in cooperation with: United Nations Conference
on Trade and Development, Economic and Social
Commission for Asia and the Pacific, Economic
Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean,
Economic and Social Commission for West Asia,
Economic Commission for Africa, World Trade
Organization, World Customs Organization and
International Chamber of Commerce
Trade
Facilitation
Recognizing the case for further expediting
the movement, release and clearance of goods,
including goods in transit, and the need for
enhanced technical assistance and capacity building
in this area, we agree that negotiations will
take place after the Fifth Session of the Ministerial
Conference on the basis of a decision to be
taken, by explicit consensus, at that Session
on modalities of negotiations. In the
period until the Fifth Session, the Council
for Trade in Goods shall review and as appropriate,
clarify and improve relevant aspects of Articles
V, VIII and X of the GATT 1994 and identify
the trade facilitation needs and priorities
of Members, in particular developing and least-developed
countries. We commit ourselves to ensuring adequate
technical assistance and support for capacity
building in this area.
From the Ministerial Declaration of the Fourth
WTO Ministerial Conference, Doha, Qatar, 9-14
November 2001, paragraph 27.
The
link between trade facilitation and competitiveness
in the international economy has become increasingly
close. At a time of concerns about both the
slowing down of the world economy and security
in the movement of goods around the world, especially
after the tragic events of September 2001, practical
measures making international trade procedures
simpler and more reliable are an urgent necessity.
In response to this challenge, the United Nations
Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), which
has a long experience in developing trade facilitation
instruments, will organize on 29-30 May 2002.
an International Forum on Trade Facilitation
in collaboration with the United Nations Conference
on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and all United
Nations regional commissions, the secretariat
of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the World
Customs Organization (WCO), the International
Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and other organizations
with an interest in trade facilitation. The
objective is to provide a neutral forum in the
United Nations setting, where decision-makers
from industry and Governments will meet and
exchange views on the possible way to advance
trade facilitation in the new global environment.
The
Forum will aim at a balanced representation
of all regions in the world, bringing together
a wide range of organizations and businesses
with an interest in trade facilitation, and
is expected to make an input to the multilateral
trade negotiations. Speakers and participants
will include government Ministers and other
senior officials responsible for trade policy,
customs and other relevant fields; senior decision-makers
in the business community, intergovernmental
and non-governmental organizations; and prominent
experts in trade facilitation, e-business and
transport issues. Key speakers will include
the Minister of Trade and Investment of the
United Kingdom, the Deputy Director-General
of WTO, the Secretary-General of UNCTAD and
the Secretary General of the International Chamber
of Commerce.
Forum participants are also invited to attend
the plenary sessions of the Committee for Trade,
Industry and Enterprise Development (CTIED)
and of the United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation
and Electronic Business (UN/CEFACT), as well
as the Round Table on Implementing Trade Facilitation
in Transition Economies on 31 May 2002.
The UNECE would especially like to thank the
Governments of the United Kingdom and of the
Netherlands and the Agence Internationale de
la Francophonie for their support in making
this meeting possible.
Background
Trade facilitation measures are intended to
speed up the movement of goods and trade information
across borders, thus bolstering economic growth,
while enhancing security controls. These measures
involve traders, Customs authorities, forwarders,
banks, insurers and other actors engaged in
international trade. Recent studies show that
up to 15% of transaction costs can be saved
by trade facilitation. In this context, the
International Forum on Trade Facilitation will
provide an opportunity for Governments, international
organizations and businesses to raise practical
concerns, specific to their field of activity
and geographical area. They will address the
specific problems of developing, transition
and landlocked economies and of small and medium-sized
enterprises. The Forum will contribute to broader
understanding of trade facilitation, beyond
purely customs or market access matters, acknowledging
that various definitions of the scope of trade
facilitation exist. In addition, it may address
such issues as: transparency and integrity in
international trade; the role of rules and codes;
trade facilitation techniques in ports; harmonization
of electronic data interchange standards; the
contribution of trade facilitation to confidence
building; and the costs and benefits of implementing
trade facilitation.
In the current economic climate of slowing economic
growth and increased security concerns, the
need for efficient, simple and reliable international
trade procedures (information flows and official
controls involved in the movement of goods across
borders) in an open and inclusive trading system
has taken on dramatically increased importance.
Parallel advances in both enhancing control
efficiency and the need to further facilitate
legitimate trade movements have the potential
to strengthen each other for a safer and more
reliable trading environment in support of global
economic growth and poverty reduction. Concerns
have been raised regarding the interoperability
of standards and procedures and the growing
gap among countries in this important area.
