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Issue 4 2015 - Freight Business Journal Shed no tears for the paper-based TIR


The TIR system has served the international road transport industry well since it was introduced in 1959. But the paper-based system is becoming increasingly cumbersome, in particular with the need to link it to the electronic procedures applied by national customs administrations. Moves are afoot to eventually automate the TIR (Transports Intenationaux Routiers) Convention – which provides a harmonised international system of Customs control – explains the International Road Transport Union (IRU)’s chief information officer, Philipppe Grosjean. Recently, on 24 March the IRU


and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to formalise their co-operation on the computerisation of the TIR system, as well as confirming their support of a UNECE-IRU electronic TIR (eTIR) Pilot Project. The eTIR Pilot Project aims to demonstrate the possibility electronic TIR procedures with minimal investment, and is a first step towards implementation of a fully-fledged eTIR system. Computerising TIR will


facilitate the secure exchange, between national Customs systems, of data on the international transit of goods, vehicles or containers. eTIR is expected to replace the current paper TIR Carnet and the paper-based exchanges of information between Customs


administrations.


“Automation will speed up the TIR procedure, prevent false customs declarations and drastically reduce the all- round administrative burden, while maximising the benefits of integrated supply chain management,” Grosjean says. UNECE executive secretary


Christian Friis Bach adds: “UNECE and IRU agree that the future of the TIR Convention lies in computerisation. Both parties are committed to achieving this goal in the nearest possible future.” The eTIR pilot involves the


IRU, UNECE, Customs, national associations and transport operators (TIR Holders), and is expected to be just the first


step towards a fully operational eTIR system. The pilot leverages existing IRU-developed IT tools, particularly the TIR-Electronic Pre-Declaration (TIR-EPD), a web application enabling TIR Holders to submit advance cargo information to customs; and Real-Time SafeTIR (RTS), an application allowing TIR Carnet validity to be checked at any time, as well as the submission of SafeTIR information when a truck reaches its destination or exits a country. TIR Holders interact with the


system via a secure, web-based application called the TIR Holder Portal. The application allows them to


order eGuarantees


and submit pre-declarations to Customs. It can also reveal the status of the TIR transport. TIR national associations


manage the TIR process using an IRU-operated soſtware as a


service (SaaS) application.


TIR data is sent from Customs IT systems to the IRU central TIR system, and immediately replicated to a secure IT database, hosted by UNECE. Customs may choose to check the validity of a given eGuarantee against either the IRU IT system or the UNECE system, as both offer secure web services for the purpose.


Data security


During the Pilot Project, the existing IRU central TIR system therefore serves as the main platform for the storage and exchange of data with Customs and UNECE. The IRU central TIR system – which is available 24/7 – is robust, clustered and totally secure, Grosjean insists. It is hosted via a hybrid Cloud infrastructure, running in two separate, fully redundant data centres managed by Swisscom, Switzerland’s biggest telecoms provider. Its data centres offer some of the highest security available, and Swisscom itself hosts


its operations there.


They also host the systems of a number of banks, railways and other data-sensitive operations. Recently, the IRU mandated


a leading security company to carry out rigorous checks, including attempts to hack into the system, which reconfirmed the absolute integrity of the


set-up. All Internet traffic going through the data centre passes through sophisticated firewalls and intrusion detection systems. In addition, the IRU hybrid cloud environment is organised into several layers, each protected by separate firewalls. Data exchanged between the


private sector (the so-called TIR guarantee chain, comprising the IRU, national Associations and TIR Holders) and the public sector (Customs and UNECE) is based on Web Service standards (HTTPS, SOAP, WS-Security). The security of the services is based on encrypted communication and signed payload of messages using keys and certificates. Meanwhile, the UNECE


system will be hosted in the secure United National Office at Geneva (UNOG) data centre, which is subject to equally thorough audits and controls, Grosjean says.


