NEW DELHI, 11 June 2021: Kazem Asayesh, Senior Advisor, IRU, Geneva yesterday said that TIR could facilitate the regional integration and significantly contribute to the implementation of BBIN agreement.
Addressing the webinar ‘UN TIR System – An easy tool for hassle free movement of goods across international borders’, organized by FICCI, jointly with IRU, Geneva and FIEO, Asayesh further stated that the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) which connects India to Russia via Iran is currently fully operational and has been benefitted by other countries as well. He reiterated that India needs to make use of it by sending goods from Indian ports to Russia and other countries in the region via Iran Bandar Abbas as one of the initiators of the INSTC.
Raphael Hirt, Project Manager, IRU spoke on the e-TIR IT tools and said that paper documents will be gradually replaced by electronic version to withdraw the burden of physical documents and make it much more user friendly for the trade and transports to use the TIR convention.
PS Pruthi, Senior Consultant, FICCI & Former Member, Customs Excise & Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) said, “The most significant part of the procedure of TIR carnet is that it covers transit by road as well as by containerized intermodal transport as long as at least one part of the journey is made by road. This multi-modal facilitation is a very significant aspect when an international cargo movement has to be undertaken through a combination of modes of travel.”
He further added that TIR acts as enabling document to cross multiple international borders without inspection at intervening borders and without any unloading and loading of goods.
Vishwanath Sreenivasan, Convenor, FIEO also shared his perspective on the importance of TIR.
TIR aims to facilitate the international transport of goods under customs seal with a maximum coverage. The system provides a guarantee covering the customs taxes and duties at risk which is required to pass transit countries and provides a balance between the responsibilities of the customs authorities and the international business community. It prevents delays in border crossing operations- by minimizing the formalities decreases the transportation costs, as a result, encourages the development of international trade. TIR is governed by the United Nations TIR Convention, overseen by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), and managed by IRU, Geneva. TIR stands for ‘Transports Internationaux Routiers’. FICCI has been functioning as National Issuing & Guaranteeing Association for its operation in India.
