24th Meeting of the BSEC-URTA General Assembly was held in Tbilisi on 25 October 2013

The 24^th Meeting of the BSEC-URTA General Assembly was held in Tbilisi on 25 October 2013 and was honoured by the participation of Deputy Minister of Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development, Ms. Natia Mikeladze, the Deputy Head of the Department of International Relations, Georgia Revenue Service, Ministry of Finance, Ms. Maka Khvedelidze and the IRU Head of TIR Department, Mr. Marek Retelski.

Ms. Maka Khvedelidze, Deputy Head of the Department of International Relations, Georgia Revenues Service made comprehensive presentation on exemplary reformation of the Georgian Customs Services, which was realised by concentration of all border controls and transfer of authority by all other national agencies to merely the Customs officials.  The General Assembly requested the Georgia Revenues Service to be more active in sharing its experiences at the level of the BSEC Working Group on Customs and lead full implementation of the TIR-EPD Green Lanes at its borders with Turkey, in particular.

The General Assembly welcomed 7 BSEC Member States willingness to participate in the Pilot Project on implementation of the IVWC in the BSEC region. Also welcomed the statement of AEBTRI that Bulgaria considers participating in this project in a favourable manner as well as other ongoing projects and initiatives, in particular the BSEC Permit and the Green Lanes at the Bulgarian borders for trucks with electronic pre-declarations.

One of the important agendas of General Assembly was evaluation of the state of affairs regarding implementation of the TIR Convention on the territory of the Russian Federation and expressed its disappointment for continuation by the Russian Federal Customs of the unilateral decision to impose additional guarantees to the goods under the coverage of the TIR Carnet entering the territory of Russian Federation. The General Assembly underlined  that the industry should begin considering more active actions at national level including, if required, blockage of their main road connections to Russia in order to ensure that the crisis reaches the highest level of consideration within the Russian Federation Government and that the IRU could be required to take additional contacts with the FCS aiming to find a mutually agreeable solution as soon as possible.

In a conclusion, the Chairman thanked GIRCA for the excellent organization of the meeting and the hospitality extended to the participants and expressed special thanks to its President Mr. Alexander Chkheidze for his invaluable efforts and personal leadership to promote interests of the industry in Georgia.

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