TRANSPORT FACILITATION AND

LOGISTICS: global and regional perspective

Transport and Logistics are an integral part of the UN work, especially in

the regional and development context

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Transport and Logistics are an integral part of the UN work, especially in

the regional and development context

Over the years transport and logistics issues have been gaining a greater

prominence in the United Nations System

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Logistics performance Perception 2018

Source: ESCAP secretariat based on data from World Bank,

Connecting to Compete, 2018.

Global connectivity estimates, 2019

Source: International Transport forum, 2019.

Connectivity gaps and regional assessments …

Geography matters but

◼ High heterogeneity within the regions

◼ Countries with special needs (landlocked or small

island developing needs) are lagging behind globally

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Example: Issues affecting road freight transport and logistics

Source: Asociación de Transportistas Nicaragüenses, 2014

Regional infrastructure

networks

Road transport permits &

traffic rights

Visas for professional

drivers & crews

Temporary importation of road vehicles

Insurance of vehicles

Vehicle weights &

dimensions

Vehicle registration &

inspection certificates

Latin America Asia

ESCAP Regional Strategic Framework for the Facilitation

of International Road Transport (2012) and RAP, 2016

Lack or bad quality of Infrastructure

Lack of coordination among the border agencies

Excessive controls and costs of documentary

requirements by border agencies

Excessive guarantee

requirements, costs and penalties

Non acceptance of driver's documents

and/or “visa for drivers” issue

Safety and security issues for vehicles

and drivers

Broadly, transport facilitation and logistics issues tend to converge

across the regions

Global solutions exist

but nothing replaces the “local knowledge” and the political will for the

implementation

❑ Regional and local specificities

❑ Concrete stakeholders and path dependency

❑ Human and institutional capacities

❑ Competing priorities for the public actors

❑ National vs. Local

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The policy concerns related to transport and logistics evolve and

diversify

Role of State Vs. Role of Logistics Industry

Infrastructure Gap Vs. Facilitation

Human Resources and Capacities

Opportunities and challenges of technology and innovation

Resilience and climate change

Safety and social impacts

Transport Facilitation and Logistics are increasingly seen from the

perspective of Sustainability, at least, in theory

❑ Social and environmental externalities of transport operations

❑ Green transport and logistics

❑ New responsibility for freight forwarders?

Road transport as the main surface mode of freight and

passenger transport. Now and in the future

Sustainable Logistics: Revisiting the modal split discussion

Projected demand for surface freight transport by region

(Current demand pathway, billion tonne-kilometres)

Source: International Transport Forum, Transport Outlook, 2019

Challenge of a sustainable intermodal system

Example: Asia and the Pacific

❑ There exist an extensive highway, railway and dry ports network covering more than 30 countries in the region, but road transport still prevails at increasing costs to the society

❑ Still the lack of intermodal integration and transport facilitation represents one of the main causes of the high transport costs and delays in the region

❑ An absence of clear understanding about the nature and lack of harmonized legal rules and regulatory frameworks covering door-to-door multimodal transport operations results in their limited development.

❑ This prevents transport operators from utilizing the potential of more environmentally friendly modes of transport such as, for example, railway and inland waterway transport.

Promoting sustainable intermodal system through the use of

Technology

❑ ESCAP’s assessment of the several major intermodal transport routes connecting the countries of North-East Asia and Central Asia highlighted the role of Information Technology for intermodal transport that was focused on the exchange of information between the actors involved in intermodal transport chains.

❑ Utilizing the overall approach and recommendations, a project was initiated by the joint stock company Russian Railways in 2018 as part of the project activity of the International Union of Railways (UIC) Asia-Pacific Regional Assembly.

❑In September 2019, a pilot project on multimodal sea-rail cargo transportation from ports in Japan or the Republic of Korea to a destination point in the Russian Federation was launched, using electronic data exchange at all stages.

Bringing the multimodal transport operations back into the focus (1/2)

.

❑ The UN secretariat receives a growing number of requests from member

States to assist in strengthening of the legal framework for intermodal

transport operations, which are rapidly developing in Asia.

❑ So far, there exit no international treaty covering transport operations

involving more than one mode of transport that would be in force and

implemented. Regional solutions (ASEAN Framework Agreement on

Multimodal Transport, 2005) have not been fully implemented.

❑ At the same time, there are industry-level recommendations for

transport and freight forwarding, such as the FIATA’s multimodal transport

documents (most notably, FIATA Multimodal Bill of Lading (FBL), FIATA

Multimodal Transport Waybill (FWB)). They play an important role in filling this

gap through recommendations for the unification of contractual relationship.

.

❑ The work is ongoing on a policy discussion on a harmonized legal framework for

multimodal transport operations in Asia and the Pacific.

❑ The goal is to summarize the existing situation and suggest options for

modalities of harmonization of multimodal transport rules through a potential

international/corridor-based agreement or model guidelines for national rules

and regulations of the member States.

❑ The work will be carried out in broad collaboration/consultation with the

pertinent international organizations with relevant expertise in multimodal

transport operations, notably FIATA.

Bringing the multimodal transport operations back into the focus (2/2)

New role and responsibility of freight forwarders

Advantages of multimodal transport

❑ Minimizes time loss at trans-shipment points

❑ Provides faster transit of goods

❑ Reduces burden of documentation and

formalities

❑ Establishes only one agency to deal with

❑ Reduces cost of exports

An MTO should

❑Have the knowledge and skill to organize the

transportation of goods through different modes

of transport

❑Be aware of what is happening in the areas of

technological development, political stability of

countries, congestion of routes or mergers of

operators.

From the traditional role To becoming an agent of change of

sustainable logisticsThe three pillars of sustainable freight transport

Intermodal chain

UNCTAD, 2019

❑ Analytical, Capacity Building work and Training:❑ Support to the conference for

Logistics Service Providers in collaboration with FIATA Region Asia Pacific

❑ “Training-of-Trainers” (TOT) capacity building workshops (global and regional transit systems)

Opportunities to engage with the UN: example of UNESCAP

❑ UN intergovernmental working groups on Transport❑ UNESCAP Working group on Dry Ports

❑ The UNESCAP Sustainable Business Network (ESBN) set up to drive businesses in working towards the 2030 Sustainable Agenda

❑ Possible taskforce on Sustainable/Green logistics?

Thank you for your kind attention!

For any further questions: azhar.jaimurzina@un.org