From November 7 to 9, 2023, the 5th meeting of the Special Committee on Legal Issues and International Cooperation of the Intergovernmental Organization for International Carriage by Rail (OTIF) was held in Bern.

The meeting was a landmark event as it also coincided with the 130th anniversary of the International Convention for the Carriage of Goods by Rail (CIM) and the 95th anniversary of the International Convention for the Carriage of Passengers and Baggage by Rail (CIV).

November 7 was devoted to the celebration of the anniversary events of the Organization. On November 8 and 9, delegations of OTIF member states and observers discussed a number of legal issues of the Organization's functioning.

The delegations discussed the following issues:

- examination of the draft legal opinion prepared by the Secretariat on the application of the Unified Rules for the Agreement on the Use of Infrastructure in International Railway Traffic (the Unified Rules of the CUI) to service facilities;

- studying the issue of digitalization of international transportation, in particular cargo transport documents;

- examination of the concept of guidelines for the application and implementation of the OTIF Convention by international associations;

- revised the long-term strategy of OTIF.

Finally, the delegations made an important decision to create a Working Group that will study the possibility of revising the Convention for the possibility of suspending and terminating OTIF membership for a certain member state.

Ukraine was represented at the meeting by representatives of the Ministry of Community Development, Territories and Infrastructure of Ukraine and the Embassy of Ukraine in the Swiss Confederation.