Twin-phase operation


The eTIR Pilot Project is to be conducted over two phases. The first phase, expected to last three months, will involve one Iranian and


one Turkish transport


operator, with transports taking place over a single route. Once the success of this phase has been established, the pilot will move to the second phase, lasting about six months and involving additional transport operators and Customs offices. According to the IRU, “both


Turkey and Iran are very active contracting parties of the TIR convention and they expressed a strong interest in taking part in the eTIR Pilot project. As important transit countries bridging


Europe and Asia,


they are perfect candidates to demonstrate the feasibility of real transport taking place under eTIR.” At the end of the pilot


programme, the results will be presented to the TIR Administrative Committee for endorsement and a decision on how to move forward. The aim is to progressively implement a fully operational eTIR system by expanding the UNECE central TIR system’s


capabilities and


securing the engagement of more countries.


///IT An EDIfly-ing message


When it comes to secure electronic


messaging, there


are already some big names in the aviation segment. One of the newer players in this area is Luxembourg-headquartered Innovative


Soſtware, which


offers the EDIfly electronic data interchange suite for passenger and cargo handling data exchange. EDIfly communication takes place wholly over the web rather than over what chief commercial officer Ingo Roessler describes as static, legacy data communication systems. The latter, which are offered


as file transfer protocol (FTP) or other proprietary services by some of the biggest names in airline electronic messaging, have their drawbacks, Roessler says. “Because we use the worldwide web, we have virtually unlimited


routeing capacity, whereas for the static systems


everything gets put into the one ‘pipe’.” Moreover, EDIfly com-


munication is encrypted and offers a level of security akin to that used by the banking sector, he continues. “We can provide proof of delivery (of messages) to the sender, and we are a lot cheaper than the legacy systems.” The company has come a long


way and rapidly increased its customer base since it signed up its launch customer, Cargolux, just about four years ago. Carriers have also begun to use


EDIfly to support the passenger side of their operations, employing it – says Roessler – as “backbone technology for back- end systems”. Handlers, too, are employing the system as a communication channel with their customers. Interest has been particularly high in the growing markets of


Asia and Africa, he observes, while the handling segment is warming


to the concept


particularly quickly. Swissport has EDIfly supporting its electronic messaging from its data centre in Zurich, for example. Amongst its carrier clientele is Garuda and TAP Air Portugal, and the list is growing. “There are about 20 clients currently testing the system with us,” Roessler insists. “This is mission-critical infrastructure – we certainly expect them to test the system.”


Latest technology keeps the crooks out of cargo


Guardfreight’s E-Containerlock, which is now being tested with potential customers, makes use of the latest 3G six-band communication technology for its various alert systems. Described elsewhere in this


magazine (see Security feature, FBJ 2, 2015), E-Containerlock incorporates its own GPS and GPRS modems to communicate two different forms of alert, explains Guardfreight director Andrew Harrison. The first type is sent by the locking device to the interested party’s platform, whether this be by e-mail or SMS, and can warn of the lock’s activation, opening, removal or if it is being tampered with. The lock will also send an alert when its battery power level is low. The second form of alert based


is technology on the held


telematics within


E-Containerlock, and consists of continuously generated time and positioning data that can be read as such by the platform as oſten as required. The system can also be programmed to deliver alerts relating to that time and positioning data – should, for example, the lock be moved outside a certain area, an alert can automatically be generated. E-Containerlock should be of


value to anyone with an interest in the integrity of a shipment, Harrison says, not least transport service providers and shippers. One


particularly important


use of the system might be for providing confirmatory data that a shipment hasn’t been tampered with – perhaps to Customs or border control authorities. If they have confidence that a consignment has not been interfered with, they can expedite the cargo’s process across the border. The lock is ideal for ISO


containers and for reefers, and with Guardfreight’s adaptors can also be used for other containers and shipping methods, even trucks’ roller shutter doors. Right


now, because of the GPS/GPRS transmissions, it is not readily usable for air cargo, but no doubt that day will come. Other technologies that can


be used in conjunction with E-Containerlock will further increase the value of the system, Harrison informs. For example, Guardfreight is currently testing its own recently developed matchbox-size sensors that can detect changes in temperature, humidity and even vibrations, all of which might affect the integrity of a shipment. If alarms are generated warning of such potential


problems, remedial


action might well be possible before too much damage is done.


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