A New Export Gateway
Syria's General Authority for Supporting and Developing Local Production and Exports is moving to adopt the Registered Exporter (REX) system, an arrangement endorsed by the European Union that would let Syrian exporters certify the preferential origin of their goods themselves. Activation depends on completing technical and legal steps, chiefly the ratification of rules-of-origin legislation.
The move follows a consultative meeting the authority held with the EU delegation in Damascus to set out the requirements. Its director general said the mechanism removes the need for customs authorities to issue a separate certificate of origin for each shipment.
How Self-Certification Works
Under REX, registered companies attach a statement of origin to their own invoices instead of requesting a document per consignment. The system is already used across the European Union's preferential-trade partners and is designed to cut paperwork and clearance times at European ports.
Targeted Sectors and Numbers
The effort is aimed at agriculture and food processing — including canned goods, olive oil, nuts and Aleppo pistachios — alongside textiles, ready-made garments, handicrafts and chemical industries, which alone account for 47 percent of industrial exports. It targets roughly 300,000 small and medium-sized enterprises.
Officials set a goal of raising exports by 50 to 60 percent by 2030, citing a European market of about 450 million consumers. Priority destinations include Italy, Germany, France, the Netherlands and Spain.
Recovering Lost Trade
The push comes against a steep decline in Syrian trade. Textile exports reached about $95 million (USD) in 2011, and overall exports fell 74 percent in 2025 compared with 2011. Reopening preferential access to Europe is presented as a route to rebuild those flows.
What Comes Next
No firm start date has been announced; the timing hinges on finishing the legal groundwork and the origin-rules legislation. Once in place, the framework would give Syrian producers a lower-cost path into the European market than the current shipment-by-shipment certification.