TIR DEVELOPMENTS IN THE ECO REGION NEIGHBOURHOOD

Tehran, 26 October 2014

Marek Retelski

Head – TIR and Trade Facilitation

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UAE: almost TIR operational

CHINA: on the way to TIR accession

RUSSIA: state of play and next steps

TABLE OF CONTENT

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United Arab Emirates Progress step-by-step to start TIR

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UAE = Contracting Party since 2007

ATCUE = IRU Member since 2012

• Guarantee agreement signed with Dubai customs

in April 2014

• Guarantee agreement signed with Abu Dhabi customs

in June 2014.

• Guarantee agreement signed with Ras Al Khaimah customs

in September 2014.

4 more Emirates to follow rapidly to cover all the UAE!

TIR progress in the UAE

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• Dubai and Abu Dhabi ports offer huge potential for intermodal transport.

• Already a lot of Ro-Ro movements between Bandar Abbas and Dubai

• Possible influence on neighbouring countries (KSA, Iraq, Oman, etc.).

UAE & Intermodal potential

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CHINA: on the way to TIR accession

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IRU – China History

2002

2005

2008

2010

2011

August 2013

China Road Transport Association (CRTA) became member of the IRU

IRU EURO-Asian Conference co-organised with Ministry of Transport of China

Beijing–Brussels Caravan

Joint IRU – UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) event in Beijing

3-month internship at IRU in Geneva of representative of China Customs

Visit of IRU General Secretary to Beijing

China Customs confirmation to IRU of intention to join the TIR Convention

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2014 Developments

Reinforcement of ties with CRTA and China Customs

• Regular operational contacts

• 5 missions to China

• Customs visit UNECE, IRU and Turkey

Documents

• WCO TIR training in Chinese

• Corrections to 2013 Chinese TIR Handbook and TIR Convention (in progress)

• TIR and IRU promotional material

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Border with 14 countries including with 6 TIR Contracting parties, i.e. Russia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Kyrghizstan, Tajikistan,Afghanistan

Volume of trade in 2013: US$ 4.16 trillion

Volume of trade by road transport in 2013: US$ 40 billion

1,400 companies doing international transports

26,800 vehicles used for international transports

China general information

1400 international

transport operators

14 bordering countries

6 TIR bordering countries

35 million tons transported by

road internationally

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Bilateral/multilateral agreements with 15 countries

No bilateral agreements with most of TIR operational countries

Operators from some countries have concerns: competition, unfair treatment……

Chinese transport companies work mainly at national market

Bilateral and Multilateral agreements

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China’s bilateral/multilateral agreements

Category Region Countries and Year

Bilateral

North and Northeast Asia Mongolia (1991), Russia(1992), North Korea(2008)

Central Asia Kazakhstan(1992), Uzbekistan(1993)Kyrgyzstan(1994), Tajikistan(2008)

South and Southeast Asia

Pakistan(1993)、 Nepal(1994)Vietnam(1994)、 Laos(1993)

Multi-lateral

Central Asia China-Pakistan-Kyrgyzstan-Kazakhstan(1995)China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan(1998)

Southeast Asia China-Laos-Myanmar-Thailand-Vietnam-Cambodia( GMS, 2002)

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TIR, Silk Road, SCO and Regional Cooperation

Transportation infrastructure and facilitation is on top of the priority list of the Silk Road Economic Belt

China, Mongolia and Russia in September vowed to build China-Mongolia-Russia Economic Corridor, where transportation facilitation is a key tool

At SCO Summit in September 2014, the agreement on transport system was signed. Where more efforts will be made on road transport facilitation and infrastructure

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Strong leadership by China (Silk Road, Go West)

Investments in infrastructure (highways and rail-road intermodal terminals)

Problems linked to maritime transport (overcapacity, increasing waiting times in ports, etc)

Development of trade between China and Central Asia

Opportunities for road transport between China and Europe for:

• High value goods

• Perishable goods

• Refrigerated goods

Opportunities for Road Transport

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Intermodal Transport between China, ECO region and Europe (China has 7 out of 10 biggest ports in the world, Shanghai = 32 million containers per year)

China accession will influence other Asian countries

Other Possible Developments

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TIR System in Russia: State of play and next steps

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UN supports TIR

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EU supports TIR

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Russian Ministry of Transport supports TIR

As a result:

26 August 2014 Ministry of Transport Addressed FCS with a letter about the results of the meeting, highlighting the Importance of TIR forThe Russian Federation and stressing the constructive IRU position and necessity to hold trilateral meetingbetween Mintrans, IRU and FCS

Constructive meetings held in Geneva in August between the IRU and Russian Deputy Minister of Transport Mr. Asaul

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Current TIR situation in Russia

TIR Carnets accepted:

• in two Customs offices of the north-western region,

• for TIR operations entering the Customs Union through Belarus or Kazakhstan

TIR terminations in Russia are down by 50%

Latest sanctions from Russia and the EU have an additional negative impact on TIR

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Next steps

Continue to make TIR more attractive around the world

Monitor progress on Russian tender procedure Russian Government to take final decision IRU proposed intermediary solution in line with

Russian customs requests Governments from other Contracting Parties

(including ECO) should address Russian Government