The European Unions TRACECA programme for Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine,

Uzbekistan

EUROPEAID/126786/C/SV/MULTI

LAND TRANSPORT SAFETY AND SECURITY

for Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan

Interim Report n 2 Annex VIII - Analysis of Joining the AETR Agreement January 2010
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T TA AB BL LE EO OF FC CO ON NT TE EN NT TS S
1. Should Georgia join the AETR Agreement? ....................................................... 4 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 What is the AETR Agreement? ..................................................................... 4 What are the benefits for Georgia? .............................................................. 5 What are the challenges? .............................................................................. 5 Recommendation ........................................................................................... 5

N N..B B.. wherever it is read EC Regulations should be Read EU regulations

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Analysis of the Impact of joining AETR agreement

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1.
1.1

SHOULD GEORGIA JOIN THE AETR AGREEMENT?

What is the AETR Agreement?

The European Agreement concerning the work of Crews of Vehicles engaged in International Road Transport (AETR), of 1st July 1970 is commonly referred to as AETR Agreement. It aims at improving road safety and regulating drivers hours rules for working and rest times. Today, 46 Contracting Parties have signed and ratified the AETR Agreement. The scope of AETR Agreement applies in the territory of each Contracting Party to all international road transport performed by any vehicle registered in any Contracting Party. Generally speaking AETR applies to international road transport done by vehicles used for the carriage of goods that exceed 3.5 tonnes and vehicles used for the carriage of passengers that can carry more than 9 persons, including the driver. The AETR Agreement will introduce the mandatory use of digital tachograph from 16 June 2010 in all Contracting Parties. Summary of AETR Rules

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1.2

What are the benefits for Georgia?

At present all EU and TRACECA Member States, with the exception of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, are party to the AETR Agreement. This means Georgian road transport is in a way isolated. Becoming a member state of the AETR will improve the quality of the Georgian road transport sector and its international competitiveness. Additionally the AETR aims to improve road safety. With present poor figures of Georgia in road safety any attempt to improve this situation is meaningful.

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What are the challenges?

Enforcement of the drivers hours rules is the main problem. The tool for this, the checking device called the analogue tachograph, was not tamper proof and replaced by the digital tachograph. The implementation of the digital tachograph is not easy, and several issues are there to be solved, like: Type approval Certificates Security Workshop Approval Card issuing Enforcement Data protection Risk management

More detailed info can be given by the consultant.

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Recommendation

At present the Georgian road sector has become isolated by not being a party to AETR. To improve road safety and quality of the road transport sector of Georgia it is recommended to start the process of becoming a accession to the AETR Agreement. For this Georgia should establish a working group which should among others include representatives of the Traffic Police and the Association of International Road transport operators (GIRCA).

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Lessons should be drawn from experiences in other countries with implementing AETR and the digital tachograph, and contacts should be established with the UN ECE on this matter.

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