Dear colleagues and partners,

we are proud to inform you that this year TELS passed the CRS audit (for compliance of Corporate Social Responsibility) being awarded a Silver Medal for its CRS practices and ranking in the TOP 25% of companies evaluated by EcoVadis (with an unprecedented score for a beginner – 56 of 100).

A representative of a client company in the automotive industry confirmed in the conversation with our manager that it’s a rare case to get such a high score and show such excellent results. But we are planning to achieve more as there remain areas of growth and development.

About CSR and EcoVadis

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) implies a reliable production of products and services as well as company’s responsibility to consumers, employees, partners and the environment.

Corporate social responsibility is an integral part of company’s sustainable development and includes the following areas:

• environment
• labor and human rights
• business ethics
• sustainable procurement

“Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (UN World Commission on Environment and Development).

EcoVadis is an international collaborative platform helping the companies control sustainability performance of suppliers from all over the globe. World’s largest international corporations use EcoVadis tools to perform supplier assessments. These are over 350 multinational corporations and brands, 70% of multinational corporations, 198 industries and 155 countries.

Why did we participate in EcoVadis audit?

TELS activities are based on the principles of business ethics which are followed both by our employees and business partners. And the following principles are fixed in Company Standards – honesty, responsibility, commitment to results, teamwork and customer focus.

Our company pays much attention to the issues which are not directly related to business and often result from employee’s imitative, such as environmental campaigns, charity activities, sport support programmes and targeted aid.

Modern companies should understand that long quality existence ‘outside society’ without being involved in the solution of its problems is impossible. So we are really happy that company’s activities and our employees’ initiatives were highly evaluated by a reputable organization.

The date when labeling of pharmaceuticals, shoes and cigarettes with Data Matrix codes registered in Chestny Znak (Honest Sign) system becomes mandatory is now final. According to Izvestia newspaper, which refers to a participant of the Cabinet meeting held at the end of May, the circulation of the above-mentioned goods without labels in the Russian market will be banned from July 1. The information was also confirmed by a ministerial source.

The representatives of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Agriculture, Federal Service for Surveillance in Healthcare (Roszdravnadzor), Federal Customs Service, Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing (Rospotrebnadzor) and Center for the Development of Advanced Technologies (a marking operator) attended the meeting.

The TASS news agency also confirmed government’s plans to start compulsory labeling of shoes and pharmaceuticals on time – from July 1, 2020. According to the minutes of the meeting with Alexei Uvarov, the Deputy of the Chief of the Government Staff, the copy of which is available to the agency, selling unlabeled cigarettes after July 1 will be prohibited.

With this, TELS is again informing its customers that labeling of shoes and other goods with Data Matrix codes is organized in company's warehouses and was tested on real import goods last autumn. TELS has all the resources to handle even a sharp increase in the imported goods subject to mandatory labeling.

After the Russian-Chinese intergovernmental agreement was signed in January 2019, Russian international road carriers got an opportunity to carry goods to inland regions of China.

However, having the opportunity does not always mean being truly able to do something. In fact, only a few trucking companies have been able to arrange deliveries to / from China further than 50 kilometres from the border. Oleg Ostapovich, Head of the Commercial Department, TELS CARGO, and Evgeniya Golub, Deputy Director, TELS CARGO, talk about the main features of road transportation in the area and the challenges for entering the Chinese logistics market.

Oleg Ostapovich: “We have been arranging transportations to inland regions of China since autumn 2019 – first it was Beijing, then Shanghai, Hong Kong and Guangzhou. The market differs greatly from all the regions we have worked and are working in.”

1) Many international agreements are not working

Oleg Ostapovich: “A number of widespread international agreements are not working in China. For instance, the Convention on the Contract for the International Carriage of Goods by Road (CMR). And the Convention on International Transport of Goods Under Cover of TIR Carnets started working only recently – customs formalities can be completed only at border crossing points, while they do not work for internal customs clearance points.”

