Simplified TIR carnets for '76
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A SINGLE CARNET for both tractive unit and trailer is likely to be introduced next year by the ECE.
This is one result of a 34-nation conference at the Palais des Nations, Geneva. A new Customs convention on the international transport of goods has been negotiated, and will be open for signature in the New Year.
The conference has spent two weeks studying a draft convention drawn up by a subsidiary body of the inland transport committee of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (ECE). It has taken into account changes in Customs procedure, new concepts of liability and technical developments — including sealing systems— since TIR came into existence in 1960; 800,000 TIR carnets were issued in 1969, but this number has declined since the introduction of a special Customs transit system among Common Market members. Carnets currently issued by the major guaranteeing organisation, the IRTJ, are, however, showing an upward trend: more freight traffic is going by road—particularly to the Middle East.
Under the new proposals there is a possibility that national authorities will waive the payment of Customs duties on goods which have been destroyed or lost as a result of an accident.
Many transporters prefer to use the TIR carnet within the EEC. But the Common Market has announced that the scheme will no longer apply from January 1, 1976, and will be replaced by the Community Transit Scheme. The IRU has unsuccessfully sought for an extension of TIR beyond January 1.