TIR System in Afghanistan and the region Kabul, 25 August 2015 Kazem Asayesh Senior Adviser on TIR and Trade Facilitation

TIR system in ECO region ALL ECO member states are TIR Contracting Parties

Number of TIR carnets issued to ECO Associations from 2005 to 07/2015 Country Association 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 (7 months) AZERBAIDJAN ABADA 5,000 5,500 9,000 9,500 7,600 7,800 9,100 11,400 10,300 4,800 2,300 IRAN ICCIMA 33,000 48,000 52,000 58,000 54,000 78,000 85,000 105,000 90,000 45,000 KAZAKHSTAN KAZATO 19,600 32,650 39,050 32,150 31,000 30,050 24,500 19,000 25,000 24,200 12,500 KYRGYZSTAN AIRTO-KR 6,250 11,450 18,100 17,050 15,050 14,050 20,700 17,100 22,200 20,900 7,100 TADJIKISTAN ABBAT 50 300 500 400 900 700 1,500 2,950 3,500 4,000 TURKMENISTAN THADA 1,000 2,000 3,200 4,700 6,000 7,500 11,000 TURKEY TOBB 589,000 689,000 788,500 765,000 490,000 701,500 672,000 685,000 540,500 385,500 246,500 UZBEKISTAN AIRCUZ 1,800 4,500 7,000 6,500 14,100 17,500 Total issued to group during the year   655,100 792,400 915,150 878,100 611,050 820,300 824,600 832,950 721,500 549,400 326,900 Total TIR Carnets issued to ECO Associations in 2005 – 2015 (till Jul) = 7,927,450 This represents 27% of all Carnets issued in the world during the same period.

TIR system in ECO countries UZB 16% AZE -43% TKM 249% TJK 280% KAZ -26% KGZ 36% Overall growth of TIR transport must be accompanied by the implementation of IRU risk management tools – RTS/TIR-EPD to mitigate the risks.

TIR Carnets used by ECO transport operators in 2013 - 2015 64% of Carnets issued to ECO Holders were used for transport between ECO countries

TIR in Afghanistan, a challenge but moving First Afghanistan TIR Truck from Afghanistan to Kazakhstan

TIR system in Afghanistan Background Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce & Industries (ACCI) established in 1931 Member of IRU since 1983 TIR re-activated on 4 September 2013 TIR-EPD implemented as IT TIR risk management tool First TIR operations conducted to Afghanistan by foreign TIR Holders (from Kazakhstan, Iran, Turkey, Lithuania) First TIR Holders (1 approved, 3 applicants) 337 TIR terminations but only 2 TIR Carnet issued

TIR challenges in Afghanistan Transport and transit challenges in Afghanistan Infrastructure, security, road permit, visa, training, bilateral and regional arrangements, accession to international transport Conventions are examples of challenges Afghanistan faces, TIR is not a free pass; other pre-requisites (visa, permits, licenses) are needed A comprehensive policy and action plan on transport and transit involving all relevant stakeholders needs to be implemented MONTH 2014 Jan 15 Feb 15 Mar 15 Apr 15 May 15 Jun 15 Jul 15 TOTAL Number of TIR transport terminated in Afghanistan 245 20 23 10 39 337 %age of SafeTIR data transmitted within 0 day 97% 100% - 99%

Pakistan Finally acceded to TIR Convention

Pakistan accession to TIR; a win-win game in ECO Pakistan acceded to TIR on 21 July 2015 By Pakistan accession to TIR Afghanistan and Central Asian landlocked countries will have better access to open sea,

China`s imminent accession to TIR! TIR accession file has been submitted to the State Council, the highest decision making body, for final approval China`s accession to TIR will have a positive impact on Afghanistan and all ECO region as immediate beneficiary 11

TIR will be operational soon in UAE UAE is a TIR Contracting Party since 2007 All 7 UAE Emirate Customs signed the Guarantee Agreement with ATC, UAE National Association, in order to implement TIR TIR implementaion in UAE will be another opportunity for ECO member states Dubai and Abu Dhabi ports offer huge potential for intermodal transport

eTIR pilot: MoU signed with UNECE on 24 March 2015, final technical work ongoing with Iran and Turkey IRU and UNECE finally agreed at high level and technical level to work together to achieve a concrete pilot project eTIR Pilot project: Will be a simplified version of the existing eTIR Reference Model It will be based on the infrastructure developed by Customs and IRU Leverage elements already computerized Rapidly launch (and at minimal cost) a paper-less TIR procedure between two pilot countries Constitute a first step towards the implementation of the full-fledged eTIR system (as per the objectives described in the eTIR Reference Model).