82nd Annual Session of the UNECE Inland Transport Committee was held at Geneva
28 February 2020
The 82nd UNECE Inland Transport Committee (ITC) was held at Geneva (Switzerland), 25 - 28 February 2020, with the participation of UN leaders, heads of transport agencies and international transport organizations.
The ITC is the highest policy-making body of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) in the field of transport. In the course of the last 72 years, together with its subsidiary bodies, the ITC has provided an intergovernmental forum, where UNECE and other United Nations Member States come together to forge tools for economic cooperation and negotiate and adopt international legal instruments on inland transport. These legal instruments are considered indispensable for developing efficient, harmonized and integrated, safe and sustainable inland transport systems.
During the session, Member States/Contracting Parties and transport leaders from strategic partners forged common solutions, shared region and country-specific challenges from around the world in the implementation of existing, and the development of new, UN Conventions, and took strategic decisions on cutting-edge areas such as road safety, autonomous vehicles and transport digitalization.
The session was attended by a Russian interdepartmental delegation led by the State Secretary - Deputy Minister of Transport of the Russian Federation Dmitry Zverev.
The Russian delegation also included the NIIAT General Director Alexey Vasilkov.
The Committee considered a set of important issues related to the implementation of international agreements and conventions of the United Nations in the field of inland transport, the introduction of intelligent transport systems, road safety, the transport of dangerous goods and perishable goods, the facilitation of border crossings, logistics, transport statistics, and building partnerships to provide technical assistance to developing countries.
During the high-level segment delegates discussed the environmental aspects of the development of inland transport in the context of multilateral efforts to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement. The discussion culminated in the ministerial declaration “Improving approaches to sustainable inland transport taking into account global climate and environmental challenges: a united call for universal action”.
A number of important thematic events in particular on road safety issues as well as the development of Eurasian transport corridors took place on the field of the ITC session.
Russia has consistently supported the work of the Commission as a comprehensive platform for addressing all issues related to inland transport.
Information on the ITC is available on the UNECE ITC website http://www.unece.org/trans/welcome.html
