Within the context of the European summit currently taking place, the IRU is exhorting member states to reintroduce the TIR system fo merchandise being transported under customs bond within the EU. According to the international transport federation ‘the reintroduction of the TIR regime would offer 600,000 road transport companies – mainly SME’s in the service of other SME’s, and which represent 85% of employment – an attractive alternative to the current compulsory T system, under the control of a small number of transit companies which are mainly dedicated to multinationals’.

The IRU also believes that the main problem with the T system is that it only covers individual packages, and not the whole of a truck’s load. A reduction in customs formalities would thus represent a lever for growth and for the creation of employment.