Cooperation between the Turkic Council and the UNECE on the eTIR and eCMR international systems

On June 15, 2021, the first meeting of the Working Group on the "Electronic TIR System" (eTIR) was held online in cooperation with the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), with the participation of representatives of the Customs authorities of the member States of the Turkic Council.

The event was held to exchange views on the simplification of customs and transit procedures through the creation of a unified eTIR system and the introduction of eCMR in the region.

Representatives of the customs administrations of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey and Uzbekistan informed about their state transit systems and the state of digitalization of customs procedures.

Mirvohid Azimov, Deputy Secretary General of the Turkic Council, noted in his speech that economic cooperation within the framework of the Turkic Council also includes the simplification of customs and transit procedures, including through the digitalization of transport operations, which can play an important role in uniting the efforts of the member states in the implementation of the eTIR project.

At the meeting, Konstantinos Alexopoulos, Head of the Transport and Economic Promotion Section, TIR Secretary of the UNECE Sustainable Transport Division, also made a presentation on the key developments and actions of the UNECE in relation to the eTIR international system. He shared best practices in the use of transit systems and digitalization of transport documents, including eTIR and eCMR.

The representative of the UNECE expressed the readiness of the UNECE Secretariat to assist in the implementation of these projects within the framework of the Turkic Council.

During the meeting, the parties exchanged views on the possibilities of integrating the customs information systems of the member States with the international eTIR system administered by the UNECE, and also identified further joint steps taken in this direction.