22/07/2010 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 21 July, Latvia and Lithuania joined a TIR electronic pre-declaration system developed by the International Road Transport Union (IRU). The system, developed under the name TIR-EPD, allows haulage companies to transmit all TIR data to the customs offices concerned via the internet, free of charge. The data are transmitted electronically prior to arriving at the border, which reduces the time spent waiting at borders and allows companies to avoid having recourse to intermediary border services, the IRU points out. Accession to this scheme by Latvia and Lithuania brings to 11 the number of countries located on the eastern EU frontier that take part in the system (in addition to Latvia and Lithuania there are also Bulgaria, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia). The system is accessible to all TIR card holders wishing to enter these states. The IRU is currently working on enlarging the system to other countries such as Belarus, France, Kazakhstan and Ukraine. (A.By./transl.jl)