Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa has issued Decree No. 244 for 2025, establishing the “General Authority for Borders and Customs,” a body endowed with legal personality and administrative and financial autonomy, directly linked to the Presidency.
The newly created institution aims to unify the administrative and technical oversight of all land and maritime border crossings, free zones and customs services under a single organizational structure, ensuring functional integration between transit operations, customs clearance, transport, storage, port management and free-zone activities.
It also seeks to modernize logistics and commercial services in line with international standards, strengthen discipline, transparency and independent internal oversight, and enhance operational efficiency and public revenues without raising taxes. The authority will likewise support digital transformation and streamline procedures to serve the interests of the state and the national economy.
The decree outlines the authority’s responsibilities, including the management and organization of operations at all land and maritime border crossings, the development of general policies coordinating customs, port activities, free zones and maritime transport, oversight of fee and revenue collection and the preparation of draft laws and decrees related to border points, ports and customs.
The authority is also tasked with developing human and administrative capacities, adopting modern digital systems, and coordinating with ministries, agencies, institutions and security and technical bodies to ensure border security and procedural compliance. It will represent the state in relevant regional and international organizations.
Meanwhile, Syria’s Ministry of Transport announced the passage of the first transit convoy crossing Syrian territory toward the Gulf countries from Türkiye. The ministry posted a video on its Facebook page Saturday evening showing trucks carrying goods entering Syria from Türkiye via the Cilvegözü border crossing.
This is the first convoy of its kind in years, following a long halt in land transport between Türkiye and the Gulf states through Syria. The crossing became possible after the reactivation of overland transport between the two countries.
Last month, Türkiye’s minister of trade announced that Türkiye aims to open the Türkiye-Syria transit corridor next year, paving the way for Turkish trucks to reach Jordan and Gulf states by road after outstanding visa and roadwork issues in Syria are addressed, the trade minister announced.
Minister Ömer Bolat stated that Turkish trucks can travel through Syria to Jordon and the Gulf since a deal was signed in June, but issues like customs regulations within Syria, road rehabilitation and visa regulations are still being worked on.
