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DOCUMENTS "COM"
COM(73)541
Vol.1973/0105

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COMMISSION OFTHEEUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
COM(73 )541final
Brussels,11April 1973
Recommendation fora
DECISION OPTHECOUNCIL
authorizing theCommissiontonegotiateinthename
oftheEuropeanEconomicCommunitytorevisethe
CustomsConvention ontheInternational Transport
ofGoodsundercoverofTIRcarnets(TIRConvention)
of15January 1959
(submittedtotheCouncilbytheCommission)
COM(73 )541final

EXPLANATORY NOTE
Introduction
Thepanel ofexperts oncustoms problems intransport ,-jorking under the
auspices oftheInland Transport Committee oftheEconomic Commission for
Europe ,theregional agency oftheUNwhich administers theTIR-Convention ,
hasdecided onageneral revision ofthat Convention ,which dates back to
1959 andneeds tobethoroughly brought uptodate .This isnolonger
possible simply byadding further resolutions tothepresent Convention .
TheGroup ofRapporteurs appointed tothepanel ofcustoms experts has
been asked todraw uparevised text ofthebasic provisions oftheConvention
aJidhasalready started work .When this iscompleted ,itislikely that
aConference will becalled torevise the Convention .
Nature ofthe présent Convention
TheCustoms Convention ontheInternational Transport ofGoods under
cover ofTIRcarnots isbasically aconvention establishing aninternational
customs regime forthetransit ofgoods transported byroad ,andassuch
takes itsplaoe among theinternational measures ofthelast tenyears to
promote theharmonious development ofworld trade .
Traeportation iscarried outunder cover ofaspecial document ,called
the "TIRcarnet 7',which enables thegoods tocross successive frontiers .
■T-Iiicrrnets oreissued by .Associations ineach country Party tothe
Convention ,andguaranteed jointly andseverally bytheissuing Association
with corresponding Associations inthe other countries .
Vehicles andcontainers must ,before use ,beapproved forsealing bythe
Customs authorities ofoneContracting Party andforthis purpose must
conform tocertain technical specifications asregards construction .
TTi-.r their contents h.v=be-en inspected ;they sh .11bese ,ledbythe
Offio-i ofdw-p-jrture rad,er.vo where malpractice issuspected ,dispatched
tothe cuctOEie ,office ofdestination without und^r&oing ?-.tthe
vo.riour frontier custorr.s offices onroute nyfurther inspection
other th:ji checking th-t thecustoms seals _r.reintact,'
Ateach Customs point ,vouchers must bedetached from theTIRCarnet in
respect ofthetaking oncharge ordischarge of -thecarnet bytheCustoms
authorities ofthecountry over whose territory thegoods have been trans­
ported .

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Aim and extent ofthe proposed revision •
TheConvention istobebrought uptodate tomake itmore "competitive 5'
with other more liberal transit arrangements ,inparticular theCommunity
transit arrangements ,by
1.reducing theliability ofguarantor associations ,ontheonehand by
fixing aceiling fortheguarantee perTIRcarnet aiidontheother
byremoving their liability tocover thepecuniary penalties incurred
bytheholders
2.adapting theprocedures ofapproval forcustoms sealing tocertain neri
techniques oftransport ,such ascontainer transport 5
3. .bycreating acertain form ofadministrative cooperation between the
.States ,Parties totheConvention .
AlltheMember States oftheCommunity areParties tothe 1959 Convention .
Thequestion arises whether the ilember States arenowentitled ,either
individually orcollectively ,tonegotiate therevision oftheTIRConvention .
TheCommission considers that this question should beanswered inthe
negative .
Exclusive power ofthe Community tonegotiate the revision ofthe TIR
Convention
Firstly ,this Convention ,thepurpose ofwhich istofacilitate the
international transport ofgoods byroad vehicle ,contributes ,inaccordance
with thecommon interest ,totheCommissions development ofworld trade .
Inthat respect itisworth noting that theMember States possess avery
large fleet ofTIRapproved road vehicles .Thus ,this Convention ,apart
from itspurely oustons purposes ,bears onmatters which come within the
scope ofthecommon commercial policy .
Secondly ,this isafield which isalready subjeot toCommunity rules .
Indeed ,Community transit procedures introduced under Council Regulation
(ESC)NO542/69^^of18March 1969onCommunity transit havebeeninforce
since 1January 1970 .These procedures aredesigned inparticular toavoid
thesuccession andduplication ofnational procedures andformalities at
common frontiers andtomake sure that Community goods move within the
Customs territory oftheCommunity under conditions approaching those which
govern themovement ofgoods within theterritory ofaMember State .Forthat
reason these procedures should inprinciple apply toallmovements ofgoods
within theCommunity .While itisclearly intheinterests ofusers that
(1)OJL77,29March 1969 ,p.l

