During the past six decades, UNECE has worked tirelessly to develop a pan-European
regulatory framework for inland - road, rail and water - transport. This effort
has mainly stressed the negotiation and management of international agreements,
conventions, norms and standards. These negotiated legal instruments, in turn,
provide the foundation upon which UNECE constituents can build coherent, efficient
and safe transport systems and infrastructures. In addition to facilitating
closer integration, the UNECE transport-related work has contributed to the
construction of safer and less polluting vehicles, safer and more effective
traffic rules, and simplified border-crossing procedures.
UNECE regularly carries on with the updating of its transport-related international
agreements and conventions. In 2006, the number of countries that became Parties
to the UNECE international transport agreements and conventions increased
by 52, of which seven were non-UNECE member countries, as many legal instruments
are global in scope.
These numbers are a direct result of the UNECE efforts to promote its transport-related
international legal instruments. In 2006, UNECE carried out as many as
60 advisory missions and capacity-building activities on transport in more
than 30 countries. Nearly a thousand experts from the public and private sectors
attended several subregional and national capacity-building workshops,
and many countries benefited from a EU-funded pilot project that offered the
opportunity for national experts to better understand the importance of the
accession to UNECE transport-related legal instruments.
Road transport. The Working Party on Road Transport (SC.1)
continued its work developing UNECE legal instruments aimed at facilitating
international road transport. SC.1 adopted a draft Protocol to the Convention
on the Contract for the International Carriage of Goods by Road, introducing
the possibility of using electronic consignment notes in international goods
transport by road.
Road safety. Aimed at establishing the conditions for
minimizing the risk of road accidents and for reducing their consequences,
the activities of the Working Party on Road Traffic Safety (WP.1) include
amending the conventions, agreements and recommendations on road traffic safety.
In 2006, the WP.1 adopted new recommendations that address:
• driving under the influence of alcohol;
• improving bicycle,
motorcycle and moped safety;
• increasing seat-belt usage;
• the safety of pedestrians;
• driving at night;
• driving permits;
• communication and road safety campaigns; and
• daytime running
lamps.
In 2007, it will work on recommendations dealing with such subjects as speed,
mobile phones, the safety of children and the proper contents of first-aid
kits.
Transport of Dangerous Goods. The ECOSOC Committee of
Experts on the Transport of Dangerous Goods and on the Globally Harmonized
System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS) approved the amendments
to the United Nations Recommendations on the Transport of Dangerous Goods
and to the GHS. Amendments to instruments regulating the transport of dangerous
goods by road (ADR), rail (RID) and inland waterway (ADN) were adopted for
entry into force in 2007. Consolidated versions of ADR and ADN for entry into
force in 2007 were published and remain top-selling United Nations publications.
The Agreement on the International Carriage of Perishable Foodstuffs and on
the Special Equipment to be used for Such Carriage (ATP) was updated, and
a consolidated version will be published in 2007.
Border Crossing Facilitation. In cooperation with the
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, UNECE organized successful
seminars in Moscow (for the EurAsEc region) and Belgrade (for the SEE region)
on the International Convention on the Harmonization of Frontier Controls
of Goods and integrated border management. Work continued on the computerization
of the TIR Convention procedures, in particular the so-called eTIR system,
which provides for Customs-to-Customs information exchange as well as a system
for the management of guarantee information. TIR computerization is expected
to facilitate goods transit operations and contribute significantly to the
security of the international supply chain.
Intermodal Transport. A Web tool was developed to monitor
the implementation at the national level of infrastructure treaties administered
by UNECE. As a first step, online information has been made available on the
performance of the pan-European rail and intermodal infrastructure networks
and their compliance with the infrastructure and performance standards stipulated
in the AGC and AGTC Agreements.
TEM and TER Master Plan. Following release in 2005, which
provided an investment strategy for developing the road and rail transport
backbone networks in 21 Central, Eastern and South-Eastern European countries,
UNECE monitored the implementation of the Master Plan.
Euro-Asian Transport Links. Substantial progress was achieved
in 2006 in the implementation of the joint UNECE-UNESCAP Project to develop
Euro-Asian Transport Links as part of a global United Nations Development
Account Capacity-building Project. Government officials from 18 countries
in the two regions attended a meeting at which they finalized the main itineraries
and GIS maps of the principal road, rail and inland water transport routes
connecting Europe and Asia. 230 projects were evaluated and prioritized, at
a total cost of $42 billion.
As part of the same global United Nations Development Account project, UNECE
cooperated with the other United Nations regional commissions to develop interregional
transport links. The main road, rail and road/rail/sea routes connecting Europe
and the Middle East with Africa, as well as the main Mediterranean and African
ports, have been identified. Cooperation is under way to address physical
and non-physical obstacles to interregional trade and tourism.
The World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations continued
involving new countries into its activities, with India, Malaysia and Thailand
acceding to the legal instruments it administers. The European Union (EU)
continued to increase the use of regulations adopted by the World Forum,
raising their total number to 105 in 2006. The European Commission has already
replaced the technical prescriptions of 15 EU directives with referencing corresponding
UNECE regulations. Following the recommendations of the report of a Competitive
Automotive Regulatory System for the 21st century (CARS 21), a further
37 EU directives were expected to be replaced by references to UNECE regulations.
In 2006, the World Forum adopted two new UNECE regulations annexed to the
1958 Agreement, updated 77 of the 125 existing regulations, and adopted three
new global technical regulations in the framework of the 1998 Agreement. The
new regulations and amendments will further improve the active and passive
safety of vehicles as well as their environmental performance.
