IRU - The current situation in the Republic of Belarus

Conference Programme
"CONTRIBUTION OF THE TIR SYSTEM TO THE SECURITY OF TRADE AND TRANSPORT"

Conference Hall of the Federal Customs Service of the Russian Federation (FCS RF)
1-a, Komsomolskaya Ploschad, Moscow
13-14 March 2007

Example of contribution of the TIR System to secure trade and transport: the current situation in the Republic of Belarus

N. Borovoi, Chairman, Association of International Road Carriers of the Republic of Belarus (BAMAP)

In 2001-2002 in the territory of the Republic of Belarus, as well as in the Russian Federation, Kazakhstan and the Ukraine, numerous cases of TIR Procedure infringements and claims for payments to the Guarantee Chain were reported. In the aforementioned States a real danger to the functioning of the 1975 TIR Convention had arisen.

After examination of this difficult situation the IRU General Assembly, by means of its Decree dated 08.11.2002, required from the National Associations of the aforementioned countries to introduce, from 01.01.2003, “Preventive measures aimed at the counteracting organized crime, to be introduced by each Association and by each TIR Carnet holder”.

At the same time UNECE began revising the TIR Convention in order to include new requirements concerning admission to the TIR Procedure and ensuring safety on the part of National Associations.

From the end of 2002 to the beginning of 2003, the “BAMAP” Association, fulfilling the General Assembly and UNECE decisions in close cooperation with the State Customs Committee of the Republic of Belarus, has defined and realised a multi-faceted package of measures aimed at strengthening the safety of transport operations under the TIR Procedure in the Republic of Belarus territory, as well as transport operations carried out by Belarusian International Road Transport Operators in the territories of other countries which are Parties to the TIR Convention.

The background decision in this respect was the fact that the State Customs Committee of the Republic of Belarus entrusted to the “BAMAP” Association the realisation of the whole set of measures on international carriers’ access to the TIR procedure.

The State Customs Committee of the Republic of Belarus adopted the corresponding Enactment to create the legal base and to legalise the established order.

The State Bodies of the Republic of Belarus established a unique form of reporting “ 1TP МДП” (“TIR 1TP”), which must be submitted to the “BAMAP” Association by all road transport operators carrying out transportation under the TIR Procedure. Based on the reported data the “BAMAP” Association carries out a constant monitoring of international road transport operators.

The measures adopted by the “BAMAP” Association itself were being undertaken in the following directions:

The measures undertaken in this field in 2003-2004 had as a result the exclusion from the TIR Procedure of a substantial number of carriers which had not provided the required level of solvency. All such carriers were deprived of access to the TIR Procedure.

Realization of measures aimed at the professional training of the experts and drivers of the vehicles

A strict order of transport companies’ access to TIR Procedure use was established by the “BAMAP” Association. This order stipulates that transport companies’ access to the TIR Procedure benefits is carried out taking into account the professional competence of the experts responsible for the TIR Procedure, and the same concerns drivers engaged in the international transport of goods under the TIT Procedure.

We developed special programmes for drivers and expert training, which are now being implemented by our Association. The admission of drivers and experts to the TIR procedure is permitted only after they have passed the training courses and have obtained the corresponding certificate.

Implementation of the TIR Convention, 1975, requirement concerning the provision that only vehicles registered by a transport operator in the Association may carry out transportation under TIR Carnet cover.

In accordance with the order established by the “BAMAP” Association, prior to obtaining access to the TIR Procedure a carrier must register his vehicles in the Association. The vehicles submitted by the Carrier for registration are subject to verification of whether they were used for transportation of goods which were not delivered to the consignee. Only if the carrier has no such infringements are his vehicles entered into the “BAMAP” Association special database.

This database of vehicles is transmitted to the Customs Authorities of the Republic of Belarus, which discharge TIR Carnets only for the vehicles entered in the above-mentioned database.

The most important area of activity is the development and implementation of measures aimed at timely detection of irregularities and their settlement. In this respect the “BAMAP” Association, in cooperation with the Customs Authorities, has elaborated a scheme of operational obtainment of information concerning TIR procedure infringements in the Republic of Belarus by any international road operator from any foreign state.

(Scheme 1). When the TIR Procedure is infringed by a transport operator in the territory of the Republic of Belarus, the Customs Authorities draw up the protocol to formalise the above-mentioned infringement.

In accordance with Decree No. 75 of the State Customs Committee of the Republic of Belarus dated 01.11.2005 “On application of the customs convoy during the goods transportation under the TIR procedure” a copy of the above-mentioned protocol is sent to the “BAMAP” Association within two days after its drawing up by the Custom Authority. In the “BAMAP” Association the package of procedures is applied to the protocol.

Furthermore in accordance with the terms of the Agreement on Informational Exchange between the “BAMAP” Association and the State Customs Committee of the Republic of Belarus, every day the “BAMAP” Association receives from the Minsk Central Customs Office information on TIR Carnets not submitted for discharge in the stipulated terms (two days after expiry of the prescribed term) into the Customs Offices of destination and departure of the Republic of Belarus (Scheme 2), into the Notifications Reception Posts (ППУ) and into the Customs Offices of destination in the Russian Federation (five days after expiry of the delivery term – Scheme 3). Obtaining and processing of such data allows the establishment of a strict operational control for the detection of TIR procedure infringements and ensures the adoption of proper measures for their settlement.

The special area of activity is the development and implementation of measures aimed at settlement of infringements directly within the “BAMAP” Association.

The software to keep records, and to control the settlement, of the committed infringements of the TIR Procedure is developed and implemented in the “BAMAP” Association.

The information obtained concerning infringements which took place in the Republic of Belarus and which were committed by Belarusian Carriers in the territories of other countries which are Parties to the TIR Convention is immediately entered into the “BAMAP” Association database and its processing begins without delay.

Thus, the facts on infringements committed by foreign carriers in the Republic of Belarus are immediately transmitted to the corresponding Association and the IRU. The set of measures aimed to control the settlement of the committed infringement is implemented in close cooperation with them.

The actions adopted allow the “BAMAP” Association to settle committed infringements promptly without bringing them to the attention of the “BAMAP” Association official claims service. Thus, in the four years since the beginning of the implementation of measures (2003-2006) the Customs Authorities of the Republic of Belarus submitted only 10 claims to the “BAMAP” Association, seven of which are already settled and three of which are in the process of settlement.

At the same time in 2005 the Belarusian Customs Authorities officially submitted only one claim to the “BAMAP” Association, and in 2006 only one claim was submitted as well. Moreover, in 2006 there no claims were submitted to the Belarusian international carriers by other countries which are Parties to the TIR Convention, 1975.

The “BAMAP” Association considers that implementation of these and other measures ensures the safety of trade and transport at the proper level using the TIR Procedure.