theyshouldbeabletocontinueusingtheTIRproceduresfortransport
operationsstartingorendingoutsidetheCommunity,itisatthesame
timeessentialthattheprinciplecontainedinArticle38ofthepresent
Conventionbemaintained ,sothattheCommunitycanpreventtheTIR
procedurebeingusedforthecarriageofgoodsbyroadbetweentwopoints
withintheCommunity.
ThustheCommunitycustomsprovisionsrelatingtotransitcontributeto
theachievementofthefreemovementofgoodsandconstituteaprincipal
instrumentofthecustomsunion.
Ifcommitments aretobeenteredintounderwhichthescopeofthe
Communityrulesontransitmaybereduced,thentheonlybodiescompetent
toenterintosuchcommitmentsaretheCommunityInstitutions .
Article39ofthepresentConventionwillrequirealterationtoenable
theCommunitytobecomeaContractingParty.
Forthispurpose,thefollowingformula,takenfromthemodelusedin
variousinternational agreements onprimaryproductsconcludedunderthe
auspicesoftheUnitedNations,couldbeused;
"AnyreferenceintheConventiontoa"lumber^:St'ate"shallbedeemedto
bealsovalidfortheSuropeanEconomicCommunity.Consequently anyrefe­
renceintheAgreementto"signature 11oftheAgreement,"deposit"ofan
instrumentofratification ,acceptance,approvaloraccessionbyagovern­
mentshallbedeemedtoallowsignatureinthenameoftheCommunitythrough
itscompetentauthorityaswellasthedepositoftheinstrumentrequired
bytheCommunityinstitutions forconcludinganinternational agreement."
Basisinlav;
ThefactthattheConventionunderrevisionisonepreviouslysigned
bytheMemberStatesshouldinnowaypreventtheCommunityfrompartici­
pating:inthatrevision.Itmustberecognizedthat,asregardsthose
mattersinrespectofwhichithastakenoverthepowersoftheMember
States,theCommunityhassucceededthoseMemberStatesasContracting
PartytotheConvention.Clearlythosepowerswillnottakeeffectmerely
atthemomenttheConferenceontherevisionoftheTIRConventionbegins,
butwillentitletheCommunitytoparticipateinallthepreparatory work
whichinirternationalpracticeprecedestheopeningofnegotiations,This
presupposesadmittedlythat,forthepurposesofnegotiation ,theCommunity
begrantedahigherstatuswithinthevariousworkingpartiesthanthatof
simpleobserver.Precedentscouldbefoundforthispurposeintheformulas

-4-
which have been used forvarious ,international agreements onprimary
products concluded under theauspices oftheUnited Nations inwhich the
Community has "been allowed toparticipate .
Inview ofthecommon commercial policy aspects oftherevision ofthe
TIRConvention ,Article 113oftheE3CTreaty would seem toconstitute the
most suitable basis fornegotiating andconcluding that Convention .
Conclusion
TheCommission recommends that theCouncil ,acting under Article 113
oftheTreaty ,authorize ittonegotiate therevision ofthe1959 Customs
Convention ontheInternational Transport ofGoods under cover ofTIR
Carnets .
Forthis purpose theCommission draws the attention oftheCouncil to
theneed tomake thenecessary approaches tothe Secretariate oftheUnited
Nations with aview toobtaining aninvitation fortheCommunity toparti­
cipate with full voting rights intheConference onNegotiations forthe
Revision ofthe TIR Convention .

Recomireniataon
foraDecisionoftheCouncil
authorizingtheCommissiontonegotiateinthe
nameoftheEuropeanEconomicCommunitytorevisethe
CustomsConvention ontheInternational TransportofGoods
undercoverofTIRcarnets(TIRConvention )of
15January1959
THECOUNCILOFTHEEUROPEANCOIIMUNITISS ,
HavingregardtotheTreatyestablishing theEuropeanEconomic
Community ,andinparticularArticle113thereof §
Havingregardtotherecommendation fromtheCommission !
WhereastneCustomsConvention ontheInternational Transportof
GoodsundercoverofTIRCarnets(TirConvention)isdesignedto
facilitatetheinternational transportofgoodsbyroadvehicles ^
Whereaspreparatory workontherevisionofthatConventionhasbeen
startedinGenevabytheUnitedNationsEconomicCommissionfor
Europe(ECE)withaviewtocallingaconferencelaterontocarry
outageneralrevisionofthatConventionj
HASDECIDEDASFOLLOWS:
Article
TheCommissionisauthorizedtonegotiatefmthenameofthe
Community,withintheframeworkoftheUnitedNationsEconomic
CommissionforEurope(ECE)withaviewtotherevisionofthe
CustomsConvention ontheInternational TransportofGoodsunder
coverofTIRCarnets(TIRConvention).
PerthepurposeofthisDecisiontheCommissionshallbeassisted
bytheSpecialCommitteeprovidedforinArticle113oftheTreaty.