国际公路运输公约

背景

各缔约国希望为公路车辆国际货物运输提供便利，赞成简化协调国际运输领域内的行政手续，尤其是边境手续，制订公约各条款。

内容

公约适用于无需中途换装的情况下用公路运输车辆、车辆组合或集装箱运输货物，跨越一缔约方起运地海关与同一或另一缔约方目的地海关之间一个或多个边界，前提是TIR(英语：Transports Internationaux Routiers or International Road Transports)运输起点终点间包括公路。公约规定采用TIR程序运载的货物无需向沿途海关支付交存进出口税费，一般不受沿途海关的检查。公约还规定了持TIR证的货物运输、违章情况等。

国际道路运输联盟(IRU)

IRU是经联合国授权管理TIR系统的机构，负责集中印制发放TIR证。

The Convention on International Transport of Goods Under Cover of TIR Carnets (TIR Convention) is a multilateral treaty based on a United Nations (UN) convention and administered by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). It is the oldest public-private partnership maintained by the UN.

History

The treaty was concluded at Geneva on 14 November 1975 to simplify and harmonise the administrative formalities of international road transport. (TIR stands for "transit international routier" or "International Road Transport".) The 1975 convention replaced the TIR Convention of 1959, which itself replaced the 1949 TIR Agreement between a number of European countries. As of March 2023, there are 78 parties to the convention, including 77 states and the European Union.

The TIR system not only covers customs transit by road, but a combination is possible with other modes of transport (e.g., rail, inland waterway, and even maritime transport), as long as at least one part of the total transport is made by road.

Scope

The TIR Convention establishes an international customs transit system with maximum facility to move goods:

in sealed vehicles or containers

from a customs office of departure in one country to a customs office of destination in another country

without requiring extensive and time-consuming border checks at intermediate borders

while, at the same time, providing customs authorities with the required security and guarantees

The TIR system is rooted in five pillars and relies on the use of the TIR carnet, a document that acts as secure documentation guaranteeing the security of the shipment.

TIR procedures

Hauliers making use of the TIR procedure must first obtain an internationally harmonised customs document, referred to as a TIR carnet. TIR carnets are issued by national road transport associations. This customs document is valid internationally and, as well as describing the goods, their shipper and their destination, represents a financial guarantee. When a lorry arrives at a border customs post, it need not pay import duties and taxes on goods at that time. Instead, the payments are suspended. If the vehicle transits the country without delivering any goods, no taxes are due.……

Membership

Saudi Arabia acceded to the convention on 17 May 2018, and the convention entered into force for Saudi Arabia on 17 November 2018. Egypt acceded to the convention on 16 December 2020, and entered into force in Egypt on 16 June 2021. With the accession of Saudi Arabia and Egypt, the TIR Convention had seventy-seven Contracting Parties. In March 2023, Iraq became the 78th member of the convention, and in April 2025, after successful pilot operations, TIR went fully operational in the country.

Annex 11 and eTIR Project

Formed in February 2020, the Contracting Parties to the TIR Convention adopted several amendments, including Annex 11, which provides the legal basis for UNECE to host and administer the eTIR system. This allowed the creation of eTIR, a paperless operation of the United Nations TIR Convention, in line with the Secretary General's Roadmap for Digital Cooperation. The legal basis for eTIR went into force in May 2021 but adoption of this digital system was not immediate; Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan transported goods across their mutual boarder using eTIR for the first time in May 2026, and continued implmentation of eTIR in the Eurasian Economic Union was ongoing in 2026.