TIR Convention on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
The Convention on International Transport of Goods Under Cover of TIR Carnets (TIR Convention) is a multilateral treaty that was concluded at Geneva on 14 November 1975 to simplify and harmonise the administrative formalities of international
Signatories and ratifications
– UNECE {{Authority control United Nations Economic Commission for Europe treaties Transport treaties Customs treaties Treaties concluded in 1975 International road transport Treaties entered into force in 1978 Treaties of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan Treaties of the People's Socialist Republic of Albania Treaties of Algeria Treaties of Argentina Treaties of Armenia Treaties of Austria Treaties of Azerbaijan Treaties of Belarus Treaties of Belgium Treaties of Bosnia and Herzegovina Treaties of the People's Republic of Bulgaria Treaties of the People's Republic of China Treaties of Cyprus Treaties of Canada Treaties of Chile Treaties of Croatia Treaties of Czechoslovakia Treaties of the Czech Republic Treaties of Denmark Treaties of Egypt Treaties of Estonia Treaties entered into by the European Union Treaties of Finland Treaties of France Treaties of West Germany Treaties of East Germany Treaties of Greece Treaties of the Hungarian People's Republic Treaties of India Treaties of Indonesia Treaties of Iran Treaties of Ireland Treaties of Israel Treaties of Italy Treaties of Jordan Treaties of Kazakhstan Treaties of Kuwait Treaties of Kyrgyzstan Treaties of Latvia Treaties of Lebanon Treaties of Liberia Treaties of Lithuania Treaties of Luxembourg Treaties of Malta Treaties of Mongolia Treaties of Montenegro Treaties of Morocco Treaties of the Netherlands Treaties of Norway Treaties of Oman Treaties of Pakistan Treaties of the Polish People's Republic Treaties of Portugal Treaties of South Korea Treaties of Moldova Treaties of the Socialist Republic of Romania Treaties of the Soviet Union Treaties of Serbia and Montenegro Treaties of Yugoslavia Treaties of Slovakia Treaties of Slovenia Treaties of Spain Treaties of Sweden Treaties of Switzerland Treaties of Syria Treaties of Tajikistan Treaties of North Macedonia Treaties of Tunisia Treaties of Turkey Treaties of Turkmenistan Treaties of Ukraine Treaties of the United Arab Emirates Treaties of the United Kingdom Treaties of the United States Treaties of Uruguay Treaties of Uzbekistan Treaties of Georgia (country) 1975 in Switzerland Treaties extended to Guernsey Treaties extended to Jersey Treaties extended to Gibraltar Treaties extended to the Isle of Man Treaties extended to the Faroe Islands Treaties extended to Greenland Treaties extended to Aruba Treaties extended to the Netherlands Antilles 1975 in transport Treaties extended to West Berlin sk:Colný dohovor o medzinárodnej preprave tovaru na poklade karnetov TIR
The Convention on International Transport of Goods Under Cover of TIR Carnets (TIR Convention) is a multilateral treaty that was concluded at Geneva on 14 November 1975 to simplify and harmonise the administrative formalities of international road transport
Road transport or road transportation is a type of transport using roads. Transport on roads can be roughly grouped into the transportation of goods and transportation of people. In many countries licensing requirements and safety regulations e ...
. (TIR stands for "Transit International Routier" or "International Road Transport".) The 1975 convention replaced the TIR Convention of 1959, which itself replaced the 1949 TIR Agreement between a number of European countries. The conventions were adopted under the auspices of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe
The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (ECE or UNECE) is an intergovernmental organization or a specialized body of the United Nations. The UNECE is one of five regional commissions under the jurisdiction of the United Nations Econom ...
(UNECE). As of March 2023, there are 78 parties to the convention, including 77 states and the European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
.
The TIR Convention establishes an international customs transit system with maximum facility to move goods:
* in sealed vehicles or containers
A container is any receptacle or enclosure for holding a product used in storage, packaging, and transportation, including shipping.
Things kept inside of a container are protected on several sides by being inside of its structure. The term ...
;
* from a customs office of departure in one country to a customs office of destination in another country;
* without requiring extensive and time-consuming border checks at intermediate borders;
* while, at the same time, providing customs authorities with the required security and guarantees.
The TIR system not only covers customs transit by road, but a combination is possible with other modes of transport
A mode of transport is a method or way of travelling, or of transporting people or cargo. The different modes of transport include air, water, and land transport, which includes rails or railways, road and off-road transport. Other modes of tra ...
(e.g., rail, inland waterway, and even maritime transport
Maritime transport (or ocean transport) or more generally waterborne transport, is the transport of people (passengers or goods (cargo) via waterways. Freight transport by watercraft has been widely used throughout recorded history, as it pr ...
), as long as at least one part of the total transport is made by road.
To date, more than 33,000 international transport operators had been authorised (by their respective competent national authorities) to access the TIR system, using around 1.5 million TIR carnets per year.
In light of the expected increase in world trade, further enlargement of its geographical scope and the forthcoming introduction of an electronic TIR system (so-called "eTIR-system"), it is expected that the TIR system will remain the only truly global customs transit system.
