The letters TIR stand for ‘Transports Internationaux Routiers’. The TIR agreement applies to the transport of goods between a customs office of departure in one country and the office of destination in another country. The countries involved must be affiliated to the TIR agreement.

This goods transport concerns one or more frontiers. As a result of the abolition of border formalities, the EU is regarded as a single country. This means that a TIR carnet cannot serve solely for transport from one location to another location in the EU.

The TIR arrangement does apply to goods transport that starts or ends in an EFT country. The TIR arrangement may also be applied to goods transport from one EU country to another EU country via a non-EU country with whom no agreement for the application of communal customs transport has been concluded.