| The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) organize a seminar on the implementation of Annex 8 to the International Convention on the Harmonization of Frontier Controls of Goods, 1982 (Harmonization Convention). This Seminar will take place at Room XXVI, Palais des Nations, Geneva, on 18 June 2009, and is organized in conjunction with the 122nd session of the UNECE Working Party on Customs Questions affecting Transport (WP.30) (16-19 June 2009). The Harmonization Convention establishes commonly agreed requirements for coordinated border management and reduction of border formalities as well as the number and duration of all types of border controls of goods. 53 countries and the European Community are Contracting Parties to this Convention.
In May 2008, a new Annex 8 to the Convention came into force. This is the first time that an annex to the Harmonization Convention deals with a particular mode of transport, i.e. road transport, in recognition of the fact that the road transport industry should be considered as the main beneficiary of the facilitation measures set out in the Convention. New Annex 8 covers, inter alia, facilitation of visa procedures for professional drivers, standardized weighing operations and vehicle weight certificate, minimum infrastructure requirements for efficient border crossing points and provisions to monitor the border crossing performance. The Seminar aims at capacity building to ensure a more effective implementation of the Harmonization Convention and is designed for government officials responsible for customs, transport and trade policies. It is also open to representatives of transport industry. The Seminar will include presentations by experts from various governmental and non-governmental organizations as well as by representatives of countries and the UNECE secretariat. More detail can be found in a provisional programme. Should you require more information, please contact the UNECE secretariat: tel.: +41-22-9171531, fax: +41-22-9170039, e-mail: konstantin.glukhenkiy@unece.org. | |
