Governance of Transport Corridors in OIC Member States:
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Romania and Turkey signing the MLA. Iran successfully applied for membership in 2009. Talks to
include Turkmenistan and Afghanistan are ongoing64. The MLA is open for any state.
Transport are incorporated in national strategies and plans
Member states are encouraged to implement changes proposed by TRACECA, but are not legally
required to do so. While the MLA consists of broad guidelines and is signed by all members, other more
specific transport measures are laid down in technical annexes to the MLA. Documents, such as the
Multilateral Permits User Guide (regarding a permit for road carriers to perform road haulage in
countries subscribed to the Permit System), are optional and usually signed and ratified by only a few
members. The member states may also decide to implement the technical annexes bilaterally. In any
case, when the member states choose to adopt these transport measure, it will impact national
transport plans. The MLA was signed by nine Parties in 1998, and Iran joining in 2009.
7.3.3 Legal framework
Legal basis
The foundation of TRACECA is the Basic Multilateral Agreement on International Transport of the
Development of the Transport Corridor Europe-Caucasus-Asia (MLA). The MLA is valid for ten years
and is extended for 5 years unless the members announce otherwise. The content of theMLA is binding
upon signing, unless a reservation is included by a member regarding a certain section. The
agreements come into force after domestic ratification. Membermay repeal from theMLAwith a notice
period of six months. Next to the MLA, other agreements exists which are optional, such as technical
annexes or agreements relating to the secretariat. All legal documents for TRACECA and their status
for each member state are found i
Table 7.4 Legal documents of TRACECA and their status (as of 1 october 2017)
Legal Documents
ArmeniaAzerbaijan BulgariaGeorgiaIran KazakhstanKyrgyzstanMoldovaRomaniaTajikistan TurkeyUzbekistanUkraine
Basic Multilateral agreement
(MLA) (1998)
* * * *
Amendments to the Technical
Annex on Customs and
Documentation Procedures to the
BMA (2007)
*
Amendments to MLA in respect of
the new status of Bulgaria and
Romania acceded to the EU on 1
January 2007 (2007)
Amendments to MLA regarding
free issue of visas for pers.
transporting and/or
accompanying humanitarian
goods and reconstruction
materials for Afghanistan / 0 VAT
on railway transport / Customs
Transit Procedures for carriage of
goods by rail using "SMGS"
railway bill (2003)
* * * * * *
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