The Minister of Transport of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Lina Shbeeb, called today for the global opening of the European Agreement concerning the Work of Crews of Vehicles engaged in International Road Transport (AETR).
She made this call in a meeting with UNECE Executive Secretary Sven Alkalaj and at the tribune of the Inland Transport Committee, stressing that Jordan and other Mediterranean countries are willing to join the agreement. "Opening up the AETR Agreement to countries outside the UNECE region will enhance the development of transport, facilitate cross border trade and improve road safety,” said Ms Shbeeb. “This would definitely be the case for Jordan."
Sven Alkalaj confirmed that UNECE stands ready to provide an international platform for all United Nations Members to work towards achieving seamless, efficient and safe international road transport. “I trust the current AETR Contracting Parties will seriously consider amending Article 14 of the Agreement to make it possible for countries outside the UNECE region to accede”, he said.
Jordan is a Contracting Party to nine UNECE-administered international transport conventions and agreements. The AETR Agreement provides for the implementation of the digital tachograph – the world’s most sophisticated device used in the UNECE region to control and verify driving times and rest periods of professional drivers in trucks and buses.
Note to editors
The European Agreement concerning the Work of Crews of Vehicles engaged in International Road Transport (AETR) of 1970 aims at preventing drivers and crews of commercial vehicles of more than 3.5 tonnes or those transporting more than nine people, engaged in international road transport from driving excessive hours. It has 51 Contracting Parties.
The Agreement also defines an on-board control device (tachograph) that is used to control driving hours and rest periods. It also sets up technical requirements for the construction, testing, installation and inspection of the device. In addition, the AETR stipulates requirements for the checking of driving hours by competent authorities of Contracting Parties.
Driving excessive hours increases the risk of road accidents. Unregulated driving times may create disparities in the working conditions and thus in the competitive conditions of transport companies. In contrast, the AETR Agreement creates a level playing field in the road haulage industry and helps prevent road accidents caused by fatigue.
The Inland Transport Committee (ITC) is the highest policy-making body of the UNECE in the field of transport. In the course of the last 60 years, together with its subsidiary bodies, the ITC has provided a pan-European intergovernmental forum, where UNECE member countries come together to forge tools for economic cooperation and negotiate and adopt international legal instruments on inland transport. These legal instruments are considered indispensable for developing efficient, harmonized and integrated, safe and sustainable pan-European transport systems.