2) You will have to find a local assistant

Evgeniya Golub: “It is quite a job to prepare a trip to China. One of the greatest challenges for entering the Chinese logistics market is the command of the language. Numerous documents provided for the vehicle and the driver have to be translated into Chinese. And most importantly, you need to know Chinese during the trip.

It will be extremely difficult to transport goods without a local contractor. Road signs do not have Latin transliteration. You will also have to communicate with local services and the police. You will certainly need assistance when loading and unloading goods. Booking a hotel without a local assistant might be challenge, too. So far, we have been working with professional local contractors, who have proved reliable over time.”

3) Limitations on the hours of work and the list of restricted goods

Evgeniya Golub: “Working hours of border checkpoints must be taken into consideration when planning transportation – the checkpoints work from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Nothing is done outside the working hours.

Another feature of road transportation to China is transport restrictions on certain types of goods. Some goods can be imported to China by sea, but cannot be imported by road. Some types of goods are in general prohibited from entering China, for example, certain recycled chemicals. It is quite difficult to organize road transportation of dangerous and oversized cargo. And if you haven’t got into the issue with local experts before the tri and you don’t know for sure which goods are permitted and which are prohibited, you are most likely to suffer great losses.”

4) What is transported and where to?

Oleg Ostapovich: “So far, the major volume of road carriages from China has been to nearby Russian regions, but trips to Moscow and St. Petersburg are becoming more and more frequent. When the cargo is expensive and requires fast delivery, road transport can be beneficial over long distances. For instance, road freight rate from Beijing to Moscow is around $7.5K. And the cargo is delivered safely in 12-13 days. China boasts of good roads, so 800 kilometres per day can be covered easily.”

Evgeniya Golub: “We have already transported factory equipment, car parts, glass, aluminum shapes, rubber and chemicals from China by our own transport, and we can deliver any cargo suitable for transportation in a tilt semi-trailer.”

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REFERENCE. TELS Group has been carrying out freight transportation to / from China by all modes of transport. We deliver a wide variety of cargo including high-precision medical equipment and pharmaceuticals, sophisticated electrical components, manufacturing equipment, accumulator batteries, consumer goods, chemical raw materials, heavy dangerous goods, etc.

Until recently, all logistics schemes included sea, air and rail transport, while road transport was used for deliveries not further than 50 kimometres from the border. Now we can use road transport to deliver goods to inland regions of China.

In most cases, the customer is offered several delivery schemes. Besides, the customer can use the existing schemes to optimize their logistics costs in various cases of their own business.

What proves company’s success? The following three factors determine it:

1. A constant increase in the volume of services and profit.
2. An increase in the number of loyal customers.
3. Business expansion from company’s own funds.

TELS has all the three attributes. The company can also boast of a bright event – this year TELS partnered with GreenLine to open MAN Dealership close to Smolensk (Kamenka village).

One can immediately appreciate the excellent location of the centre, which is couple of hundred meters from the M1 / E30 highway (convenient access is of great importance for heavy vehicles).

The service station is equipped up to the state of the art providing ergonomic workplaces and complying with high environmental standards. The station has everything for quality vehicle check and service - a spacious repair block, modern diagnostic equipment, tire assembly, washing, etc.

The diagnostic equipment allows to identify the malfunctions within the vehicle. Used engine oil is collected in a special container for recycling without pollution risk. A constant temperature of at least 21 degrees is maintained at workplaces.

The repair block has five stations. Each of them can serve four tractor units at a time or a semi-trailer truck and a tractor unit. The stations are equipped with pits and mobile electric elevators capable of lifting the tractor together with the loaded semi-trailer.

Driver’s relaxation room makes the time spent waiting comfortable and allows to watch the work online.

Needless to say, the dealership will greatly facilitate the business of many carriers by offering new opportunities for acquisition and further high-quality service of MAN vehicles.

We wish luck and success to the new business for the benefit of its Clients!