Due to the large blue-and-white TIR plates carried by vehicles using the TIR convention, the word "TIR" entered many languages, such as Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian or Turkish, as a neologism
In linguistics, a neologism (; also known as a coinage) is any newly formed word, term, or phrase that has achieved popular or institutional recognition and is becoming accepted into mainstream language. Most definitively, a word can be considered ...
, becoming the default generic name of a large lorry.
Saudi Arabia acceded to the convention on 17 May 2018, and the convention entered into force for Saudi Arabia on 17 November 2018. Egypt acceded to the convention on 16 December 2020, and entered into force in Egypt on 16 June 2021.
With the accession of Saudi Arabia and Egypt, the TIR Convention had seventy-seven Contracting Parties.
In March 2023, Iraq became the 78th member of the convention, and in April 2025, after successful pilot operations, TIR went fully operational in the country.
TIR procedures
Hauliers making use of the TIR procedure must first obtain an internationally harmonised customs document, referred to as a TIR carnet. TIR carnets are issued by national road transport associations. This customs document is valid internationally and, as well as describing the goods, their shipper and their destination, represents a financial guarantee. When a lorry arrives at a border customs post, it need not pay import duties and taxes on goods at that time. Instead, the payments are suspended. If the vehicle transits the country without delivering any goods, no taxes are due. If it fails to leave the country with all the goods, then the taxes are billed to the importer and the financial guarantee backstops the importer's obligation to pay the taxes. TIR transits are carried out in bond, i.e. the lorry must be sealed as well as bearing the carnet. The security payment system is administered by the International Road Transport Union (IRU). The TIR procedure is mostly used with Eastern European countries that are not in the EU (e.g. Russia and Ukraine), Turkey, and parts of the Near East. Since the formation of theEuropean single market
The European single market, also known as the European internal market or the European common market, is the single market comprising mainly the member states of the European Union (EU). With certain exceptions, it also comprises Iceland, ...
, the TIR procedure has become unnecessary for intra-EU goods transport.
As a result of Brexit
Brexit (, a portmanteau of "Britain" and "Exit") was the Withdrawal from the European Union, withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU).
Brexit officially took place at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February ...
, TIR carnets could become part of the solution to merchandise traffic between Great Britain and other European countries, or for goods to transit intra-EU, for example between Ireland and mainland Europe.
See also
* CMR Convention *ATA Carnet
The ATA Carnet, often referred to as the "Passport for goods", is an international customs document that permits the Tax exemption, tax-free and Duty-free trade, duty-free temporary export and import of nonperishable goods for up to one year. It ...
* Carnet de Passages en Douane
The Carnet de Passages en Douane is a Customs (tax), customs document that identifies a traveller's motor vehicle or other valuable equipment or baggage. It is required in order to take a motor vehicle into a significant number of countries around ...
References
External links
Signatories and ratifications
– UNECE {{Authority control United Nations Economic Commission for Europe treaties Transport treaties Customs treaties Treaties concluded in 1975 International road transport Treaties entered into force in 1978 Treaties of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan Treaties of the People's Socialist Republic of Albania Treaties of Algeria Treaties of Argentina Treaties of Armenia Treaties of Austria Treaties of Azerbaijan Treaties of Belarus Treaties of Belgium Treaties of Bosnia and Herzegovina Treaties of the People's Republic of Bulgaria Treaties of the People's Republic of China Treaties of Cyprus Treaties of Canada Treaties of Chile Treaties of Croatia Treaties of Czechoslovakia Treaties of the Czech Republic Treaties of Denmark Treaties of Egypt Treaties of Estonia Treaties entered into by the European Union Treaties of Finland Treaties of France Treaties of West Germany Treaties of East Germany Treaties of Greece Treaties of the Hungarian People's Republic Treaties of India Treaties of Indonesia Treaties of Iran Treaties of Ireland Treaties of Israel Treaties of Italy Treaties of Jordan Treaties of Kazakhstan Treaties of Kuwait Treaties of Kyrgyzstan Treaties of Latvia Treaties of Lebanon Treaties of Liberia Treaties of Lithuania Treaties of Luxembourg Treaties of Malta Treaties of Mongolia Treaties of Montenegro Treaties of Morocco Treaties of the Netherlands Treaties of Norway Treaties of Oman Treaties of Pakistan Treaties of the Polish People's Republic Treaties of Portugal Treaties of South Korea Treaties of Moldova Treaties of the Socialist Republic of Romania Treaties of the Soviet Union Treaties of Serbia and Montenegro Treaties of Yugoslavia Treaties of Slovakia Treaties of Slovenia Treaties of Spain Treaties of Sweden Treaties of Switzerland Treaties of Syria Treaties of Tajikistan Treaties of North Macedonia Treaties of Tunisia Treaties of Turkey Treaties of Turkmenistan Treaties of Ukraine Treaties of the United Arab Emirates Treaties of the United Kingdom Treaties of the United States Treaties of Uruguay Treaties of Uzbekistan Treaties of Georgia (country) 1975 in Switzerland Treaties extended to Guernsey Treaties extended to Jersey Treaties extended to Gibraltar Treaties extended to the Isle of Man Treaties extended to the Faroe Islands Treaties extended to Greenland Treaties extended to Aruba Treaties extended to the Netherlands Antilles 1975 in transport Treaties extended to West Berlin sk:Colný dohovor o medzinárodnej preprave tovaru na poklade karnetov TIR