BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 12
By Nargiz Ismayilova – Trend:
Measures aimed at preventing the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in the world had almost no effect on the cargo transportation by rail, but, unfortunately, seriously affected the international road transportation market, Secretary General of the Permanent Secretariat of IGC TRACECA, Aset Assavbayev, told Trend .
Due to the outbreak of COVID-19, most countries in the Eurasian region adopted a number of temporary measures to counter the spread of the pandemic, the secretary general noted.
At the same time, under the current restrictions in some TRACECA countries, the measures taken at the national level were more stringent and, as a result, road carriers had serious difficulties in carrying out international cargo transportation by road, said Assavbayev.
For example, the decision of some countries on imposing 2-week quarantine on truck drivers significantly increased the transportation time, while the adoption by other countries of the decision to prevent foreign vehicles from entering their territory significantly affected the feasibility of transporting goods by road, he said.
“A result of unilateral restrictions on drivers at some checkpoints, significant accumulations of trucks have formed. The total flight time has significantly increased, which in turn increased the cost of goods transported. As a result, it negatively affected the competitiveness of road transport,” Assavbayev noted.
“A number of shippers have decided to reorient cargo in favor of rail transport. So, there has been an increase in freight traffic by rail since the beginning of 2020, while the volume of road transport tended to decrease,” he said.
“Under the current conditions, TRACECA took the initiative to harmonize the measures taken by the parties, developed a number of recommendations and, as an alternative, invited countries to adopt the agreed conditions for the carriage of goods in the context of the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A balanced cargo transportation system, taking into account the current requirements of different countries at border crossings, will allow for the transportation of essential goods, support for the transport industry and at the same time ensure the safety of the population.
Currently, it’s very important to make clear, transparent and uniform decisions regarding the organization of transportation for the most efficient functioning of the corridor, he added.
TRACECA is a system of international cargo transportation by road, based on the Customs Convention on the international carriage of goods using TIR.
The TRACECA Intergovernmental Commission is open to all initiatives that contribute to strengthening the regional transport dialogue and ensuring efficient and reliable international Euro-Asian transport links that contribute to the active development of the economy.
The TRACECA corridor is involved in gradually developing trends in trade and economic relations. The main cargo flows that pass through the corridor, on the one hand, are formed in Western and Central Europe, and on the other - in Central and Southeast Asia.
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