public and private sectors came together to map out the next phase of the region’s logistics evolution.

The Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) region is a leading user of the TIR system, with three of its members – Uzbekistan, Iran and Türkiye – being the top carnet issuers globally. IRU outlined key measures to ministers to further ease trade bottlenecks in the region at a high-level ECO meeting in Istanbul this week.

What’s new in the 2027 ADR regulation? What are the requirements for using battery-electric vehicles to transport dangerous goods? And how should repacked or undeclared dangerous goods be handled in reverse logistics? Our expert speakers explained all the key points in our recent webinar.

TIR became operational in Iraq on 1 April 2025. The government has now made it mandatory for all goods transiting its territory by road to reinforce security and efficiency.

Road safety is a huge challenge in Sub-Saharan Africa, for private road users and the commercial road transport sector alike. How can government reforms and actions help? We asked an expert from the region.

Freight flows along the Middle Corridor are surging. Yet rising challenges could limit growth and development potential. IRU shared solutions at this week’s International Forum on Multimodal Transportation in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

A new era of seamless trade continues to take shape in the Middle East.

IRU mapped its vision for a world where supply chains are not only efficient and reliable but also sustainable at Huawei’s forum today in Dongguan, China.

The full implementation of initiatives established under the US–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA) took centre stage at the IRU North American Transportation Forum (NATF) roundtable in California.

TIR continues to strengthen regional trade, enabling faster, more secure road freight movements between Türkiye and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries.

With triple-digit growth in TIR usage over the past year, IRU’s Secretary General has outlined key measures for Pakistan and the region to take transport efficiency and security to a new level at the ministerial conference in Islamabad.

Recent visits to three of Iran’s main border crossings have uncovered bottlenecks – but also clear opportunities to speed up trade.

Located in the heart of the Balkans, Bosnia and Herzegovina can transform into a regional trade hub. But infrastructure alone is not enough. IRU’s President charted the path forward at the Third International Logistics Conference in Sarajevo.

At BSEC-URTA’s General Assembly, IRU put the spotlight on TIR and digitalisation as pivotal drivers of efficient trade across the Black Sea region.

IRU, the world road transport organisation, outlined three key measures to raise the efficiency, sustainability and safety of free zones at the World Free Zones Organization 2025 World Congress in China. In subsequent bilateral meetings with Chinese partners, IRU discussed the growing role of the TIR system in trade.

Industry priorities for the upcoming revision of the Mexico-United States-Canada Agreement and the exploitation of drivers were key topics during IRU’s panel at the 2025 CANACAR National Convention.

Efficient and digital road transport systems are crucial to boosting economic growth, integration and resilience across the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation region.

This article, originally published by the Africa Transport Policy Program, also known as SSATP, lays bare why road transport must be central to Africa’s single market.

With over 1,000 delegates at Kazakhstan's major transport and logistics event this week, IRU highlighted road freight’s transformative role in Central Asia and Eurasia in recent decades, and the need to now focus on the “three Ds” in addition to the overarching “D”, development.

The latest Industry Development reports presented during the IRU Presidential Executive meeting in September are now available to members.

High-level talks in Cairo have reaffirmed Egypt’s commitment to becoming a strategic transit hub linking Europe, the GCC and Africa through the global TIR system.

In a major milestone for regional transport and trade, three Turkish trucks have used TIR to transit Saudi Arabia for the first time in many years.

Improving laws, governance, compliance, skills certification and operating conditions to drive safer, cleaner and more efficient commercial road transport is the aim of a new sector reform guide from the World Bank and IRU.

IRU was back in Togo recently at a major international seminar on transport and research in Sub-Saharan Africa presenting, with the World Bank, how countries can reform their road transport sector to transform mobility and trade.

As part of ongoing efforts to streamline TIR operations to and from China, IRU is increasing its on-the-ground support at major border crossings.

Even if two countries allow it, the EU says they can’t do it across their common border. An almost comical situation. Could a cartoon make a difference?

Immediate help was needed. Fifty-two cattle were stuck at Morocco’s Tanger Med port. With a national holiday and weekend approaching, the animals and their drivers risked being stranded for days, facing serious welfare consequences and logistical disruptions.

From 1 July 2026, the EU’s light freight commercial vehicles (LCVs), weighing between 2.5 and 3.5 tonnes, engaged in cross-border EU services will face a regulatory revolution.

In an urgent letter to the European Commission, IRU is calling for a six-month EU-wide enforcement grace period for the EU’s new customs import control system for goods moved by road (ICS2 release 3), warning of major disruptions at external land borders from 1 September 2025.

A convoy of TIR trucks has reached Jordan from Türkiye via Iraq – an itinerary that is quickly gaining popularity in the Middle East.

Fast, secure, reliable. The TIR system is driving ever more trade with China through new routes.

Lowering trade and transit costs for landlocked countries could be as simple as signing one tried-and-tested UN convention, said Umberto de Pretto. Speaking at the Third UN Conference for Landlocked Developing Countries in Awaza, Turkmenistan, he called on governments to join the TIR Convention without delay.

IRU’s regional office in Istanbul, Türkiye, celebrates 20 years of driving safe, efficient and green road transport across the Black Sea region.

Five weeks to transport goods from Istanbul to Amman? No, more like five days.