The Conference brings together Transport Ministers of 43 European countries. Australia, Canada, Japan and the U.S. are associated members. Russia joined the ECMT, July 1, 1997.
To coordinate Transport Ministries' activities in Europe is the central ECMT duty. Member countries take turns to chair it, on the ECMT Statute.
As chair, Russia is to offer Moscow as venue of the nearest, 89th ECMT session, due next May. Dominating the agenda will be Conference future, its long-term goals, and response to European Union eastward enlargement. Of no smaller importance will be a multilateral quota reform for transnational automobile transportation.
Multilateral ECMT authorizations enable European-based carriers to work in other ECMT member countries. Every country possesses a national quota-ceiling number of authorizations, calculated proceeding from its number of vehicles, volume of cargoes, etc.
Countries of the most rapid economic progress, Russia among them, are interested in having their quotas increased. The matter is to come up at the session, say our informants in the Transport Ministry.
