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African experts plan new route for trade in East Africa

Xinhua, June 6, 2015 Adjust font size:

Trade associations and senior officials from East Africa are considering introducing an international trade system to enable freer transportation of goods between neighboring countries, officials said on Friday.

Commonwealth Secretariat said the officials from the region are due to meet in Tanzania next week to address national and regional issues relating to implementing the Transports Internationaux Routiers (TIR) system in East Africa.

"This meeting will provide a crucial platform to work towards embedding a standardized system in local and regional infrastructure," Commonwealth Secretariat's Deputy Secretary- General Deodat Maharaj said in a statement sent to Xinhua in Nairobi.

Maharaj said the Secretariat will continue to support trade facilitating measures in Sub-Saharan Africa, helping countries establish mutually beneficial systems that will create enhanced economic opportunities for the people of the region.

The June 8-9 meeting serves as an important initiative to facilitate trade and thus boost economic growth in East Africa.

The TIR system, which was established by the UN Economic Commission for Europe in 1975, was designed to allow unhindered transport of goods between countries, mainly by road.

The initiative replaces time consuming border checks with the TIR carnet – a universal permit that complies with international standards and provides customs officials with necessary guarantees.

Maharaj noted that formalizing trade facilitating measures would boost economic growth in the region, but greater collaboration would be necessary to achieve this.

He said 70 countries across the world have signed up to the TIR convention while more than 40,000 international transport operators have been authorized to access the TIR system, using over 3.2 million TIR carnets every year.

With world trade expected to increase, the TIR system is predicted to expand geographically, and move to an electronic system, the eTIR-system.

"Intra-regional trade, which is of strategic importance to the East African region, is set to grow. The TIR system has the potential to add considerable value to existing trade infrastructure" said Dr Mohammad Razzaque, Acting Director of the Commonwealth Secretariat's Trade Division. Endi