Reopening the Silk Road to trade by road transportWould Road transport be able to redesign distribution models between Asia and Europe?Shanghai, 11 March 2015

Marek Retelski

TIR and Head Trade Facilitation

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This is the IRU

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Evolution of IRU Membership

1948: 8 Founding Member Countries 2015: present in over 100 countries

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This is the IRU

Uphold the interests of bus, coach, taxi and truck operatorsto ensure economic growth and prosperity via the sustainable mobility of people and goods by road worldwide.

Mission 

UN Mandate

Managed by the IRU since 1949

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• Based on TIR Convention of 1975, signed by 68 contracting parties

• Access to 58 TIR operational countries

• Low cost, high value guarantee

• Intermodality

• Security in the supply chain

• Reduced delays and costs for the international transit of goods

• Trade facilitation: goods move across international borders with minimum interference

• Encouragement of international trade

• Economic benefits for individuals and nations

What is the TIR System?

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TIR Expansion

September 2013 – Afghanistan is open for TIR

January 2015 – China officially started the TIR accession process

April 2014 – UAE Customs signed guarantee agreement

Interest in TIR also expressed by Argentina, Brazil, Iraq, KSA and various African countries

April 2014 – Pakistan officially confirmed forthcoming accession to TIR

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China General Information 1.36 billion people

34 administrative regions

56 ethnic groups

GDP $ 10 trillion

• Per capita $7,485

• 82nd in the world *

• Close to Belarus, Bulgaria, SA, Iraq

Trade volume $ 4.16 trillion

• EU, US, HK, TW, JP, AU

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Glance of China’s Freight Transport 2013Freight Volume: 31 billion tons

Freight Ton-Km: 5,573.8 billion

Waterway46%

Aviation0.1%

Pipeline1.9%

Railway15.6%

Road36%

Waterway10.9%

Aviation

0.01%Pipeline

1.5%

Railway8.8%Road

78.8%

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The new Silk Roads call for Intermodality

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A truck is always at the beginning or at the end of each transport - whether we want it or not !

From the factory to the port …

From the airport to the distribution center …

From the rail terminal to the port …

Flexibility and connectivity between modes is needed more than ever

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The Road Transport Sector Approach

Door-to-door

Flexible

Intermodal

Streamlined procedures including green lanes at BCP

Electronic data exchange B2C, C2C and dematerialisation

Efficient transport and transit corridors

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Electronic TIR data exchange

54 Countries: IRU connected with Customs systems who share TIR transport termination data which is available to all Customs

31 Countries: IRU connected with Customs systems to send advance cargo information according to national requirements

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First pilot corridor Iran – Turkey agreed Technical amendments to IRU IT systems Based on existing message exchanges

(e.g. NCTS) to minimize impact on Customs systems

First pilot transport operations in 2015 Other countries also interested:

IRU ready to consider additional pilot projects to show that paperless operations are already possible today

Carnet Dematerialisation Underway

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TIR as a best practice for intermodal transport facilitation in Latin American Countries

Cooperation with OAS and CIP Best practices in intermodal

maritime and road transport TIR as an example of best practice Case Study focused on Argentina,

Brazil, Mexico

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Findings of OE and OAS report

TIR could boost exports for a total of $9 billion per annum

In Argentina and Brazil most of the boost occurs through intermodal trade, while in Mexico’s case - road transportation

TIR by simplifying and harmonizing formalities could cut border waiting times between LAC by 50%

Port Customs clearance and technical control takes on average 2 days in Argentina, 3 days in Brazil and 2 days in Mexico compared

to only 1 day in major EU countries using the TIR System

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The NELTI initiative

Northern Route: 10 – 16 days (between 6000 km and 7700 km) Central Route: 13 – 18 days (between 5300 km and 6000 km) Southern Route: 8 – 17 days (between 4500 km – 6200 km)

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The Lisbon-Vladivostok Caravan The Beijing-Berlin-Brussels Caravan

IRU-ECO Silk Road Truck Caravan

Results of IRU Caravans Clearly in Favour of TIR

Black Sea Highway Caravan

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Together for better global transport

Flexible approach