Shafaq News- Baghdad/ Cairo

Egypt has resumed allowing empty Iraqi trucks to enter the country after a two-week suspension imposed on Aug. 1, Iraqi authorities stated on Sunday, with outstanding procedures set to be discussed at technical talks between Baghdad and Cairo in September.

Iraq's embassy in Cairo confirmed the Egyptian approval, while the Transport Ministry said privately operated Iraqi trucks had already resumed entering Egypt.

Technical Department Director General Karim Al-Jaberi said officials from both sides would meet in Baghdad in late next month to discuss implementation of their bilateral road-transport memorandum, outstanding procedures governing the entry of empty trucks and longer-term arrangements for road freight between Iraq and Egypt.

Egypt's Land Transport Regulatory Authority had barred empty Iraqi trucks from entering pending measures to grant Egyptian drivers Iraqi visas, allow Egyptian trucks into Iraq on reciprocal terms, and address the back-to-back cargo-transfer system at the Al-Karamah crossing on the Jordan-Iraq border. The restriction followed complaints from Egyptian transport companies and heavy-truck drivers that foreign vehicles were entering Egypt empty and loading exports that could otherwise be carried by domestic operators, according to Egyptian economic newspaper Al Mal.

The dispute falls under a road-transport memorandum signed in Baghdad on Jan. 30, 2025. At the first Iraqi-Egyptian joint technical committee meeting in Cairo on Jan. 13-14, 2026, the two sides agreed to allow loaded and refrigerated trucks to operate without numerical limits, subject to review after six months. Empty trucks remained subject to individual trip permits, while Egypt cut the technical-study fee from $300 to $150 per trip through July 31.