The Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations in India (FFFAI) has joined the International Coordination Council on Trans-Eurasian Transportation (CCTT) during the XXXII Plenary Meeting which was recently held in Moscow. This year the meeting was dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the Council. More than 250 delegates from departments, companies and organizations from 20 countries of the Eurasian continent, heads and representatives of international organizations and associations participated in this GLOBAL event. Other new members who also joined during this meeting were from China, South Korea, Iran and Southeast Asian countries.
International Coordinating Council on Trans-Eurasian Transportation (CCTT) is a non-commercial transport association with an open-ended duration, registered in the Main Register of the canton Bern (Switzerland).
The CCTT was founded by the Ministry of Railway Communication of the Russian Federation (after the restructuring of 2003 – RZD OJSC; Deutsche Bahn (DB AG); Group of European Trans-Eurasian Forwarders and Operators (GETO) and Korean International Freight Forwarders Association (KIFFA).
Presently the CCTT has 96 member societies from 23 countries, including railways of Europe, Asia and the CIS states, leading shipping companies, operators and forwarders, ports and stevedoring companies, state organizations, administrations and academia, telecom and marketing companies, security services and mass media.
For more than 20 years the CCTT has achieved a high international standing and has become an efficient international forum for networking and real cooperation between all parties involved in Trans-Siberian freight transportation.
The Council participates in efforts of OSJD, UIC, UNECE Inland Transport Committee, CIT, EAEU, UNESCAP, OTIF, WCO and UPU to create new technological norms and harmonize transport law, aimed at reducing barriers to freight transportation between Asia and Europe.
The CCTT contributes to introducing advanced technologies, which increase the capacities of border crossing points and international freight volumes.
Commenting on the importance of this event Chairman, CCTT and General Director – Chairman of the Board of OJSC RZD Mr. O.V. Belozerov said that structural changes in railway transport, the restructuring of transport and logistics chains, the development of multimodality and the building of new intersectoral and international alliances have radically expanded the composition of the Council’s participants. In his opinion, the CCTT principle “cooperation and collaboration for a common result” has repeatedly shown its effectiveness and no alternative at many stages of the development of Euro-Asian transport links.
The CCTT Plenary meet was addressed by the former Minister of Railways of the Russian Federation, former President of OJSC RZD, former Chairman and Secretary General of the Coordination Council on Trans-Siberian Transportation, Advisor to the General Director of OJSC RZD Mr. G.M. Fadeev, Deputy Minister of Transport of the Russian Federation Mr. V.O. Ivanov, Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) Mrs. Armida Salsia Alishakhbana, Deputy Secretary General of the CIS Mr. I.T. Nematov, Member of the Board (Minister) for Energy and Infrastructure of the Eurasian Economic Commission Mr. A.O. Kozhoshev, Chairman of the OSJD Committee Mr. Miroslav Antonovich, Mr. Shankar Shinde, Immediate Past Chairman, FFFAI and other dignitaries.
In his report “The role and tasks of CCTT in the formation of a sustainable logistics system in the Eurasian space: new approaches and effective solutions” CCTT Chairman Mr. O.V. Belozerov summed up the development of Trans-Eurasian transportation for 2022–2023 and outlined the goals and objectives of the Council for the future.
He highlighted the assistance in building a network of mutually complementary Euro-Asian routes, priority attention to multimodality issues, including the CCTT “Multimodal Transport Network ” project, which is being transferred to digital mode starting this year. It is expanding the range of cross-sectoral issues, including in relation to issues of transportation of agricultural cargo and perishable products and expanding partnerships with key participants in the digitization process in transport.
At this event Mr. Mikhail Yuryevich Goncharov was nominated as the new CCTT Secretary General starting from June 1, 2024 will be taking over from Mr. Gennady Bessonov, CCTT Secretary General.
Addressing the gathering Deputy Minister of Transport of the Russian Federation Mr. V.O. Ivanov outlined the priorities for the development of the transport complex of the Russian Federation. According to him, among the most important priorities is the development of transportation along the West-East and North-South international transport routes, as well as along multimodal routes passing through the seaports of the Azov-Black Sea basin. He also drew attention to new routes connecting Russia and China through the Zabaikalsk and Nizhneleninskoye checkpoints, activities to develop the western and Trans-Caspian branches of the North-South ITC, as well as the implementation of projects using electronic navigation seals.
FFFAI IPC Mr. Shankar Shinde made an elaborate presentation regarding importance and present developments on the International North South Transport Corridor in respect of trade facilitation including Russia, CIS countries and beyond. He also highlighted the role of the Government of India and FFFAI to promote the INSTC route and seriousness having invested in development of Chabahar Port in Iran to provide effective connectivity to Russia and CIS Countries.
Mr. Shinde stated that presently there is an increase in volumes on INSTC with India’s accession to TIR Convention. Now regular vessels are providing services to Iran. Rupee Rial – trade agreement has been signed with banks’ willingness to participate. Logistics Service Providers’ presence is increasing with volumes. In view of the opportunities with risk associated on this route at present Insurance coverage is available.
It is pertinent to mention that the founder members of INSTC route include India, Iran and Russia. Later the following countries joined: Republic of Azerbaijan, Republic of Turkey, Republic of Armenia, Republic of Ukraine, Republic of Kazakhstan, Republic of Belarus, Republic of Kyrgyzstan, Oman, Republic of Tajikistan, Syria and Bulgarian (Observer).
Objective of INSTC is to increase effectiveness of transport ties to organise goods and passenger transport; Promotion of access to international market; Assistance in increasing the volume of transport; Providing safety of goods, security of travel as well as environmental protection as per International standards; Harmonisation of Transport policies and Setting up non discriminative policies for seamless movement.
Highlighting the Customs initiatives to facilitate the trade on this route Mr. Shinde pointed out the following aspects:
-To extend 24x 7 clearance facilities with an online system to file for transshipment permission for international operators.
-To have documents forms in English language and trade facilitation cell for professional international interface
-Effective EDI Implementation with public portal information at Bandar Abbas Terminal for container tracking and movement directly to Road/Rail CY till destination monitoring systems
INSTC Member Countries along with other regions of CMR implementation to synchronize on commercial transport documentation of Bill of Lading and CMR delivery exchange. The event concluded with a vote of thanks and applauding the efforts of CCTT in coordination between respective Government bodies and stakeholders for cross border trade facilitation measures.
