International Road Transport Union hopes to have more Chinese road crossings under TIR
April 30, 2019 Category China News Round-up, Weekly
The International Road Transport Union (IRU), the organization that manages “Transports Internationaux Routiers” (TIR) operations with United Nations’ authorization, is seeking to diversify its cooperation with China’s customs to further facilitate goods trade via more convenient road transport. Since China implemented the TIR transport initiative last May, it has opened 10 ports including Erenhot and Manzhouli in Inner Mongolia and Horgos and Irkeshtam in Xinjiang, that are appying TIR. This has already cut the costs and time of shipments between China and its trade partners in the European Union, Russia and Central Asia. Umberto de Pretto, Secretary General of the Geneva-headquartered organization, said the IRU is looking to have TIR rules applied to more ports in China in the future.
TIR currently is the only global customs transit system for moving goods across international borders. There are 76 contracting parties to the United Nations TIR Convention managed by the IRU. China ratified the UN TIR Convention in 2016, becoming the 70th contracting party. “Now we can move trucks from China to Europe in 12 days, and from southern China all the way to Spain, the longest way you can go, in 16 days, which is phenomenally quicker,” said de Pretto, adding that the TIR service enables goods to be shipped across continents in sealed loaded compartments through an internationally recognized customs agreement.
Umberto de Pretto attended the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing, saying that the BRI infrastructure enhanced connectivity. “In the IRU, we appreciate every millimeter of road that is built because it will make it easier for us do our job,” he said. “As many countries involved in the development of the BRI still rely on trucks and coaches to transport goods and people, the demand for road transportation and modern road infrastructure will remain attractive for both logistics companies and facility project contractors in the long run,” added Luo Renjian, Researcher at the Institute of Transportation Research of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), as reported by the China Daily.
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