The Economic and Environmental Forum, organised by the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in February and May 2010, focused on promoting the good governance of member states’ borders, improving land transport security and facilitating the international railway and road transport in the OSCE region. International transport is the prime condition for trade development which, in turn, provides a developed economic integration and cooperation. Many countries in the OSCE region try to fit a globalised economy and transport sector. Under the circumstances, transports need an improved border crossing systems, harmonisation and customs regulations established through security and safety strategies, as well as through a good governance of transport policies. “The implementation of legal instruments facilitates economic integration, border relationships, economic growth, trade and investments. The great obstacle of transport flows is the time spent at border crossings, elevated costs due to the unpredictable waiting time for goods and the great number of controls on transport routes”, declared Robert Nowak, Economic Affairs Officer, Transport Division, United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE).
For OSCE, borders should not hinder trade. What is important is consolidating and coordinating the transport activity, the customs and the customs agents’ activity and, of course, the implication of the private sector in different projects.
In regards to the problems related to border activity, Goran Svilanovic, Economic and Environmental Affairs Coordinator (OSCE) said “vehicles travelling around Central Asia are moving very slowly, at speeds of 30 km/h. There are too many control bodies at border crossings. In many situations, the time thus lost exceeds 20 hours. Although this problem is nothing but encouraging for businessmen, they come up with solutions to improve the situation: the only way to overcome these hindrances is the government’s cooperation with the private sector and the international community”. To that end, it is very important to harmonise cross-border procedures in the region, stimulate public-private partnership and support cooperation between state agencies and private companies. In order to facilitate cross-border transport flows, Turkey has called on the private sector for modernisation projects and construction works. “The private sector has been actively involved in the operation and modernisation of border points. Over USD 190 Million have been invested and business opportunities for over 350 companies have been created. This determined us to estimate that the time spent at border crossings will drop by 60-70% and the transport capacity will increase three times”, declared during the Forum Omur Gebes, chief executive Customs and Tourism Enterprises Co. Inc, an agency established through a partnership between the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey.
Another step taken towards an easier international transport in the OSCE region was the customs union signed by Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan. “The union has created a trustworthy transit corridor to bring countries in Central Asia and Europe closer, while goods can travel a lot faster, with a single set of transit papers which encourages trade. Joint infrastructure and cross-border units will be optimised and the time will be reduced”, declared Alexander Blagodatskikh, Deputy Head of Department, Directorate General for Customs Processing and Control, Federal Customs Service, Russian Federation.
Moreover, the transport volume growth has been reason enough for Russia and Turkey to sign a package of interstate agreements which include cooperation in the railway and maritime sectors. The agreements were signed by Russian President Dmitri Medvedev and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Recently, Bulgaria and Greece also signed an agreement aimed to stimulate railway transport collaboration. The cooperation programme priorities include developing a railway corridor for freight transport towards Russia, simplifying customs procedures for cross-border traffic between the two countries, implementing intelligent transport systems etc. Implementing technological systems would contribute to both increasing transport volumes and reducing the time spent at border crossings. In the case of Russia, for example, international transport is improved since, by implementing the ICT systems which permit the real time movement control of wagons and containers, time has been reduced from 3 to 5 days to just hours.
by Pamela Luică
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