The Forum will focus on an inter-active discussion
on these issues. It will look for ways to enhance
the efficiency and transparency of trade procedures
and the overall climate for investment. It will
assist developing and transition economies in
defining priorities and needs for capacity building,
and the donor community in defining steps that
need to be taken. With these objectives in mind,
the Forum will review the main policy implications,
against the perspective of prospective multilateral
trade negotiations. The background concept paper
is available on the Forum web site: www.unece.org/forums It will serve as a
focal point for discussion.
Objectives
The Forum is expected to define new practical
measures to promote the progress of trade facilitation
in the future. Innovative approaches are even
more necessary in times of uncertainty to curb
the negative effects of recession and increasing
costs of moving goods across borders. In particular,
the Forum will:
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enhance
the understanding of the benefits from
trade facilitation for the public and
private sectors, particularly:
-
economic benefits;
-
job creation;
-
promoting transparency;
-
enhanced government revenue; and
-
improved competitiveness;
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promote mechanisms for enhancing capacity
building in developing and transition
economies to give substance to the Doha
WTO development agenda; |
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underline the multidimensional aspects
of trade facilitation; |
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highlight the role of trade facilitation
and its use of ICT in supporting e-business;
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identify areas where new instruments,
including standards, are needed; |
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identify opportunities of better cooperation
among Governments, international organizations
and the private sector; |
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stress the need for coordination among
inter-governmental organizations to take
advantage of their respective competences
and make the best use of scarce resources;
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suggest harmonized methods for measuring
progress and “knowledge sharing” in the
implementation of trade facilitation;
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decide on follow-up action and implementation.
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A
publication containing the policy recommendations
and papers produced for the Forum will be prepared.
Target
audience
The Forum targets the following groups:
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government
policy makers; |
|
leaders
of the business community; |
|
representatives
of international and non-governmental organizations,
donor agencies, national trade facilitation
bodies, and trade associations; |
|
academics
and experts in trade facilitation |
The
Forum will encourage greater participation of
developing and transition economies in the global
trade facilitation debate.
Why
you should attend
The expected benefits of the Forum are:
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for
policy makers, participate in the
process of defining the practical steps
to facilitate trade thus enhancing world
economic growth; possibility to meet major
actors in this process, gathered for the
first time; and, consequently, transform
the recommendations for practical steps
in trade facilitation into national trade
policy; |
|
for
leaders of the business community,
voice their concerns in the preparation
of the agenda for action in developing
simpler and efficient trade procedures;
meet key decision-makers in Governments
with whom they deal in their business
practices; interact with major players
in trade facilitation; make their companies
better known to the international community;
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for
intergovernmental and non-governmental
organizations, become involved in
a wide, cross-sector gathering of government
and business representatives, and carry
out a “reality check”; progress inter-institutional
cooperation in preparing the next steps
of trade facilitation; promote the idea
of an open and inclusive environment for
trade facilitation; |
|
for
academics and experts, become part
of the development of concepts and strategy
for future trade facilitation. |
Participants
will be able to meet with experts from all over
the world and discuss exciting opportunities
for enhancing world trade and economic growth,
become acquainted with the latest trade facilitation
techniques and regulatory developments and gain
insider knowledge of policy issues in trade
facilitation.
Expected
outcome and follow-up capacity-building plans
The
Forum is expected to:
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promote the implementation of necessary
practical measures for trade facilitation
in the future; |
|
propose a practical United Nations initiative
fostering trade facilitation around the
world, focused on the next steps Governments,
the business community and international
organizations; |
|
provide guidance for publishing an overview
of the achievements to date in trade facilitation;
|
|
contribute to developing the political will
for implementing trade facilitation in the
various groups of countries; |
|
provide input to the multilateral negotiations
on trade facilitation; |
|
contribute to the public-private partnership
in trade facilitation. |
Compendium of Trade Facilitation Recommendations
The
UN Centre for Trade Facilitation and
Electronic Business (UN/CEFACT) and
the UN Conference on Trade and Development
(UNCTAD) jointly developed this Compendium
to be used as a key reference by those
engaged in simplifying, harmonizing
and rationalizing trade procedures and
practices. |
for further
information, please contact:
Mr.Mario
Apostolov (Forum coordinator)
UNECE Trade Division, Office 437,
Palais des Nations
CH-1211 Geneva 10 Switzerland
Tel.:
+41 22 9171134
Fax: +41 22 9170037
e-mail:
[email protected]
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