Customs Convention on the International Transport of Goods under Cover of TIR Carnets

Work on the creation of such a transit system began under the auspices of the UN Economic Commission for Europe shortly after the end of the Second World War . In 1949 , several European countries signed the first Agreement on International Road Transport (TIR). This regional Agreement was successful, and in 1959 the UNECE Inland Transport Committee prepared the first edition of the TIR Convention, which entered into force in 1960. The First TIR Convention was finalized in 1975 taking into account the experience gained in its use, technical achievements, changes in customs and transport rules in order to make it more efficient, less complex and at the same time safer from the customs point of view. Another reason for the modification of the Convention was the emergence in the early 60s of new types of transport equipment: containers for maritime transport, a little later - containers for combined transport by road and rail modes of transport designed to improve their efficiency.

In November 1975 , a conference on the revision of the TIR Convention was held under the auspices of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe ( UNECE ). The new edition of the TIR Convention entered into force in 1978 . Since then, it has remained one of the most effective international transport conventions and, in fact, the only global system of customs transit.

The main ideas and principles of the TIR Convention of 1975 and its transit regime were the basis for many other transit systems, and thus, directly or indirectly, the TIR Convention of 1975 contributed to the simplification of international transport in general and road transport in particular, and not only Europe and the Middle East , but also in regions such as Africa and Latin America .

In practice, the operation of the Convention can be observed by anyone traveling on the roads of Europe. Thousands of trucks and semi-trailers using the TIR transit system are marked with a blue TIR sign attached to the car body. The TIR abbreviation originated in accordance with the name of the Convention in French “Transport international routier” (translated into Russian as “International Road Traffic”, abbreviated as TIR). For drivers, carriers and shippers, this blue sign with white lettering is a kind of pass, simplifying and speeding up international road transport.

Since 1975, the TIR Convention has been amended twenty-seven times. In 1995 , the UNECE Working Party on Customs, with the support of several ad hoc expert groups, began work on a major revision of the TIR system. Following the completion in 1997 of the TIR revision process, from February 17, 1999 , a new version of the Convention entered into force. The second package of amendments to the TIR Convention, also developed by the UNECE Working Party (WP.30), entered into force on 12 May 2002. These amendments clearly and unequivocally define the legal and administrative responsibilities of customs , carriers and the international organization that was additionally assigned responsibility for the effective organization and functioning of the international guarantee system. In 2000 , work began on stage III of the TIR revision process. Among its goals are the introduction of modern electronic data processing technologies into the TIR system without changing the basic principles and the recently updated legal and administrative structure of the Convention. The latest amendment, which entered into force on August 12, 2006 , provides for the establishment of an international system for controlling the use of TIR Carnets for storing data transmitted by customs authorities and accessible to associations and customs administrations, on the termination of TIR operations at destination customs . The purpose of this international control system is to provide the transport industry and the TIR guarantee chain with the most important risk management tool for using the TIR regime for commercial purposes and to simplify the search procedures applied by the customs authorities after the termination of TIR operations.

In order to ensure unimpeded movement of goods with minimal delays in transit and at the same time ensure maximum customs security, the TIR regime contains five main elements:

1. Cargo must be transported in safe (in terms of customs) vehicles or containers;
2. Payment of customs duties and taxes in respect of which there is a risk of non-payment should be provided with an international guarantee;
3. Cargo must be accompanied by a customs document (TIR Carnet) recognized by all States Parties to the Convention, accepted for clearance in the state of departure and serving as a document of control in the countries of departure, transit and destination;
4. Customs control measures taken in the state of departure should be recognized by all countries of transit and destination;
5. Access to the TIR procedure for national associations (permission to issue TIR carnets) and individuals and legal entities (permission to use TIR books) should be supervised by authorized national authorities.

To ensure the safety of transport, the TIR Convention establishes that goods must be transported in containers or cargo compartments of vehicles designed to prevent access to the contents of a sealed part of a vehicle or container without leaving visible traces of opening the cargo compartment of the vehicle, container or damage to customs seals and seals.

The TIR Carnet ( Carnet TIR ) is an international customs document that constitutes the cornerstone of the entire transit system and confirms that there is an international guarantee for goods transported under the TIR procedure.

Today, the International Road Transport Union (IRU) is the only international organization that received (under the control of the TIR Executive Board) the right to centrally produce and distribute TIR Carnets among national guaranteeing associations in accordance with the contractual obligations approved by the TIR Administrative Committee. In turn, each national guaranteeing association issues TIR carnets to carriers of their state under the conditions defined in the declaration - the carrier’s obligation.

The first page of the cover, as well as tear-off sheets and roots, grouped in two, are the most important part of the TIR Carnet for customs control and the validity of the guarantee system. A set of two vouchers and two roots is used in each state in whose territory the TIR operation takes place.

The presentation of a personalized TIR Carnet, duly completed by the carrier, containing the signatures and seal of the international organization and the guaranteeing association that issued it, is in itself proof of the existence and validity of the guarantee. The TIR Carnet is valid until the completion of the TIR transport at the customs office of destination, provided that the operation is started at the customs office of departure within the deadlines set by the guaranteeing association that issued the TIR Carnet.

In 2006, over 3.5 million TIR carnets were issued.

1. ↑ Handbook for the TIR Convention / EUROPEAN ECONOMIC COMMISSION (UNECE). New York, Geneva: UN Edition, 2007

• Foreign economic activity of the enterprise: English-Russian dictionary reference book / Ed. prof. L.E. Strovsky. - M: UNITY-DANA, 2002, p.508

• Carnet tir

• TIR Handbook (TIR)
• Customs Convention on the International Transport of Goods under Cover of TIR Carnets (TIR Convention)
• Order of the SCC of the Russian Federation on the application of the TIR Convention