UNION OF ROAD TRANSPORT ASSOCIATIONS IN THE BLACK SEA ECONOMIC COOPERATION REGION

1. UNION OF ROAD TRANSPORT ASSOCIATIONS IN THE BLACK SEA ECONOMIC COOPERATION REGION

2. REGIONAL ANSWERS TO REGIONAL PROBLEMS UNION OF ROAD TRANSPORT ASSOCIATIONS- BSEC-URTA AND ORGANIZATION OF THE BLACK SEA ECONOMIC COOPERATION- BSEC PUBLIC- PRIVATE SECTOR CONSULTATIONS AND COOPERATION

3. Black Sea Region An area of nearly 20 million km², at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, Central Asia and Middle East. A huge unsaturated market, major sources of oil and natural gas as well as rich resources of minerals and other natural resources Very creative and highly talented and educated human resources

4. The Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) with all its Related Bodies was created in order : to enhance cooperation among its members, and help them integrate fully into the world economy, thus helping them capitalise on their opportunities and meet the challenges of the future

5. The Transport Sector one of the most strategic contributors to the integration process

6. 11 MEMBER ASSOCIATIONS ANALTIR ARTRI GIRCA AIRCA ASMAP OFAE ABADA UND AITA AEBTRI AIRCU

7. FOUNDATION: 23 October 2001 Antalya, Turkey • MOTIVATION: Need of rapprochement and direct dialogue betweenthe international road transport associations at regional level to find common solutions to common problems of the profession in the Black Sea Region.

8. HOW ? • Working together • Understanding Each Other • Learning From Each Other • Preparing Together For Tomorrow

9. Antalya-Turkey, 26 October 2001 THE FIFTH MEETING OF THE COUNCIL OF MINISTERS OF FOREIGN AFFAIRES OF BSEC MEMBER STATES • welcomed the establishment of the BSEC-URTA as an important development in thestrengthening of the private sector cooperation in the BSEC region. • the Council granted the BSEC-URTA the statues of sectoral dialogue partnership to the BSEC.

10. First International Transport Forum- Antalya, 25 October 2001ROAD TRANSPORT PROBLEMS IN THE BSEC REGION • Visa Problems • Border Crossing Delays • Time Losses and Costs Due to Repeated Control of Transit Vehicles • High and Unreasonable Road Charges • Need to Improve the Efficiency of Transport

11. First International Transport Forum- Antalya, 25 October 2001BSEC-URTA PRIORITIES: • Simplified Visa for Professional Drivers • Harmonization of Road User Charges • Simplification of Border Crossing Procedures • International Vehicle Weight Certificate • Improvement of Combined Transportation Services • Professional Training and Bilateral Recognition of Diplomas

12. INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS: EC UNECE ECMT SECI TRACECA CIS BSEC BSEC URTA IRU NATIONAL ROAD TRANSPORT ASSOCIATIONS NATIONAL AUTHORITIES OF COUNTRIES

13. BSEC URTA General Assembly Working Parties International Secretariat MEMBER ASSOCITIONS IRU NATIONAL AUTHORITIES INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS Permanent International Secretariat Working Groups Committee of Senior Officials Council of Ministers of Foreign Affaires BSEC

14. BSEC Visa for Professional Drivers 4 March, 2002, First Meeting of BSEC-URTA General Assembly, Kiev BSEC-URTA Ad Hoc Specialist Group on Facilitation of Visas for Professional Driver 19 July 2002, Meeting of BSEC-URTA Ad Hoc Specialist Group on Facilitation of Visa for Drivers, Istanbul, Turkey Project Proposal on Facilitation of Visas for Professional Drivers BSEC WG-T 3-4, June 2002 29-30, January 2003 12-13, June 2003 Meetings of BSEC Ad Hoc Expert Group on Visa 22-23, January 2004 Simplification Procedures, Istanbul. 8-9, June 2004 A draft BSEC Agreement was finalized by the experts of BSEC Member States and submitted to the Committee of Senior Officials. 29 October 2004, 11th Meeting of the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affaires of BSEC Member States, Tbilisi, Georgia …instructed the Committee of the Senior Official to further consider the said Draft Agreement.

