[Index]
The
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to re-integrate the TIR Customs transit system
Geneva, 24 July 2001
Following
the acceptance of the TIR Convention by the Government of the Federal Republic
of Yugoslavia, the secretariat of the United Nations Economic Commission for
Europe (UNECE) has been cooperating with the Yugoslav Federal Customs
Administration to re-establish the TIR Customs transit procedure in this
country.
On
25 and 26 July 2001, the UNECE secretariat will conduct a TIR Training Seminar
in Belgrade for senior Customs officials and heads of regional and local
Customs offices. The objective of
this Seminar is to familiarize senior Customs officials with the procedures
required under the United Nations TIR Convention. This will provide the basis for the re-introduction of efficient
international road transport of goods with and through the Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia.
The
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia is an important transit country in the
Southeast European transport corridors. At
the moment, border crossing procedures for goods entering, transiting or
leaving the country are complicated and time consuming. With the introduction of the TIR procedure, international
road transport and trade will be able to move efficiently to, from and through
this country. The envisaged
target date for the start of TIR Customs transit operations in Yugoslavia is 1
October 2001.
With
the decision of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to adhere to the TIR
Convention on 12 March 2001, the main legal obstacle for the re-introduction
of efficient Customs transit procedures for international road transport has
been resolved. The practical
application of the TIR Convention, however, requires considerable work on
national administrative arrangements by competent Customs authorities and
private national associations (Chamber of Commerce). It also requires the
conclusion of agreements with international insurers, the authorization of
national associations and transport operators in line with the requirements of
the TIR Convention and the training of hundreds of Customs officials and
employees of transport and freight forwarding companies.
The
UNECE secretariat has held a number of consultative meetings with the Yugoslav
Federal Customs Administration and the International Road Transport Union (IRU)
in Geneva in May and June this year, during which all legal and administrative
issues for the introduction of the TIR procedure in the Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia were discussed and resolved in principle.
During
the last few months, the Yugoslav Federal Customs Administration has recruited
around 1.600 new Customs officers, who need to be trained in all aspects of
modern Customs procedures. The
TIR Seminar in Belgrade will allow senior officers to understand the
functioning of the TIR procedure. It
will also provide the basis for training of officials at all levels and at all
authorized border crossing stations.
Background information:
The
TIR Convention, which is presently used by more than 32,000 transport
companies in more than 50 countries in Europe, Central Asia and the Middle
East, allows road transport operators to cross borders in international and
transit traffic without major procedures and costs. The TIR system can be used for transport from Norway to Iran
(North-South direction) and from Kazakhstan to Portugal (East-West direction). Thousands of lorries in Europe carry the familiar blue and white TIR
plate and indicate that they are using the TIR Customs transit procedure (More
than 2.3 million TIR operations are carried out per year).
Traditionally,
when goods are in transit or are transported from one country to another,
Customs authorities apply national controls and procedures to cover duties and
taxes at risk, i.e. to avoid that the goods are sold on the black market
without the payment of Customs duties, sales taxes and/or value-added tax upon
their importation or transit. These
measures vary from country to country, but usually involve crossing the
opening of the load compartment of the lorry, inspection of the cargo,
imposition of security (guarantee, bond, etc.), the filling-in and processing
of national Customs and transport documents, etc. at every border.
The
application of the TIR Convention provides for an internationally recognized
and accepted Customs transit regime with an internationally standardized and
secured Customs document (TIR Carnet), an international guarantee cover in
case of irregularities and harmonized Customs procedures, in most cases,
limited to a standard visual external control of the sealed load compartment
of the lorry and processing of the TIR Carnet. Thus, Customs authorities can reduce their manpower to a few
administrative controls while transport operators and traders can make use of
inexpensive, fast and secure border crossing procedures with special channels
reserved only for TIR operations.
The
TIR Customs transit system is supervised by an intergovernmental machinery,
the TIR Executive Board (TIRExB) and its TIR secretariat, located in the UNECE
headquarters in Geneva (Transport Division). Presently, more than 32,000 authorized transport companies are
registered with the TIRExB, which also ensures regular exchange of
information and intelligence among participating Customs authorities to avoid
possible misuse of the TIR system by smugglers and organized crime. Currently, negotiations are under way among the 63 Contracting States
to allow for the use of modern EDI procedures in the application and control
of the TIR system word-wide.
Further information on the TIR
Customs transit system is available at the TIR web site administered by the
UNECE secretariat (www.unece.org/tir/welcome.html)
Or contact:
José Capel Ferrer,
Director,
or Martin M. Magold,
TIR Secretary and Chief, Border Crossing Facilitation Section,
Transport Division
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE)
Palais des Nations
CH – 1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
Tel.: +41-22-917-2400/2453
Fax: +41-22-917-0039
E-mail: [email protected]
[email protected]
Ref: ECE/TRANS/01/04