Overview

Ras Jedir is the main border between Tunisia and Libya. Most of the humanitarian aids and commercial shipments between Tunisia and Libya go through Ras Jedir border. 

From Tunisian side, there are the customs office and Tunisian National Tourist Office in place. The free zone and the port are 78 km far from the border, and different facilities such as weighbridge scale and fuel station are available around.  From Libyan Side: the custom office available to facilitate and organize the custom clearance process at the border. 

The facilities such as weighbridge scale, fuel stations are available in Zintan (Libya).  The main challenges that might impede the influx of the goods are:

• The border closure every now and then due to security issues in Libya, or admin issues in both sides. 
• The unclear/conflict custom clearance procedures at the Libyan side.   

Daily Capacity

As Ras Ajdir is the main border between Tunisia and Libya so it is congested with many commercial and humanitarian trucks, in addition to the movement of passengers travelling by private and Taxi cars. Although the border is organised by separating the lanes between trucks and cars, in normal situation the custom can release up to 70 trucks daily, and the priority is given to the humanitarian shipments, but still in case of extreme overcrowding, even the trucks loaded with humanitarian aids are subject to stuck at the border for few days.   

Customs Clearance

Based on the Custom Department in Tunisia and Libya, the following documents are required to clear the goods at the borders: 

Exporting or re-exporting documents from Tunisia to Libya are required.   

Other related documents:

• Copy of the B/L 
• Copy of certificate of origin. 
• Copy of Packing list. 
• Copy of Certificate of origin. 
• Copy of Certificate of analysis 
• Samples taken for analysis.  
• Documents to prove that the commodities are used for humanitarian relief. 

However, and due to bureaucracy and number of checkpoints affiliated to different groups/authorities, we can sometimes expect delay at the borders.  

All goods will be inspected at the border and samples will be taken for analysis, but generally this process is done swiftly and don’t take time. 

Humanitarian aid is exempted from the custom fees; they just pay nominal amount as administrative expenses. While the commercial trucks pay roughly between 100-200 LD (depending on the size and type of the cargo). 

For more information on customs in Tunisia, please see the following link: 1.3 Customs Information.   

Other Relevant Information

In general, if the clearance documents were ready, the custom clearance process would be finalized in few hours (unless the border is overcrowded). In some cases, and especially for humanitarian aids the custom clearance process might be conducted out of working hours and on the weekend or holidays.  

 There are many items that are not allowed to be imported inside Libya such as: 

• Alcoholic beverages 
• Pork meat
• Any goods made in Israel

And there is restriction in importing IT and telecommunication equipment from abroad. There no clear regulation but the humanitarian organizations have experienced difficulties in importing such equipment. This border was and still used for smuggling goods between the two countries (especially fuel from Libya to Tunisia), so if there is a suspicion of smuggling, then the trucks and cars are subject to a stricter inspection. There are many checkpoints controlled by different groups, along the way to the final distention. These check points impede and delay the movement of the trucks.   

Picture of Ras Jedjir

For more information on government contact details, please see the following Tunisian customs Official website link

For more information on government contact details, please see the following link: 4.1 Tunisia Government Contact List.