The significance of e-CMR in the sustainable development of road transport

Representatives from the Ministry of Infrastructure & Transport and the Hellenic Federation of Road Transport (OFAE) presented the role of the implementation of e-CMR  for achieving Sustainable Development Goals in the road transport industry, at the UN SDG Business Forum.

Following the successful launch of the e-CMR pilot program in Greece, which was presented by OFAE on 22 June 2017 in Thessaloniki, under the auspices of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport and with the support of IRU, a Ministry spokesman and the President of OFAE, were invited to participate as speakers in the second annual UN Business Forum on Sustainable Development Goals (SDG Business Forum), at the premises of the international Organisation in New York. The meeting was held on 18 July 2017 at the United Nations General Assembly Hall and more than 1,500 participants attended this year’s conference.

The invitation was a great honour, not only for the Ministry and OFAE, but mainly for our country, as Greece was presented as an example of best practice for public and private sector partnership.

Konstantinos Boulmetis, Director of the bureau of the Deputy Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, and Apostolos Kenanidis, President of OFAE, jointly presented their partnership for the pilot e-CMR implementation, their common goals, future expectations, benefits and the overall role of consignment note digitalisation in the sustainable development of road transport.

The “17 Sustainable Development Goals” set by the UN as part of the ”2030 Agenda” are key to the main activities of OFAE, as most of them are of major importance for the sustainability of the road transport industry in Greece.

In the context of these goals with the active support of the International Road Transport Union (IRU) and in collaboration with the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, OFAE decided to move towards the implementation of a national e-CMR pilot project, by recognising the importance of transport documents digitalization in tackling the global environmental challenges and in the integration of innovative services that will reform the future market.

The achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals is a global challenge, but also an opportunity for the Greek market to achieve its exit from the crisis, and eventually start developing not at any cost, but accounting for the wider environmental and social restrictions and challenges.

Using the UN CMR Convention as a tool that regulates the transport of goods, making the industry more efficient and facilitating international trade, OFAE submitted its proposal for the digitalization of the CMR consignment note to the Hellenic Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport. And it was made immediately clear that the needs as well as the interests were common.

The message that was clearly communicated at the Forum, is that sustainability is facilitated by public private partnership, which was greatly rewarded by the selection of Greece and the presentation of the specific partnership between the Hellenic Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport and OFAE as a best practice example at an international level.