Moldova became the 52nd member of OTIF, the Intergovernmental Organisation for International Carriage by Rail on 1 September 2024.
The Republic of Moldova submitted an application for accession to COTIF and its Appendices, which was notified to the members of OTIF by the Secretary General on 26 March 2024 in his capacity as Depositary. In the absence of any opposition, the application for accession was accepted ipso jure on 26 June 2024 and took effect on 1 September 2024.
The Republic of Moldova has declared that it will not apply Appendices A (CIV), C (RID), D (CUV), E (CUI), F (APTU) and G (ATMF) to the Convention. On the other hand, it will apply Appendix B to COTIF, i.e. the Uniform Rules concerning the Contract of International Carriage of Goods by Rail (CIM).
OTIF now has 51 Member States and 1 Associate Member. The Secretariat of the organisation “extends a warm welcome to this new member of OTIF.”
The Intergovernmental Organisation for International Carriage by Rail has three major areas of activity covering the technical interoperability, dangerous goods and railway contract law.
OTIF develops uniform legal regimes for contracts of carriage of passengers and goods, ancillaries to the contract of carriage, such as the contract of use of wagons or infrastructure, rules for the transport of dangerous goods, and technical provisions and the procedure for the technical approval of rolling stock.
OTIF provides its member states with the legal and technical means to facilitate international traffic by rail, to develop this traffic on their territory and to connect to the railway networks of other Member States. It therefore supplies the means to promote real legal and technical interoperability.
Some of OTIF’s nember states are also members of the Organization for Co-operation between Railways (OSJD) and/or the European Union (EU). OTIF is unique in letting each of its member states choose how to deal with issues relating to the organisation of and access to the railway markets. By means of its flexible regulations, OTIF thus makes it possible to organise international transport between different railway systems on the three continents. This is particularly the case with the harmonisation work being carried out by OTIF and OSJD on the basis of the common position signed in 2003.
Since the EU acceded to COTIF in 2011, OTIF has strengthened its role as a bridge between the EU and non-EU Member States. OTIF ensures the consistency of the regulations between its Member States, whether or not they are members of the EU.
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