RUSSIA/EASTERN EUROPE\\\


Russia’s Federal Customs Service has again postponed its planned withdrawal from the TIR transit system, this time until 1 July 2014. Russian customs authorities are expected to continue to accept TIR carnets at the country’s borders aſter 1 December, the original date set for withdrawal. However, the Federal Customs Service has been withdrawing


the facility from


selected offices over the past few months. Customs’ move is the result of


a dispute with the country’s main TIR carnet issuing organisation over unpaid bills. If and when the Russian


authorities finally withdraw the TIR facility, goods may only be placed under the TIR transit procedure by taking a separate


additional insurance. Finnish logistics company


Nurminen points out also that Russian customs started a three- month experiment on 1 November whereby “large and reliable Russian transport companies can conduct transit without additional securities, if the customs official at the destination is a Russian customs official.” In these circumstances, the customs officials will not require collateral for customs payments or taxes in transit shipments, if the declaring party has customs transporter status granted by the Russian customs service. Whatever happens, Nurminen Logistics says it find the best


is prepared to solutions for


its


clients, including producing T1 declarations instead of the TIR


Next stop: Moscow


Global Container Service group subsidiary MANP Terminal has signed a partnership with forwarder and customs broker Avelana Logistics to launch the Ust-Luga Express, a new weekly rail


service between Ust-Luga


Container Terminal on the Baltic Sea and the MANP inland terminal, 45km south-west of Moscow. The two companies say that


the service is unusual in that it accepts shipments as small as a single container. MANP CEO, Maxim Tyomkin explained: “We want to offer shippers with just one or two containers the same advantages as our bigger customers. The train is particularly attractive for shipments during the winter season, when road haulage is more expensive and risks of delays are high.” The total price of intermodal


transportation from Ust-Luga to Moscow, using the train to MANP terminal, and road on-carriage is significantly lower than all-road delivery, he adds. Transfers from the terminal to


final consignees in Moscow are available and cargo is not subject to the heavy-weight surcharge usually applicable on road. The 120teu capacity train takes


36 hours, leaving every Saturday and arriving at MANP early on Monday morning and takes both bonded and unbonded cargo. There has been significant


investment in the facilities at MANP since it was acquired by


GCS in 2006, with both rail and hard-standing infrastructure upgraded and bonding warehousing created. Andrey Naraevsky, director of


liner and business development at GCS, points out that his company pioneered block container trains from Ust Luga to Nizhny Novgorod in 2012 with a a service for General Motors, followed by a second for Volkswagen in 2013. He predicted that the new


‘public’ service to Moscow could transform the market, as it would make it possible to ship consignments as small as a single container – and that an LCL (less- than-containerload) service might be offered in future. The new port of Ust-Luga has


got off to a slow start but handled 36,800 loaded teu in the first ten months of 2013 compared with 6,250teu in the same period of 2012. With total port capacity put at around 400,000teu, and major container lines like Maersk, Unifeeder, Delta and Hapag Lloyd now calling, there is plenty of scope for more trains, Naraevsky considers. He adds that while the port is a little more remote than St Petersburg in highway terms, it has excellent rail links and access for shipping is more ice-free in winter – and storage charges are lower. The new Moscow service is


currently running at around 60% load factor and there is plenty of capacity to add more services as demand picks up.


declaration, at all its sites. Rail is another option, instead of road transport. While


there are alternative


systems for Russia itself, without TIR there would however be serious issues in handling transit across Russia to other countries, Nurminen suggested. On 4 December, Russian


Customs was reported as saying that it also wants to work with other Russian authorities, Belarus and Kazakhstan towards a single transit system in Eurasia, said Nurminen. The service also plans to open negotiations with the International Road Transport Union (IRU) on updating the TIR Convention. But the IRU accused Russian


Issue 1 2014 - FBJ


Russian TIR withdrawal now set for July 23


Customs of spreading confusion over TIR. The IRU said that even aſter the Customs service had officially announced a stay of execution until 1 July 2014, immediately aſterwards it “once again disregarded the TIR Convention by unilaterally issuing, on 2 December 2013, a list of offices where TIR Carnets are


still not accepted – representing 95% of all Russian Customs offices.” IRU said “this negative action reconfirms the FCS RF’s blatant disregard for the TIR Convention and international law, despite recent high-level pressure from the Russian Government confirming that Russia will continue to fully abide by the TIR Convention.”


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