Press Release

[Index]

UNECE and IRU strengthen cooperation on TIR system

Geneva, 5 November 2007 -- On 29 October 2007, an agreement on the functioning of the TIR system was signed by the UNECE Executive Secretary, Mr. Marek Belka, and the IRU Secretary General, Mr. Martin Marmy. This Agreement stipulates the roles and responsibilities of the IRU in the framework of the TIR Convention.

The TIR Convention facilitates the movement of goods across borders and provides Governments and trade with a simple, effective and globally applicable Customs transit system. Currently, the TIR Convention has 68 Contracting Parties and covers Europe, North America and several countries in South America. It also increasingly reaches out to countries in North Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Annually, more than 3.5 million international TIR transports are carried out by 40,000 transport operators.

The TIR system is essentially based on public-private partnership. In particular, the Contracting Parties to the TIR Convention has authorized the IRU to organize and manage an international guarantee system, being one of the most important elements of the TIR procedure. The IRU has performed this function since the very beginning of the TIR system in 1959. The Agreement, concluded by the UNECE on behalf of Contracting Parties, has become another recognition of the vital role that the IRU plays in the TIR system. The document is valid for 3 years and expected to be renewed not later than 2010.

For more information on the TIR Convention please visit: http://www.unece.org/tir/welcome.html

or contact:

Ms. Eva Molnar, Director
Transport Division
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE)
Palais des Nations
CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland

Phone: +41 (0) 22 917 24 00 /917 12 67
Fax: +41 (0) 22 917 00 39
E-mail: [email protected]