The TIR System

The TIR letters stand for the French words "Transports Internationaux Routiers"

The TIR System was designed to speed up border - crossing. It is based on an international treaty, the TIR Convention of 1975, which was drawn up under the auspices of the United Nations. It is based on paper and rubber-stamp control procedures.
 

The TIR System is an international transit system for goods carried by road. At least one part of the transport operation must be carried out by road, which means that multimodal transport can be included.
 

The TIR System dates from 1949, when 5 countries decided to facilitate the transit of goods across their borders by introducing an appropriate mechanism.
The system has now 64 contracting parties, mostly in Europe, the Middle East and Central Asia. It is the only transit system with a world wide vocation . The TIR Convention is operational today in 47 countries. It is based on four principles :

1- The goods must be carried in sealed containers, load compartment, or in trucks approved by customs authorities.

2- International recognition of the controls operated by customs authorities both at departure and destination. In practice , this means , that no material inspection of the goods may be carried out by customs authorities in the countries of transit.

3- An international centralized chain of guarantee, in favor of the customs administrations, securing the eventual loss of taxes following any irregularity in the TIR procedure. (The IRU has been administrating the TIR Convention since 1953).

4- The TIR carnet itself, which contains all details about the cargo, the TIR holder, the issuing associations and the follow-up of all control operations effected by the customs authorities.

The TIR carnet offers the following main benefits:
 

- For international trade:
It allows the goods forming the subject of the transaction between private entities to be put into tax-free circulation between two or more countries.
 

- For the transport operation:
It offers the transport operator the possibility of putting the load under customs control within the country of departure and enables him to cross the various frontiers with extremely rapid customs controls (saving time).
 

- For the Customs authorities:
It offers the guarantee that, if the goods "disappear" on their territory, they can recover from the chain of guarantee the total amount of the Customs duties up to a maximum of US $ 50,000 per TIR Carnet.
The IRU issued over 2,600,000 TIR carnet in 1997.

In each contracting party, there must be a guarantor called "the Association" which has two roles:

First, it has the responsibility of issuing TIR carnets to the operators who have been authorized to use the TIR System.
 

Second, it has to guarantee liabilities incurred in its own country irrespective of whether the TIR carnet has been issued by it or by a foreign issuing association, as long as the latter is affiliated to the same international organization (IRU).

The TIR carnet, duly completed and stamped by the customs authorities when the freight compartment is sealed, guarantees the integrity of the load every time it comes to a frontier crossing point. This system is indispensable to facilitate international goods traffic. It reduces border delays and formalities and avoids the need to unload goods at each border for inspection and to deposit large sums as customs guarantees.
The Customs Convention on the International Transport of Goods under of TIR Carnets was first established in 1959 under the auspices of the ECE. In 1975, a new, multimodal Convention came into force. The IRU has always been the International guarantor of the TIR System. Working through its national guaranteeing associations in each country, in accordance with TIR Convention, it issues and controls all carnets , each of which is governed by IRU rules and must be returned to IRU headquarters for processing after use.

To secure the TIR System and protect it from fraudulent activities of international criminals, the IRU has been developing a telematic network and procedures (Safetir) covering the 47 countries where the TIR System is implemented.

The Chamber of Commerce , Industry , and Agriculture of Beirut has been appointed by Lebanese Government as the issuing and guaranteeing body of TIR Carnets in Lebanon and started its operations