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Paraguay ratifies the Luxembourg Rail Protocol
The Republic of Paraguay has today formally deposited its instrument of accession to the Luxembourg Rail Protocol. The ratification will become effective as of 1st March 2025. Paraguay has already adopted the Cape Town Convention and the Aircraft thereto.
First Secretary of the Embassy of the Republic of Paraguay in Italy Miguel Dionisi Battilana, speaking on behalf of Ambassador, H.E. Maria Jose Argana Mateu, said: “today I deposit the deed of ratification of three protocols under the Cape Town Convention. This will facilitate financing of equipment within the relevant sectors of application according to the needs of the relevant markets. Paraguay, as the first State to approve all mentioned protocols, and by this deed, concludes its constitutional process to incorporate them into its national legislation enabling their entry into force. These instruments will allow the promotion of the important sectors of the economy regulated by them, through the dynamization of access to credit and establishment of legal guarantees, which will benefit society.”
“This is the first ratification of the Protocol by a Latin America State” said RWG Chairman Howard Rosen. “It is a significant step forward for the Protocol and the RWG will be developing its Latin America Contact Group as it more actively promotes the Protocol in the Region in the coming year”, he added.
UNIDROIT Secretary- General Tirado commended the historic occasion:
“Today we celebrate the fact that Paraguay has become the first country in the world to have completed the Cape Town Convention family, having ratified not only the Convention but also all four of its protocols, which in our opinion will provide the widest possible legal coverage to access more, cheaper credit in essential sectors of the economy. Paraguay, with this legislative leap, can boast for having one of the most modern, cutting-edge legislative systems in the field of secured transactions in the world, as it enters a crucial stage of its economic development.”
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NOTES FOR EDITORS
The Luxembourg Rail Protocol to the Cape Town Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment is a new global treaty under the auspices of UNIDROIT, the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law. The Protocol will make it much easier and cheaper for the private sector to finance all types of railway rolling stock. It sets up a new system for recognition, priorities and enforcement of creditor and lessor rights, which will be registered in an international registry based in Luxembourg, accessible to everyone over the internet 24/7 and introduces, for the first time a new global unique permanent identification system (URVIS) for rolling stock. The United Nations has now adopted global Model Rules setting out minimum standards for the permanent marking of railway rolling stock with URVIS numbers. The Protocol entered into force in contracting states on 8th March 2024.
The European Union (in respect of its competences). Luxembourg, Sweden, Spain, Paraguay and Gabon have ratified the Protocol and South Africa is about to ratify. France, Germany, Switzerland, Mozambique, Italy, and the UK have already signed the Protocol and many other states, including Kenya, China, Malta, Eswatini, Namibia, Senegal, Ethiopia, Finland, Ukraine and Mauritius, are looking at adoption of the Protocol. The Protocol is endorsed by many international rail organisations (including OTIF, CIT, UIC, UIP, ERFA, ALLRAIL, UITP, CER and Eurofima) and actively supported by the African Union, the UN Economic Commission for Africa and the UN Economic Commission for Europe.
The Rail Working Group is a Swiss-based not-for-profit association focused on the adoption and implementation of the Luxembourg Rail Protocol. It has about 80 direct members and hundreds of additional rail stakeholders represented indirectly by various industry organisations that belong to, and support, the objectives of the RWG.
For more on the Luxembourg Rail Protocol, visit www.railworkinggroup.org., as well as the UNIDROIT website www.unidroit.org or write to us at info@railworkinggroup.org. Keep up to date with all the latest developments via the Rail Working Group’s LinkedIn group page.
Further information from the Rail Working Group:
Tel. +41 41 760 28 88
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