GREEN LIGHT TO THE REVISION OF THE TIR CONVENTION
25 November 1998
The TIR Convention, which has been for decades
now facilitating the international transit traffic of goods in
Europe and in other areas throughout the world, will be revised.
In effect, up to 17 November 1998, deadline for notification of
objections, none of the 62 States Parties to the TIR Convention
have lodged an objection to the modifications which had been
proposed one year earlier.
The now accepted modifications to the TIR
Convention, which will enter into force on 17 February 1999, are
aimed at reducing significantly the abuses of the facilities
provided by this important Customs transit system committed by
internationally organized crime in recent years. This will be
achieved through improved cooperation among all Customs
authorities of the States Parties to the Convention and a careful
selection of authorized TIR transport operators, among other
measures.
The TIR Convention, administered by the United
Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN/ECE), establishes
Customs transit procedures which provide for wide-ranging
facilities for international goods transport by road. It allows
for unhindered goods transport under Customs seal, based on an
international guarantee, from Norway to Iran and from Portugal to
Kazakhstan with only minimal Customs control at the borders. At
present, nearly 3 million TIR transport operations are registered
per year and it can be safely said that without the TIR regime
the present volumes of land transport and trade, particularly
between countries of the European Union and eastern Europe, would
not be possible.
Like other Customs transit regimes (such as
those in the European Union), the TIR regime has faced
considerable difficulties as a result of the activities of
international organized crime which abuses the facilities
provided by the TIR Convention. Customs stamps have been
falsified, false cargo declarations have been lodged and
sometimes whole truck loads of sensitive goods (tobacco, liquor,
etc.) have disappeared and have been sold on the black markets.
National Customs authorities coping not only with smugglers and
organized crime, but also with decreasing budgets and, in some
countries, often with de-motivated and inexperienced personnel,
have often only limited possibilities to combat effectively such
criminal activities with all their consequences for State
revenues.
.The States, Contracting Parties to the
Convention have therefore decided to provide the TIR regime with
a new intergovernmental
structure, the TIR Executive Board
(TIRExB), whose main objective is to coordinate better the
activities of the national Governments in this field. The newly
established TIRExB will monitor closely national administrative
practices in the application of the TIR regime and will supervise
the administration of the TIR Carnet system, currently under the
responsibility of the International Road Transport Union (IRU) .
Finally, the TIRExB will also provide for a well functioning
international mechanism facilitating consultations between
Customs authorities, the transport industry and the insurance
groups providing the indispensable guarantee back-up for the TIR
regime. An outline of the new administrative structure of the TIR
regime is attached.
The approved modifications also restrict access
to the TIR regime only to honest transport operators who must be
approved not only by their national transport associations and
also by the respective national Customs authorities. Strict
reliability criteria for those national associations that are
authorized to issue TIR Carnets have also been approved.
Lastly, the new TIR regime will also provide a
legal basis for the so-called electronic SAFETIR system operated
by the International Road Transport Union (IRU) which provides
on-line EDI control for each of the more than 8,000 TIR transport
operations carried out per day. Further improvements of this
electronic control system are being planned in close cooperation
with the transport industry.
Additional information on the above
issues may be obtained directly from
Mr. J. Capel Ferrer
Director
Transport Division
or
Mr. Martin Magold
Chief , Border Crossing Facilitation
Section
Transport Division
United Nations Economic Commission for
Europe (UN/ECE)
Palais des Nations
CH - 1211 Geneva 10
Tel: +41 22 917 2453 / 2400
Fax: +41 22 917 0039
E-mail: [email protected]
[email protected]