Letter of invitation

Executive Secretary Under-Secretary-General Ref.: 2022/OES/112T/TRANS 23 May 2022 Excellency, I would be grateful if you would kindly transmit the enclosed letter to His Excellency Mr. Taavi Aas, Minister of Economic Affairs and Infrastructure of the Republic of Estonia. A copy of the letter is attached for your information. Please accept, Excellency, the assurances of my highest consideration. Olga Algayerova Her Excellency Ms. Katrin Saarsalu-Layachi Permanent Representative of the Republic of Estonia to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Palais des Nations, 1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland Telephone: +41 (0)22 917 4144/6072 Email: [email protected] Executive Secretary Under-Secretary-General Ref.: 2022/OES/112/TRANS/ 23 May 2022 Excellency, I am pleased to invite your Government to nominate expert(s) from road transport and customs authority to actively participate and contribute to the work of the newly established United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Group of Experts on the operationalization of e-CMR (Additional Protocol to the CMR concerning the Electronic Consignment Note) and in its first session in Geneva, Switzerland, tentatively on 4-5 July 2022. Since its creation in 1947, the UNECE Inland Transport Committee (ITC) has been a platform for intergovernmental cooperation to facilitate and develop international road transport. At its eight-fourth session in February 2022, ITC endorsed the Group’s terms of reference following approval by the Executive Committee of UNECE (EXCOM) in May 2022. The Group of Experts should discuss and if possible agree on the requirements of article 5 of the e-CMR Additional Protocol including the objective/scope, the high level architecture, and the conceptual specifications for a future environment that would support the conclusion and exchange of electronic consignment notes in accordance with the provisions of the Convention on the Contract for the International Carriage of Goods by Road (CMR) and e-CMR Additional Protocol. Such work should also include an impact assessment of possible implementation scenarios of a future e-CMR environment. His Excellency Mr. Taavi Aas Minister of Economic Affairs and Infrastructure of the Republic of Estonia Tallinn United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Palais des Nations, 1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland Telephone: +41 (0)22 917 6072 Email: [email protected]  Executive Secretary Page 2 Your government is a Contracting Party to the CMR and e-CMR. Accordingly, the input of your government to the work of the group of experts will be essential to ensure that the deliberations and final report of the group of experts take into account the views of interested contracting parties. Under the aegis of the Working Party on Road Transport (SC.1), the Group of Experts will have a duration of two years reporting about its achievements back to SC.1 in October 2023. The Terms of Reference of the Group of Experts may be found in Annex IV of ECE/TRANS/2022/6 on the UNECE website in English (https://unece.org/sites/default/files/2022-01/ECE_TRANS_2022_6E.pdf), French (https://unece.org/sites/default/files/2022-01/ECE_TRANS_2022_6F.pdf ) and Russian (https://unece.org/sites/default/files/2022-01/ECE_TRANS_2022_6R.pdf). The sessions will be conducted in English, French and Russian. In 2022, the meetings will be conducted in a hybrid format, allowing for both in-person and virtual participation, but in 2023, the meetings will be conducted in person only (i.e. virtual participation is not anticipated). Please note that no funding for travel and/or accommodation will be provided. Participation in the Group of Experts is open to all concerned United Nations member countries and experts. The secretariat may also invite as appropriate interested intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, as well as concerned freight and forwarding/transport logistics industries, to participate and provide expert advice in compliance with United Nations rules and practices. With this in mind, I seek your kind assistance in forwarding this invitation to the relevant government ministry and/or authorities for which participation in the Group of Experts would be appropriate. I would appreciate it if the names of your government’s participating experts could be provided to the secretariat by Friday, 17 June 2022. Thereafter, information for necessary registration in our meeting registration system will be provided. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Ms. Rebecca Huang ([email protected]) or Mr. Konstantinos Alexopoulos ([email protected]) of the Sustainable Transport Division, UNECE. Please accept, Excellency, the assurances of my highest consideration. Olga Algayerova United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Palais des Nations, 1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland Telephone: +41 (0)22 917 6072 Email: [email protected] Saatja: Josephine Ayiku <[email protected]> Saadetud: 25.05.2022 11:46 Adressaat: mission.un [MFA] <[email protected]> Koopia: Konstantinos Alexopoulos <[email protected]>; Rebecca Huang <[email protected]>; MKM info <[email protected]>; Taavi Aas <[email protected]> Teema: Estonia - Letter of invitation - Newly established UNECE Group of Experts on the operationalization of e-CMR Dear Sir/Madam, We would be grateful if you could forward the attached letter on behalf of Ms. Olga Algayerova, Executive Secretary of United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, to His Excellency Mr. Taavi Aas, Minister of Economic Affairs and Infrastructure of the Republic of Estonia. Thank you. Yours sincerely, Josephine Ayiku Josephine AyikuSustainable Transport DivisionUnited Nations Economic Commission for EuropeEmail: Tel: 41 22 9175716Fax: 41 22 9170039Office S- 402-2Palais des Nations8-14 avenue de la PaixCH - 1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland