IN Brief:
- Six paperless TIR movements were completed in July across Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan.
- Azerbaijan is combining eTIR with electronic permits, advance customs information, cargo tracking, and a Trans-Caspian transit portal.
- Transit freight exceeded 9.1 million tonnes in the first seven months of 2026 as digital and physical corridor investment advanced together.
Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Digital Development and Transport is expanding digital freight procedures across the Middle Corridor as paperless customs operations begin to move into cross-border use. The programme combines eTIR, electronic permits, cargo tracking, and data exchange with investment in rail and port capacity along the east–west route through the Caspian.
Customs authorities in Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan completed six paperless TIR operations during July using the United Nations eTIR system. Five were multimodal movements that included a Caspian Sea crossing, demonstrating that the electronic procedure can accompany freight between road and maritime transport rather than ending when the mode changes.
The first eastbound pilot covered more than 1,200km, moving electronic equipment from Azerbaijan across the Caspian to Turkmenbashi before continuing by road into Uzbekistan. Customs administrations exchanged guarantee and transit information electronically instead of relying solely on a paper TIR carnet at each border, allowing each participating authority to work from the same digital movement record.
The Middle Corridor’s structure makes administrative coordination particularly important. Freight moving between Central Asia, the Caspian, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey, and Europe crosses several jurisdictions and changes transport mode along the way, creating repeated points where documentation can be checked, reconciled, or re-entered.
Azerbaijan is developing a broader digital framework around those movements. Customs authorities are working on a Trans-Caspian Customs Transit Portal intended to process documents and information electronically in advance across land and sea interfaces, while NCTS is also listed among the customs service’s digital projects.
Freight volumes are increasing at the same time. The Ministry of Digital Development and Transport says more than 9.1 million tonnes of transit cargo moved through Azerbaijan during the first seven months of 2026, up 11.6% year on year and the highest total for the period in five years.
East–west corridor traffic increased 16.5%, while transit on the North–South corridor rose 14.3%. Container throughput at Alat reached 72,370 TEU, 20% above the previous year, while dry cargo volumes increased 82% to 1.4 million tonnes.
Higher throughput increases the practical value of reducing administrative dwell. An electronic permit that saves a modest amount of time at a lightly used crossing has limited system-wide effect, but the same process improvement becomes increasingly important as trains, terminals, and border facilities handle double-digit traffic growth.
Advance cargo information also allows transport and terminal operators to prepare before the shipment physically arrives. Earlier confirmation of customs status can reduce the risk of vehicles or containers occupying scarce terminal space while an agent resolves incomplete documents after arrival.
The ministry says average China–Europe transit time through the route has fallen to around 12 days from 38 to 53 days several years ago, attributing the improvement to infrastructure upgrades alongside electronic permits, eTIR and eCMR, real-time tracking, streamlined border procedures, and faster information exchange.
The figure is an official corridor estimate rather than a universal door-to-door service level. Actual transit varies according to origin, destination, vessel connection, border conditions, and the combination of transport modes used, making consistent execution at each interchange as important as the fastest recorded journey.
Physical investment remains inseparable from the digital programme. Modernisation of the Baku–Tbilisi–Kars railway, additional rolling stock, Caspian port coordination, and terminal expansion determine how much cargo can be accommodated once paperwork is processed more quickly.
Digital systems cannot create a train path, ferry berth, or additional wagon, but they can prevent existing physical capacity being wasted while cargo waits for documentation. The greatest gains are therefore likely to appear where infrastructure and border procedures are improved together rather than treated as separate programmes.
The July eTIR operations remain small in numerical terms, yet they provide a practical test across several customs administrations and transport modes. A system that works on a demonstration shipment still has to prove that it can handle larger, routine volumes without adding another digital layer that operators must reconcile manually.
Volume will be the next meaningful measure. If paperless procedures become routine across the Caspian route, digital transit will start to form part of the corridor’s normal operating architecture rather than remain a succession of pilot movements.
