The Intergovernmental Organisation for International Carriage by Rail,

History

The Organisation was set up on 1 May 1985. The Organisation’s basis under international law is the Convention of 9 May 1980 (COTIF). The predecessor of OTIF was the Central Office for International Carriage by Rail

Rail

Rail or rails may refer to:Railway transportation* A generic term for railroads, railways, rail transport, and related matters* Rail tracks, or railway lines, the running surface of a railway...

, which was set up in 1893.

Until the signature of the Protocol of 3 June 1999 (Vilnius Protocol) for the modification of COTIF, the objective of this Governmental Organisation was principally to develop the uniform systems of law which apply to the carriage of passengers and freight in international through traffic by rail. These systems of law have been in existence for decades and are known as the CIV

CIV (rail travel)

CIV or International Convention for the transportation of Passengers in rail transport refers to a set of uniform rules shared by European railway operators, to cover international journeys...

 and CIM

CIM

CIM may refer to:Institutions and companies:* California Institution for Men, a state prison in the USA* Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum* Canadian Investment Manager designation of the Canadian Securities Institute...

 Uniform Rules.

Member States

At the present time Organisation has 45 Member States in Europe, North Africa and the Near East: Albania, Algeria, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lebanon. Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Monaco, Montenegro, Morocco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine and United Kingdom.

For the time being, the membership of Iraq and Lebanon is suspended because of international railway traffic with these countries is interrupted.

At present, Uniform Rules created by OTIF are applicable for international carriage by rail on around 250,000 km of railway lines and the complementary carriage of freight and passengers on 17,000 km of shipping lines and inland waterways, as well as prior or
subsequent domestic carriage by road.

Jordan is an associate member since 01.08.2010.

The headquarters and organs

The headquarters of the Organisation are in Berne

Berne

The city of Bern or Berne is the Bundesstadt of Switzerland, and, with a population of , the fourth most populous city in Switzerland. The Bern agglomeration, which includes 43 municipalities, has a population of 349,000. The metropolitan area had a population of 660,000 in 2000...

, Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

. Its organs are the General Assembly, the Administrative Committee as the financial and administrative supervisory body, the Revision Committee, the Committee of Experts on the Transport of Dangerous Goods, the Committee of Technical Experts and the Rail Facilitation Committee. The Secretary General provides the secretariat services.

Activities

1. Further development of rail transport law in the following areas:
   • contracts of carriage for the international carriage of passengers and goods (CIV
     CIV (rail travel)
     CIV or International Convention for the transportation of Passengers in rail transport refers to a set of uniform rules shared by European railway operators, to cover international journeys...
     
      and CIM
     CIM
     CIM may refer to:Institutions and companies:* California Institution for Men, a state prison in the USA* Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum* Canadian Investment Manager designation of the Canadian Securities Institute...
     
     ),
   • carriage of dangerous goods (RID),
   • contracts of use of vehicles (CUV),
   • contract on the use of railway infrastructure (CUI),
   • validation of technical standards and adoption of uniform technical prescriptions for railway material (APTU),
   • procedure for the technical admission of railway vehicles and other railway material used in international traffic (ATMF);
2. Widening the scope of COTIF in order to make possible in the longer term through carriage by rail under a single legal regime from the Atlantic to the Pacific;
3. Preparing for the entry into force of the Luxembourg Protocol (Registry for International Interests in railway rolling stock, Secretariat of the Supervisory Authority);
4. The removal of obstacles to the crossing of frontiers in international rail transport;
5. Participation in the preparation of other international conventions concerning rail transport within UN/ECE and other international organisations.

External links

• http://www.otif.org Official web-site of the Intergovernmental Organisation for International Carriage by Rail