DUSHANBE, November 5, 2009, Asia-Plus — The two-year EU project on Development of Equipment Certification Centers for the Transportation of Perishable Goods in Central Asia is closing with a final conference in Almaty, Kazakhstan on November 6, press release issued by the Delegation of the European Commission in Tajikistan said.
Since its start in 2007, the project has equipped and opened four expert laboratories in Central Asia for certification of road vehicles, completed several legal reviews of the national legislation and market situation, conducted training sessions for the national authorities and promoted closer international and regional co-operation in this field.
The EU project with an overall budget of €2 million helped Central Asian states to standardize and facilitate cross-border transit of perishable goods. The project being a part of TRACECA (Development of a Europe-Caucasus-Asia Transport Corridor) initiative was aimed at promoting inter-regional and international trade in Central Asia as well as bringing the local customs and tax regulation in line with the EU requirements.
Licensing systems for transport operators was facilitated in the framework of the Agreement on Transportation of Perishable Goods (ATP Agreement), an international legal instrument entered into force in 1970 with 45 participating states. The main objective of this agreement is to insure that perishable goods delivered by road and rail vehicles, are kept within the required temperatures during the whole transportation period. Therefore, the ATP Agreement defines necessary technical requirements for the transportation of perishable food products. From the Central Asia region, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan have already joined the Agreement. With the assistance of the EU project, Tajikistan and the Kyrgyz Republic are also in the process of its ratification.
During the project, European expert teams worked together with the representatives of transport ministries of the Central Asian countries to assess the existing regulation of transportation of perishable goods in the region, identify main non-physical barriers and facilitate legislative harmonization between the neighboring countries. Four specialized centers for testing and certification of transport units and equipment for transportation of perishable goods were established in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.
The main achievements of the project will be reviewed during the Final conference by the TRACECA Secretary General, TRACECA National Secretaries, representatives of the Transport Ministries, national transport associations and accreditation authorities from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, EC Delegation representatives and the project team members.
