Geneva, 31 March 1999
ECE/TRANS/99/2
EXECUTIVE STRUCTURE TO BETTER
CONTROL TIR OPERATION
On 25 and 26 March 1999 a newly
established TIR Executive Board (TIRExB) has been convened in
Geneva for its first constitutive session. This new international
organ has been established by the 62 Contracting States to the
TIR Convention, 1975 to coordinate better the international
activities of Governments and national Customs authorities to
safeguard the functioning of the TIR Customs transit regime.
The TIR Executive Board, as a
neutral international Governmental body will, in particular,
supervise the practical application of the TIR regime and its
international guarantee system, supervise the printing and
distribution of TIR Carnets, facilitate the settlement of
disputes between States, transport associations and insurance
companies and support the training of Customs personnel and that
of transport associations working in the framework of the TIR
Convention.
The TIR Executive Board will
also provide a forum for the exchange of intelligence and other
information among Customs authorities in order to combat
effectively international crime which is constantly attempting to
misuse the facilities of the TIR regime and to evade payment of
Customs duties and taxes. The fight against such international
criminal activities in a concerted manner is of utmost important
given the fact that in many Central and Eastern European
countries, such as the Russian Federation, duties and taxes
collected by the Customs authorities constitute around
30 per cent of total Government revenues.
At its first constitutive
session held on 25 and 26 March 1999 at the Office of the United
Nations in Geneva, the TIR Executive Board decided to address, on
a priority basis, difficulties in the application of the TIR
regime in Eastern Europe in which more than half of all TIR
transport operations end or start. In particular, the TIR
Executive Board will endeavour to establish by mid=1999 provisions under which the TIR regime can be
used for multimodal transport operations (i.e. container
transport or ro-ro operations). This applies in particular to
transport from the EU countries to and through the Russian
Federation and vice versa.
The TIR Executive Board has also
decided to ensure an early re-introduction of guarantee or
insurance coverage for all transported commodities under the TIR
regime. At present, tobacco and alcohol, even in small
quantities, cannot be transported under the TIR regime due to
lack of adequate insurance coverage, and a number of other "sensitive" goods are excluded on the territory of the
European Union. Full guarantee coverage for all cargoes and in
all countries is indispensable in order to reduce attempts of
false declaration of cargo and to provide for efficient and
cost-effective international transport of all commodities to be
traded among European countries.
Furthermore, the TIR Executive
Board decided in principle to focus its work on a complete
implementation of the EDI control system for TIR Carnets (IRU
SAFETIR) in all TIR countries and to assist the IRU in its
endeavours to improve the completeness and correctness of data
transmitted by national Customs authorities.
Other problems to be addressed
will be the present difficulties stemming from late and sometimes
incomplete information about new control measures introduced at
frequent intervals by the Customs authorities and the differences
in interpretation of legal and administrative provisions of the
Convention by different countries.
The TIR Executive Board is
composed of the following Government officials who have been
elected in a personal capacity by the Contracting States of the
TIR Convention for a two years term: Mr. G. Bauer
(Switzerland); Mr. O. Beginin (Russian Federation); Mr. R. Ehmcke
(Germany); Mr. O. Fedorov (Ukraine); Mrs. Y. Kasikçi
(Turkey); Mr. Z. Lovric (Croatia); Mr. J. Marques (European
Community); Mr. M. Olszewski (Poland); Mr. I. Parts
(Estonia). The International Road Transport Union (IRU)
which has been licenced by the Contracting States of the TIR
Convention to print and distribute TIR Carnets for the years 1999
and 2000, enjoys observers status with the TIRExB.
Mr. R. Ehmcke (Germany) has been
elected as Chairman of the TIR Executive Board.
Background information:
The TIR Executive Board is one
of the most important new elements of the recently revised TIR
Convention. Work on the revision of the TIR Convention, which for
decades has facilitated international transit traffic of goods in
Europe, has been undertaken under the auspices of the United
Nations Economic Commission (UN/ECE). With the objective of
stopping the abuses of the facilities provided by this important
Customs transit system committed by internationally organized
crime in recent years, the amendments introduced in the
Convention, which entered into force on 17 February 1999, will
cut Customs fraud through a careful selection of authorized TIR
transport operators, improved cooperation among all Customs
authorities of the States Parties to the Convention and other
measures (an outline of the new administrative structure of the
TIR regime is attached).
The TIR Convention is
administered by the UN/ECE and, at present, 62 States are Parties
to it. The Convention establishes Customs transit procedures
which provide for wide-ranging facilities for international goods
transport by road, allowing 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 in recent years considerable difficulties as a result of
the activities of international organized crime which has abused
the facilities provided by the TIR Convention. Customs stamps
were falsified, false cargo declarations were lodged and
sometimes whole truck loads of sensitive goods (tobacco, liquor,
etc.) disappeared and were 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 modifications that entered
into force restrict access to the TIR regime only to honest
transport operators who must be approved not only by their
national transport associations but also by the respective
national Customs authorities. Strict reliability criteria for
those national associations that are authorized to issue TIR
Carnets have also been introduced.
The new TIR regime also enhances
transparency of the international insurance system providing the
financial back-bone of the system covering Customs duties and
taxes at risk during transit. Furthermore, it provides a legal
basis for an on-line EDI control for each of the more than 8,000
TIR transport operations carried out per day. Such a control is
currently provided by the so-called SAFETIR system operated by
the International Road Transport Union (IRU). 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. R. Ehmcke
Chairman, TIR Executive
Board
German Federal Ministry
of Finance
Langer Grabenweg 35
D - 53117 BONN
Tel: (+49 228) 682 2457
Fax: (+49 228) 682 2240
E-mail: [email protected]
or
Mr. J. Capel Ferrer
Director, Transport
Division
or
Mr. Martin Magold
TIR Secretary
Chief , Border Crossing
Facilitation Section
Transport Division
United Nations Economic
Commission for Europe (ECE)
Palais des Nations
CH - 1211 Geneva 10
Tel: (+41 22) 917 2453
Fax: (+41 22) 917 0039
E-mail: [email protected]
[email protected]