UNITED NATIONS
ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR EUROPE
PROSPECTS OF TRANSPORT AND TRANSIT DEVELOPMENT IN
CENTRAL ASIA AND THE CASPIAN REGION
UNECE TRANSPORT RELATED
ACTIVITIES IN CENTRAL ASIA
AND THE CASPIAN REGION
Miroslav Jovanovic, UNECE
Transport Facilitation and Economics Section
Ashgabat 15 May 2012
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe - Transport Division
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UNECE ACTIVITIES
STRUCTURE
• CONVENTION ON THE HARMONIZATION OF FRONTIER
CONTROLS OF GOODS
• TIR CONVENTION
• EURO-ASIAN TRANSPORT LINKS
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe - Transport Division
UNECE ACTIVITIES
CONVENTION ON THE HARMONIZATION OF
FRONTIER CONTROLS OF GOODS, 1982
56 Contracting Parties, including EU
Aim: to reduce the number and duration of border controls
and, thus, facilitate international transport of goods…
… through national and international cooperation between
control authorities and harmonization of control
procedures
Turkmenistan is encouraged to join
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe - Transport Division
UNECE ACTIVITIES
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe - Transport Division
UNECE ACTIVITIES
HARMONIZATION CONVENTION:
BENEFITS
• Shorter border delays
• Lower transport and export/import costs
• Lower border operating costs for State
budget
• More efficient investments in border
facilities
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe - Transport Division
UNECE ACTIVITIES
TIR CONVENTION, 1975: CURRENT STATUS
• 68 Contracting Parties, including EU (applicable
in 56 countries)
• More than 3 million operations per year
• The only global transit procedure in place
• Facilitates international transport and protects
the budget interests of Contracting Parties
• No restrictions on the modes of transport used
(road vehicles and containers)
• Based on public-private partnership
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe - Transport Division
UNECE ACTIVITIES
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe - Transport Division
UNECE ACTIVITIES
TIR CONVENTION: BENEFITS
Customs Authorities
• Efficient Customs procedures for transit
traffic
• Provision of an international guarantee
Transport Sector
• Simplification and harmonization of
Customs formalities
• Reduced transport costs
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe - Transport Division
UNECE ACTIVITIES
EURO-ASIAN TRANSPORT LINKS
Part of UN global interregional transport links project
UNDA Capacity Building
Phases: 2003-07; 2008 - to date
Objectives:
• To identify Euro-Asian inland transport links
• To strengthen the capacities of national officials
• Put in operation Euro-Asian transport links
Participants: 27 countries along on the Euro-Asian land
bridge
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe - Transport Division
UNECE ACTIVITIES
Phase I - Main Achievements
• Selection of main Euro-Asian road, rail and inland
water transport routes, transshipment points &
ports
• Prioritization of projects on agreed methodology
• First analysis of physical and non-physical
obstacles
• Establishment of database and GIS maps
• Organization of 6 EGM and many capacity
building national, regional and interregional
workshops
• Joint ECE-ESCAP study with results, conclusions
and recommendations on the way to proceed
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe - Transport Division
UNECE ACTIVITIES
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe - Transport Division
UNECE ACTIVITIES
Phase 2 - Main Achievements
• ECE Group of Experts to monitor and coordinate EATL developments
• EATL Phase II (2008 - to date) objectives and achievements
o Wider geographical coverage;
o Continue projects’ prioritization and implementation
o Put emphasis on facilitation aspects;
o Further develop and update GIS database;
o Promote harmonized legislation and procedures
o Strengthen capacities of national officials
o Improve operational performance, including border crossing,
compare inland transport options with maritime
• 27 countries active participation (NFP) and contribution
• Partial funding from Russian Federation, Kazakhstan, Turkey, OSCE,
BSEC
• UNECE secretariat and technical backstopping and support
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe - Transport Division
UNECE ACTIVITIES
Phase 2 - Report
• EATL priority routes and EATL ports, transshipment points and
terminals: Extended to include the 9 newly involved counties
• Study transport statistics, flows and trends showed: Rapid
growth of Europe-Asian trade, increasing inter-Asian trade
trends
• 404 projects proposed - total cost US$ 246 billion.
- 287 projects along EATL routes with US$ 189 billion cost and
- 117 projects of national importance with US$ 57 billion cost;
• Comparison study of Euro-Asian maritime routes with selected
rail routes: In five out of the nine scenarios, rail transport
performs better than maritime for both the cost and time!
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe - Transport Division
UNECE ACTIVITIES
Phase 2 - Report
• SWOT Analysis: Useful information on strong and weak
points of EATL inland transport links, potential for
further development and threats
• EATL GIS application is available at
http://apps.unece.org/eatl/
• Non-physical obstacles to transport along the EuroAsian Transport routes are identified based on
questionnaires and field missions: Long waiting times at
BCP some times a whole day; few work 24H/7Days, long
delays for veterinary, phyto-sanitary, passport, transit,
visa and other controls
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe - Transport Division
UNECE ACTIVITIES
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe - Transport Division
UNECE ACTIVITIES
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe - Transport Division
UNECE ACTIVITIES
EATL Phase 3
• Group of experts: coordination, monitoring, analysis and policy
recommendations to make EATL operational
• Analyse and compare existing transport needs with inland transport
solutions
• Facilitate and simplify customs procedures and assist capacity-building
• Support national transport and trade facilitation action plans and
committees
• Promote initiatives and new projects
• Case studies and best practices
• Further improve GIS internet free-access application and develop a web
tool to compare inland transport options and maritime
• Extend geographic coverage and promote inter-country cooperation for
the coordinated development of EATL routes
• EATL Meeting of Ministers of Transport in Geneva (forthcoming)
• Funding of Phase 3 – sponsors are welcome
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe - Transport Division
UNITED NATIONS
ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR EUROPE
Thank you!
http://live.unece.org/trans/welcome.html
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe - Transport Division
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