CONFÉRENCE EUROPÉENNE DES MINISTRES DES TRANSPORTS
EUROPEAN CONFERENCE OF MINISTERS OF TRANSPORTRESOLUTION No. 97/2 ON CRIME IN INTERNATIONAL TRANSPORT[CEMT/CM(97)6/FINAL]

The ECMT Council of Ministers’ meeting in Berlin on April 21-22, 1997

EXPRESSING great concern about the sharp increase in criminal acts affecting internationaltransport, especially fraud in the transit systems as well as the theft of vehicles and goods and attacks
on drivers.
EMPHASISING:− the necessity to ensure that transport operations by all modes of transport are carried out
safely and that goods, equipment, personnel and public financial interests are protectedfrom criminal acts at all stages during their journey;− the importance to international trade of efficient administrative procedures including
those at border crossings;− the contribution that the transit regimes TIR and T have made to facilitating trade andtransport and the vital importance of maintaining these regimes;− that the transit regimes, independent of the financial guarantees on which they are based,
can function only if the procedural arrangements are precisely applied at all levels by
the competent authorities, as well as by the users of these regimes (freight forwarders,shippers, operators, etc.).
REALISING that the fight against crime and fraud requires concerted and co-ordinated actions fromall those with an interest.
WELCOMES in this regard:− the European Commission Interim Report on Transit and the European Parliamentinquiry on the same subject;− the initiatives that have been taken by the International Chamber of Commerce toprovide, via the ICC Commercial Crime Bureau, advisory, preventive and responsive
services related to commercial crime and, in particular, to combat and prevent maritime
fraud through the ICC International Maritime Bureau;− the measures already taken by the national Customs Authorities, the European
Community, the UN/ECE Working Party on Customs Questions Affecting Transport(WP30), the TIR Administrative Committee and the IRU.
DETERMINED to do everything possible to protect the safety and efficiency of international andnational transport.
NOTES the contents of report CEMT/CM(97)7 and its analysis of the problems.

RECOMMENDS:
In relation to the theft of goods and vehicles and attacks on drivers
Ministries of Transport:− to set up improved contacts with the police and customs authorities as well as tradeorganisations to ensure that information on crime, crime trends and criminals is
exchanged wherever appropriate;− to check that operators given licences and permits are bone fide operators without
criminal records pertinent to vehicle/freight crime;− to maintain information on persistent offenders and withdraw licences or refuse to grant
permits to them;− to provide information and advice to operators on theft avoidance, safe practices,
recommended routes, protected parking areas and appropriate precautions;− to encourage the setting up of secure and safe parking areas and freight traffic centres
for trucks and loads (containers, trailers, swap bodies). Standards of protection for suchareas must be defined to commonly agreed levels or criteria;− to work together with the profession and other Ministries to ensure that information onthese locations is available and regularly disseminated.
Authorities responsible for vehicle regulations:− to examine forms of vehicle identification which would make removal or falsification as
difficult as possible;− to examine security procedures that can prevent stolen vehicles being given new
identities under their existing Vehicle Identification Number;− to take initiatives to make the alteration or removal of a Vehicle Identification Number acrime;− to take initiatives to make the current voluntary practice of applying Vehicle
Identification Numbers to trailers over 750 kg compulsory (based on the EU Directive
76/114 on Statutory Plates);− to encourage the voluntary marking of major components and the definition of acommon European specification for making the Vehicle Identification Number morevisible;− to encourage the development of European requirements for security features such aseffective door and luggage compartment locks;− to take measures for exchange of computerised information among Registration
authorities with a view to preventing registration of stolen vehicles and other vehiclerelated fraud.

2Road Transport Operators, through their national and international organisations:− to take all possible precautions to avoid exposure to theft or attack;− to exchange experience and compile and disseminate information on good practice, on
effective deterrents and technical equipment;− to work on introducing modern communication systems from vehicles and for tracking
vehicles in international transport;− to draw up a code of conduct whereby those actively participating in criminal actions areexcluded from membership of associations.
Vehicle Manufacturers and Equipment Suppliers:− to provide improved antitheft systems on vehicles as indicated by EU Directive 95/56 of
8 November 1995 and ECE Regulations 18 and 97;− to examine the possibilities for improving the security of vehicle identification systems;− to test, for example in the context of the EU technological programmes, devices andequipment that can reduce the possibilities of theft or falsification.
Police Authorities dealing with transport related crime:− to intensify investigation activities in order to identify and prosecute those responsible
for crime and fraud;− to exchange intelligence and data and generally improve national and internationalcontacts;− to work together with transport and other Ministries, as well as professionalorganisations, to gather and exchange information (especially about suspect operators);− to provide information on good practice to operators.
Insurance Companies:− to encourage and provide incentives to operators to use effective anti-theft devices andsystems;− to provide information to operators on these systems and on good practice.
In relation to fraud in the transit systems
Ministries of Transport:− to deepen co-operation with national organisations for International Transport and theirinternational body (IRU);

3

− to consider the Community/Common transit and TIR regimes as key regimes in thefacilitation of the international carriage of goods, and to support their uniform
application and rapid revision.
Customs Authorities:
Generally:− to apply fully and in an harmonised way the provisions set out in theCommunity/Common Transit Legislation and the TIR Convention;− to streamline all documentation procedures and to use modern Electronic Data
Interchange methods;− where appropriate, to give clearer instructions to ensure a better control of goods
circulating under the transit regimes;− to strengthen training and information so that officials can better appreciate theimportance of their work and better master the procedures they have to put in place;− to take actions to control the discharge of TIR carnets more effectively and allow theinternational guarantee chain to be aware of operations underway;− to have recourse to guarantees only when they have taken all reasonable stepsthemselves;− to review the deadlines for the notification of non-discharged operations with a view toreducing them significantly.
In relation to the TIR Convention:− to accept and implement urgently Resolution 49, adopted by the UN/ECE Working
Party on Customs Questions Affecting Transport;− to complete as a first step the revision of the Convention as a matter of priority;− to move as soon as possible towards a more fundamental revision of the Convention;
In relation to the Community/Common Transit:− to support the reform of the regimes;− to support transit computerisation projects (NCTS).

4

Shippers, forwarders, hauliers:− to verify the authenticity of their agents and clients, using existing sources including theICC;− to use the safe areas designated by local or national authorities.
Insurance companies, guaranteeing associations:− to implement strict rules of access to the transit systems;− to investigate exchange of information between themselves and other parties involved ininternational transit better to identify incidences of crime and fraud.
In relation to the legal framework
Competent authorities:− to examine in which cases the differences and anomalies at international level in legal
liability between modes might be a factor in crime, and to propose appropriate changes.
In relation to information and statistics on the extent of crime
Competent bodies:− to examine available national and international data sources with a view to having morereliable information on the extent of the problem.
COMMITS ITSELF:− to make further efforts to improve the enforcement of existing rules and regulations andachieve convergence in the practices involved;− to examine the relationship between transporters and shippers with a view to definingmeasures which would avoid unjustifiable pressure to illicit behaviour by transporters;− to make continuous efforts to ensure that strict qualitative criteria for access to thetransport profession are applied and that training of operators is given a high priority.
REQUESTS the Committee of Deputies:− to send this Resolution to all those concerned in the fight against crime in transport;− to report back at the next session on progress in implementing these recommendations.

5