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TIR innovations on the table at talks with IRU in Geneva
Global | Geneva

TIR innovations on the table at talks with IRU in Geneva

13 Feb 2026 · Prosperity

International organisation and customs chiefs, along with national authorities, met with IRU in Geneva this week to discuss transit measures and digitalisation.

Umberto de Pretto and Uzbekistan’s chief of customs Akmalhoja Mavlonov

IRU Secretary General Umberto de Pretto has held a series of bilateral meetings with Akmalhoja Mavlonov, the Chairman of Uzbekistan’s Customs Committee, Kubanychbek Omuraliev, the Secretary General of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS), and representatives from the General Administration of Customs of the People's Republic of China (GACC) and China’s Ministry of Transport.

Umberto de Pretto and Uzbekistan’s chief of customs discussed the implementation of transit procedures for high-value goods via Uzbekistan under the TIR system. This follows China’s recent expansion of TIR’s range of operations to include bonded cargo and all types of e-commerce commodities.

Following this development, GACC opened more than 200 new customs offices for TIR transport in China, mainly located in bonded customs zones and e-commerce distribution centres.

 

International organisation and customs chiefs along with national authorities met with IRU in Geneva

Uzbekistan’s chief of customs also informed IRU of a recent presidential decree requiring the full operationalisation of SafeTIR (an IRU customs control system for the management of TIR carnets) and TIR-EPD (TIR’s advance cargo information system). These measures are to ensure that all available security mechanisms are in place and fully used for further facilitation of transit.

Umberto de Pretto with Kubanychbek Omuraliev the Secretary General of the Organization of Turkic States

OTS aims to have eTIR launched in the region by the end of the year and asked IRU to participate in a conference with the public and private sectors to accelerate its rollout.

The IRU-OTS bilateral followed an OTS customs meeting the day prior focused on border crossing facilitation through TIR Green Lanes; hubs supporting secure trade with TIR; the importance of building alternative routes connecting landlocked countries to ports; and digitalisation, including through eTIR, eCMR and AI solutions.

At the customs meeting, IRU presented the latest status of eTIR across OTS countries. IRU also requested the support of OTS in engaging with the region’s neighbouring countries located along key regional corridors on implementing eTIR, notably with Iran, Georgia and Tajikistan.

Together with UNECE, IRU called on OTS customs to finalise the technical implementation of eTIR without delay and operationalise eTIR in the first half of 2026 along the Türkiye–Georgia–Azerbaijan–Central Asia corridor.

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