Inland Water Transport. Work in 2006 included the release
of a new updated edition of the Inventory of Main Standards and Parameters
of the E-waterway network (“Blue Book”) and of a Map of the European
Inland Waterways, and the adoption of a set of recommendations on technical
requirements for inland navigation vessels which will harmonize existing heterogeneous
national regulations on ship certification. In the future, particular attention
will be paid to further harmonization of national technical requirements for
inland water transport and other relevant regulatory issues.
For UNECE, the overall challenge in the field of transport will be to continue
improving efficiency, safety, environmental protection and security in the
transport sector. This will be accomplished through revising the relevant
international legal instruments and recommendations as appropriate in close
cooperation with the European Commission; various United Nations agencies;
international organizations such as the newly created International Transport
Forum (previously European Conference of Ministers of Transport); the Organization
of International Railway Transport (OTIF), the River Commissions and NGOs
representing the public and private sectors.
To achieve these goals, UNECE will organize a special high-level transport
segment during the 60th-anniversary Commission session. Discussions on “Secure
transport development: a key to regional cooperation” will concentrate
on the practical steps needed to further develop efficient, secure and environmentally-sound
transport links in the UNECE region, including their importance in enhancing
regional economic cooperation and stability.
To meet the global challenge of road accidents and victims, UNECE, together
with the other regional commissions and the World Health Organization, is
organizing the First United Nations Global Road Safety Week from 23 to 29
April 2007, which will target young road users including young drivers. Another
road-safety related challenge in 2007 is to help non-EU countries to prepare
for the introduction of the digital tachograph, which measures drivers’ work
and rest periods and will be required by the European Agreement concerning
the Work of Crews of Vehicles engaged in International Road Transport (AETR)
from June 2010.
Another challenge in 2007 will be to find the means to ensure financial
support for continuing intergovernmental cooperation vis-à-vis transport
infrastructure and transport facilitation. Priorities will be: facilitating
attendance of Central Asian and Caucasus countries in UNECE transport meetings;
further developing and implementing the TEM and TER Master Plan and the Euro-Asian
Transport Links Projects, and organizing capacity-building workshops and training
seminars.
In the area of transit facilitation, one key will be ensuring the sustainability
of the TIR system through strengthening of the Convention and improving transparency
in its management. TIR computerization, including Customs-to-Customs electronic
data exchange, guarantee data management as well as the launch of e- Declaration
for TIR transport, will also present significant challenges.
Finally, in cooperation with the Central Commission for the Navigation of
the Rhine and the Danube Commission and other international organizations,
UNECE will assist its member States in implementing the recommendations adopted
in 2006 at the Bucharest Ministerial Conference on Inland Water Transport.
Mr. Evgeny Mokeev
Chairperson, Inland Transport Committee
The year 2006 – if measured by interest in the UNECE transport conventions – was
highly successful. The number of States that became Parties to UNECE transport
agreements and conventions continued to swell: overall, 52 new accessions
were registered, and while almost half were from Montenegro, the rest – 29
in all – were new accessions from other countries. As importantly, the
European Commission decided in 2006 to replace its vehicle regulatory system
with the UNECE vehicle regulations. This was a major breakthrough, as from
now on, instead of developing its own vehicle directives, the EU will rely
on those developed at the UNECE.
In our fast changing and competitive world, this record-breaking number
of accessions and the European Commission’s decision on vehicle regulations
confirmed that the Committee and its subsidiary bodies continue to provide
valuable and useful services. In short, the legal tools the Committee creates
and updates remain in high demand. These outcomes have also confirmed the
appropriate selection of transport as a top UNECE sectoral priority during
the organization’s 2006 reform.
The Committee also develops recommendations on issues on which international
consensus cannot be easily achieved. In performing these regulatory and standard-setting
functions, some of which are global in scope, it fulfils a need which is not
likely to be met anywhere else. This unique function is often overlooked,
as is the Committee’s continuing role as an effective forum for the
exchange of best practices as well as technical and legal transport expertise,
on a pan-European scale and beyond.
The Committee and its subsidiary bodies must remain forward looking and
ready to tackle new challenges in 2007 and beyond, for example, capacity-building
for countries with economies in transition. Without a doubt, many of UNECE
member countries require expert assistance on transport regulatory and infrastructure
issues. Capacity-building and expert advice is not without costs, but the
implementation of the TEM and TER Master Plan, the Euro-Asian transport links
project, and the training seminars on border crossing facilitation have shown
that financial support can lead to successful outcomes.
In 2007, the Committee will be focusing on helping non-EU countries to prepare
for the introduction of the digital tachograph in their vehicle fleets. Security
of inland transport will be another area of concern. Transport is about integrating
countries and peoples. That is why every effort should be made to overcome
the potentially divisive challenges related to the introduction of new regulatory
requirements. In this context, many transport-related difficulties will need
to be addressed at the national level to continue to ensure uninterrupted
traffic flows across Europe.
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