TIR Convention
1975 multilateral treaty
The Convention on International Transport of Goods Under Cover of TIR Carnets (TIR Convention) is a multilateral treaty based on a United Nations (UN) convention and administered by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). It is the oldest public-private partnership maintained by the UN.
History
The treaty was concluded at Geneva on 14 November 1975 to simplify and harmonise the administrative formalities of international road transport. (TIR stands for "transit international routier" or "International Road Transport".) The 1975 convention replaced the TIR Convention of 1959, which itself replaced the 1949 TIR Agreement between a number of European countries. As of March 2023, there are 78 parties to the convention, including 77 states and the European Union.
The TIR system not only covers customs transit by road, but a combination is possible with other modes of transport (e.g., rail, inland waterway, and even maritime transport), as long as at least one part of the total transport is made by road.
To date, more than 33,000 international transport operators had been authorised (by their respective competent national authorities) to access the TIR system, using around 1.5 million TIR carnets per year.
Scope
The TIR Convention establishes an international customs transit system with maximum facility to move goods:
in sealed vehicles or containers
from a customs office of departure in one country to a customs office of destination in another country
without requiring extensive and time-consuming border checks at intermediate borders
while, at the same time, providing customs authorities with the required security and guarantees
The TIR system is rooted in five pillars and relies on the use of the TIR carnet, a document that acts as secure documentation guaranteeing the security of the shipment.
The TIR system not only covers customs transit by road, but a combination is possible with other modes of transport (e.g., rail, inland waterway, and even maritime transport), as long as at least one part of the total transport is made by road.
As a result of Brexit, TIR carnets could become part of the solution to merchandise traffic between Great Britain and other European countries, or for goods to transit intra-EU, for example between Ireland and mainland Europe.
TIR procedures
Hauliers making use of the TIR procedure must first obtain an internationally harmonised customs document, referred to as a TIR carnet.
The public source identifies “TIR Convention” as 1975 multilateral treaty. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Convention, multilateral and treaty.
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The record creator and administrative purpose are central evidence, because official documentation reflects both action and institutional priorities. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 16, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q603364. VIAF identifies the subject as 189808805. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1975, 1959, 1949 and 2023.
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This entry incorporates text from “TIR Convention” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.