The 4th and final session of the 18th Environmental and Economic OSCE forum took place in Prague from 24 – 26 May 2010. It focused on “Promoting good governance at border crossings, improving the security of land transportation and facilitating international transport by road and rail in the OSCE region”.

Director General JP Loubinoux emphasised the work already carried out within the UIC security platform and division and in particular:

• Border crossings: initially within the framework of the Schengen acquis and area and now on a larger scale
• Freight security: security is a determining factor in the efficiency of the supply chain and the question asked is how to improve this efficiency without impacting on the conditions of competition between railway companies and the various modes of transport
• The specific issue of the carriage of dangerous goods, including the specific threats linked to terrorism
• The evolution of terrorism: urban transport and high speed systems are obviously possible targets for regional and international terrorism

There was also a reminder for the need to improve international coherence between the railways, the national authorities and the international bodies.

Mr Jean-Pierre Loubinoux and Mr Goran Svilanovic agreed that it was worthwhile developing the cooperation between UIC and OSCE and a formal exchange of letters will set out the main lines of action and areas of this cooperation.

Further progress on this matter will be evidenced during the forthcoming UIC events and the UIC World Security Congress in Istanbul.