BAKU, Azerbaijan, Mar. 5
By Sadraddin Agjayev – Trend:
TRACECA Intergovernmental Commission (IGC) announced the introduction of the TIR Electronic Pre-Declaration (IRU TIR-EPD) (an application, enabling TIR carnet holders to submit free-of-charge electronic pre-declarations to customs authorities in different countries) at the customs of Azerbaijan for cargo transportation under the procedure of the International Road Transport Union (IRU), TRACECA Permanent Representative in Azerbaijan Akif Mustafayev told Trend.
"Since the beginning of 2019, the IRU TIR-EPD within the IRU procedure has been introduced at the customs of Azerbaijan. In June 2019, the customs administrations of Azerbaijan and Iran successfully launched the e-TIR pilot project to fully digitize this process," Mustafayev added.
“Currently, more than 50,000 international carriers (legal entities) are authorized in the world by the relevant authorities of their states to participate in this system, and each year they use the right to expedite the processing of customs documents more than four million times,” said the official.
“The IRU provides maximum opportunities for cargo movement across the borders. In view of the expected strengthening of world trade, the future expansion of geographical borders and the upcoming introduction of the electronic TIR system (the so-called e-TIR system), it is assumed that it will become a truly global transit customs system,” Mustafayev said.
The permanent representative said that Azerbaijan International Road Carriers Association (ABADA), which unites local individuals and legal entities engaged in international transportation by truck in Azerbaijan, is using the application and TIR Carnets.
At present, about 2,000 vehicles are involved in international cargo transportation in Azerbaijan. The goal for the coming years is to bring this indicator to 10,000 units.
The volume of cargo transportation through Azerbaijan by road within the Transport Corridor Europe-Caucasus-Asia (TRACECA) in the West-East-West direction exceeded 34.6 million tons in 2019, showing an increase of 4.1 percent compared to 2018.
"The Customs Convention on the International Transport of Goods under Cover of TIR Carnets (TIR Convention, 1975) and the system created on its basis were adopted under the auspices of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). Currently, the TIR Convention operates in 57 countries, including TRACECA countries," Mustafayev noted.
The Intergovernmental Commission (IGC) TRACECA is open for all the initiatives promoting the development of regional transport dialogue and ensuring the efficient and reliable Euro-Asian transport links, promoting the regional economy.
TRACECA is involved in gradually developing trends of trade and economic development. Major traffic flows passing through a corridor formed on the one hand, in Western and Central Europe, and on the other - in Central and South-East Asia.
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