The essential transit city of the middle road corridor: Batumi hosted the BSEC-URTA 41st General Assembly
The 41st Meeting of the BSEC-URTA General Assembly was held in Batumi, a key transit country of the middle road corridor between Central Asia and Europe, on 9 June 2023 with the participation of its members and important guests.
The Deputy Secretary General of BSEC Organization, HE Ambassador Dimitrios Rallis, the Secretary General of IRU, Mr. Umberto de Pretto, the Project Coordinator of BSEC Organization, Mr. Sergii Kravchenko, the Advisor of Secretary General of PABSEC, Mrs. Natia Gaprindashvili, the Delegation of the Transport Division of UNECE, Mr. Jonathan Valdes, Mr. Sami Ghanmi, Mr. Guillaume Gay, the Director of Land Transport Agency of the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia Mr. Levan Gamkrelidze and Deputy Head of Customs of Georgia Mr. Irakli Tevdoradze, Miss Irina Sigua, Advisor, International Relations Department of the Georgian Revenue Service and Mr. Anıl Evmez, European Union Expert of the Ministry of Trade of Türkiye honored the BSEC-URTA General Assembly.
The BSEC-URTA General Assembly in its 41st Meeting:
Discussed and overviewed the activities of the Working Parties of BSEC-URTA on Problems at Border Crossing Points along main road transport corridors in the Black Sea region and Working Party on Digitalization of Transport Documents and continue to develop various activities and methods that will contribute to sustainable logistics in BSEC-URTA.
Thanked ABADA, AEBTRI, CBRH, SMP, and OFAE for their joint work with national authorities for the enlargement of the BSEC Permit Project through the participation of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, and the Hellenic Republic.
Evaluated the site visit to the Sarp-Sarpi Border Crossing Point and made the following conclusions :
– Need for border crossing points infrastructural improvement in Sarp-Sarpi Border
– Need for application of modern custom facilitation procedures such as One Stop Shop Application by the Georgian and Turkish Authorities
– Consideration of the development of Ro-Pax services between Türkish and Georgian ports
Noted with appreciation the video statement addressed to the Meeting by Mr. Li Yuwai, Director of the Sustainable Transport Division of UNECE, and welcomed the presentation by the delegation of the Sustainable Transport Division of UNECE regarding the latest developments in the implementation of Annex 11 to the TIR Convention concerning eTIR and proposed UNECE to hold a meeting with IRU member associations which are primary users of the TIR system in regard answers to be provided to the questions raised during the General Assembly.
Elected its Esteemed Auditors for 2023-2024, Mr. Kenan Gurbanov (ABADA), Mr. Gia Tsipuria (GIRCA), and Mr. Iulian Postica (AITA).
Approved the withdrawal of AMERIT from the BSEC-URTA Membership and welcomed the new powerful voice of North Macedonian transporters, Best Mobility National Transport Association from the Republic of North Macedonia as a new member in the BSEC-URTA family.
Welcomed the newcomer to the BSEC-URTA family as an observer, a strong voice in Central Asia : the Association of International Road Carriers of Uzbekistan (AIRCUZ).
As BSEC-URTA International Secretariat, while we congratulate the newcomers to the BSEC-URTA family, Best Mobility National Transport Association, and AIRCUZ, we sincerely thank GIRCA President Mr. Gia Tsipuria and his excellent team in GIRCA for the wonderful organization and warm hospitality shown to BSEC-URTA and its esteemed guests.