15. BSEC Visa for Professional Drivers Meeting of BSEC Ad Hoc Expert Group on Visa Facilitation for Lorry Drivers Concerns on Compatibility of Agreement with EU Acquis on Visas IRUEC BSECBSEC-URTAMEMBER ASSOCIATIONS MINISTRIES OF FOREIGN AFFAIRES- BSEC COUNTRIES EC Answer: …this draft agreement to be welcomed as a step towards smoothing and speeding up the visa procedures for professional drivers. We do not see any particular problem as regards its compatibility with the EU acquis on visas since clearly points out that international agreements and national legislation on the issuing the visas are not affected.

16. Harmonization of Road User Charges MEMBER ASSOCIATIONS WEB SITE MATRIX OF CHARGES BSEC URTA DATA NATIONAL AUTHORITIES REQUEST & PROPOSALS BSEC WG/T TRACECA IRU ECMT EC

17. Simplification of Border Crossing Procedures MEMBER ASSOCIATIONS DATA & INFO NATIONAL AUTHORITIES BSEC WG/ TED REQUEST & PROPOSALS SECI BSEC URTA IRU ECMT

18. International Vehicle Weight Certificate CIS IVWC/CIS BSEC URTA MEMBER ASSOCIATIONS UNECE BSEC IVWC/BSEC ISTANBUL 2004 INTERNATIONAL TRANSPORT CONFERENCE IRU SECI IVWC/SECI IVWC 1982-’’Harmonization Convention’’ Annex 8

19. Combined Transportation WEB SITE 36 RO-RO Black Sea – 18 Danube – 5 Caspian Sea – 5 Adriatic Sea – 8 10 RO-LA MEMBER ASSOCIATIONS SCHEDULES TARIFFS BSEC URTA DATA SERVICE PROVIDERS PROPOSALS BSEC WG/T Actual step: a regional survey by a standard questionnaire for to identify the performance of existing services and the areas of improvement.

20. Mutual Recognition of Diplomas, Certificates of Professional Competence MEMBER ASSOCITIONS BSEC URTA General Assembly International Secretariat IRU NATIONAL AUTHORITIES IRU’s Academy Permanent International Secretariat Ad Hoc EXPERT GROUP Working Group- Transport Committee of Senior Officials Council of Ministers of Foreign Affaires BSEC

21. INTERNATIONAL TRANSPORT FORUM ON IMPROVED DISTRIBUTION OF QUOTA PERMITS TO HAULIERS IN THE BLACK SEA REGIONBucharest, 23 June 2004

22. BSEC- URTA Position on Reforming the ECMT Multilateral Quota System ECMT Multilateral Quota System first step towards the gradual liberalisation of goods road transport and the harmonisation of the terms of competition between transport companies from different countries.

23. Debates on the future of the ECMT Multilateral Quota System with a view to restructuring of the quota. • Opposite views on to increase or to decrease the quota in the future and on the quota allocation criteria which should be maintained or reformed.

24. BSEC- URTA Position on Reforming the ECMT Multilateral Quota System • The ECMT Multilateral Quota System is a very fundamental and successful facilitation tool for the future of the road goods transport and therefore, it must be protected, supported sincerely and developed further by all Member States. • Any arguments based on any miss-use of authorizations by the road transport operators must be dealt within the framework of how to improve the enforcement of rules in the Member States and better utilization of IT solutions for an efficient monitoring. • The International Road Transport Union (IRU) has to have an active role in safeguarding interests of the industry as the official negotiations continue at the competent ECMT organs. • The official authorities in the BSEC region at the next meetings of ECMT Group on Road Transport and Sub-Group on the Reforming the ECMT MQS to support the system with well prepared arguments and in a coordinated manner.

25. FUTUREENLARGED EU GR BG RO TR RU UA GE AL SERBIA & MONTENEGRO MD AR AZ BSEC COUNTRIES

26. The boundaries of the enlarged EU will also cover a significant part of the BSEC region, including a long coastline of the Black Sea • EU will become a major Black Sea actor • BSEC can play a major role in providing the necessary links between the enlarged EU and those of the BSEC Member States which are not EU Members. • Mention should be madethat Black Sea region is becoming Europe's major transport and energy transfer corridor. • In this context improvement in international transport services highly depends upon the public authorities to introduce new transport facilitation policies. The private sector is the right partner for consultations to public authorities for to develop such policies.

27. THANK YOU FOR YOUR KIND ATTENTION !