Electronic consignment note exchange with China

A meeting of the Joint Commission for the Implementation of the Agreement on Trade and Economic Cooperation between the Eurasian Economic Union and the People's Republic of China held on February 16 approved a road map. 

The document is aimed at intensifying and saturating the trade and economic cooperation between the parties. One of its sections focuses on developing the electronic document exchange in railway transportation.

The road map includes three sections - digitalization of transport corridors, dialogues on foreign trade policy issues of mutual interest to the EAEU and the PRC, and a joint research study on the effects of different scenarios for deepening cooperation between the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and the PRC, including trade liberalization and trade procedure facilitation. 

“The first section is expected to include bilateral, step-by-step transitioning to an electronic form of document exchange for freight railway transportation using an electronic digital signature. I am confident that this measure will notably simplify trade procedures and accelerate the transportation of goods between our countries,” said Andrey Slepnev, Minister of Trade of the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC).

Oleg Yenin, Assistant Minister for Trade of the EEC, told “Gudok” that, firstly, steps will be taken to improve the completeness and quality in regards to electronic data exchange of the transportation documents. Secondly, activities are planned to introduce a legally significant electronic document flow. At the third stage, we expect to see the transition to a paperless freight transportation technology between the EAEU member states and the PRC in regards to transportation documents. 

"The next step will concern measures to implement electronic interaction in veterinary and phytosanitary control in rail transit. There are also plans to exchange experience and to test-run (in case of mutual interest) electronic interaction processes in regards to shipping documents in rail transit," said Oleg Yenin.

Furthermore, the parties agreed at the meeting to continue promoting the Eurasian AgroExpress Project aimed at accelerated transportation of food products from the EAEU to China by rail. 

“The project is of particular importance in terms of diversifying the range of goods supplied from our Union as well as increasing the trade turnover with China, which exceeded $200 billion by the end of 2022,” Andrey Slepnev said after the meeting.

Sergey Volkov