The State of Palestine has become the 72nd Contracting Party to the United Nations’ TIR Convention, the only global customs transit system, which facilitates trade and the secure movement of goods across borders.
The TIR Convention (1975), which facilitates the transport of goods between countries, is the only global customs transit system in existence. Hosted by UNECE, it now has 72 Contracting Parties covering the whole of Europe, and reaches out to Asia, the Middle East and North Africa.
The TIR Convention is expanding rapidly, with Pakistan, China and India, home to almost 40% of the world population, acceding to the Convention within the last three years alone.
The State of Palestine’s accession comes as the latest development in enhancing road and multimodal transport in the Middle East and North Africa region.
Note to editors
About TIR
The only global customs transit system for moving goods across international borders, TIR “Transports Internationaux Routiers” has been supporting trade and development for more than 60 years, by allowing customs-sealed vehicles and freight containers to transit countries with minimal border checks. It is governed by the United Nations TIR Convention, which is hosted by UNECE, and managed by the world road transport organisation, IRU.
On 29 December 2017 the State of Palestine deposited its instruments of accession to the TIR Convention. The Convention will enter into force for the State of Palestine on 29 June 2018.