The world road transport organisation, IRU, intervened on key policy debates of the highest UNECE Inland Transport Committee meetings and side events.
The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Inland Transport Committee (ITC) 2025 focused on the successes and challenges for inland transport on the road to 2030. Discussions centred on enhancing sustainable regional and interregional transport connectivity and advancing decarbonisation.
IRU Secretary General Umberto de Pretto addressed the high-level ministerial opening session on the severe consequences of red tape at border crossings, “Trucks drivers are being stranded at borders for days on end, even weeks, often without access to hygiene and sanitary facilities.
“We have the tools and UN conventions at our disposal to make road transport more efficient, such as e-CMR, eTIR and the Harmonization Convention. We often hear talk about sustainability, but efficient borders are key to achieving it. Having our drivers and trucks stuck at borders, held hostage, blocking trade, idling and emitting emissions, is the antithesis of sustainability.”
“The good news is that we have the tools, conventions and technologies needed to boost the sustainability of transport. These are not future technologies. They’re tried-and-tested instruments. We must stop talking and start acting by effectively implementing them,” he added.
Central Asia’s pivotal role
IRU Director of TIR and Transit Tatiana Rey-Bellet spoke at the event "SPECA Region at the Crossroads of Europe and Asia: Advancing Interregional Connectivity in the Development of Sustainable Multimodal Routes", co-organised by Turkmenistan and UNECE.
UNECE Executive Secretary Tatiana Molcean opened the event. Speakers emphasised the crucial role of the SPECA region (Special Programme for the Economies of Central Asia) in facilitating east-west connectivity and trade routes.
Tatiana Rey-Bellet highlighted the growing role of TIR in the region, with Uzbekistan, a double landlocked country, maintaining its position as the top TIR issuer for several years. TIR usage has also risen by 52% in Turkmenistan and 29% in Azerbaijan.
“Many countries are optimising the balance between trade efficiency and security by establishing TIR Green Lanes, a practice now adopted by nearly all Central Asian countries,” she said.
Tatiana Rey-Bellet also presented the new concept of IRU-accredited TIR logistics hubs, five of which opened in China in 2024. They consolidate all essential transit services – such as customs clearance, warehousing and cargo handling – under one roof.
Looking ahead, all speakers stressed the importance of the SPECA Roadmap on the Digitalisation of Multimodal Data and Document Exchange, endorsed in November 2023, with particular emphasis on the rollout of eTIR in 2025.
Decade for Sustainable Transport
The UN Decade for Sustainable Transport will officially begin on 1 January 2026. IRU has been instrumental in the negotiations and in steering its strategic direction.
During the “ITC Symposium Towards the Global Decade for Sustainable Transport: A Strategic Futures Perspective”, IRU Global Advocacy Senior Adviser Jens Hügel welcomed the global coordination on the implementation of the Decade for Sustainable Transport.
To ensure the decade’s success, Jens Hügel advised setting measurable indicators for the decade, namely the 100 ratified and 50 implemented UN inland transport conventions and their IT tools.
Ministerial bilaterals
On the sidelines of ITC, IRU’s Secretary General held a series of high-level talks with transport ministers from Iran, Iraq and Tajikistan on the urgent need to improve international transport and border operations.
The talks followed his participation in a small closed-door ministerial workshop at the World Economic Forum. In a wide-ranging discussion on sustainable transport policy priorities, Umberto de Pretto outlined the crucial role of streamlining trade and border processes.
The three ministerial meetings, held at IRU headquarters, focused on boosting cross-border cooperation, improving logistics efficiency, and speeding up the digitalisation of transport and customs, with a key focus on the TIR system to streamline trade.
