Programme
of the Forum |
Background
documents |
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Programme of
the Forum [htm] [pdf]
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Income Distribution
Impact of Trade Facilitation in Developing
Countries [doc] [pdf]
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Opening
session - Presentations [zip]
Session
1: How to achieve benefits for all
from trade facilitation? - Presentations
[zip]
Session
2: Trade facilitation policy and new
security initiatives - Presentations [zip]
Session
3: Mechanism of Cooperation: the role
of the business community - Presentations
[zip]
Session
4: Open Regionalism
Presentations [zip]
Closing
session: Chairman's Conclusions
Presentations [zip] |
Proposal
for Standards Development in Support of
Trade Facilitation and Security: A Collaborative
Approach [doc] [pdf] |
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Workshop
on 14 May 2003: IPR and trade
facilitation: "Identifying Opportunities
and Roadblocks" |
Concept
Paper [pdf] |
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Technical
Workshop on 15 May 2003:
Leading Edge in trade facilitation (organized
in cooperation with Resonance Communication) |
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Seminar
on 15 May 2003: The United
Nations Electronic Trade Documents (UNeDocs):
Digital Paper for Trade on Your Desktop |
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Background
Trade facilitation, i.e. the simplification,
harmonization, automation and speeding up
of the international flows of goods and trade
information, has the potential of bolstering
economic growth. In an increasingly globalized
economy, it contributes directly to promoting
supply chain linkages and reducing non-tariff
barriers to trade. Above all, by saving precious
resources, it has a strong potential for development.
Nevertheless, the benefits of multilateral
trade facilitation have not been evenly distributed.
The United Nations, in its Millennium Development
Goals has committed all Member States and
the UN organizations to work towards alleviating
poverty, promoting sustainable trade and development,
and spreading the beneficial impact of globalization
and multilateral cooperation on a more equitable
basis. In order for all countries to reap
the benefits of increased efficiency through
optimal trade procedures, targeted policy
and practical measures should be adopted.
The
second International Forum on Trade Facilitation
in May 2003 will focus on trade and transport
facilitation and customs cooperation, within
the perspective of the needs of development
and the heightened security requirements .
More specifically, the Forum will discuss
the effect of the new security challenges
on global supply chains. The conduct of international
trade has undergone fundamental changes, as
the security emphasis has shifted from threats
to trade to threats from trade. While some
major actors in international trade focus
on the identification and minimization of
risks to the security of international flows
of goods (especially in container trade),
others are concerned with the new security
requirements, which will impose an additional
burden on their fragile economies. There is
a great risk that transition and developing
countries will not be able to share the benefits
of globalization, and that they will be marginalized.
The implications of these challenges and changes
on the weakest participants in the global
trading system will be felt more strongly.
The United Nations should address these problems
by providing a neutral forum for their discussion.
It should look into the development of new
international instruments in the area.
The
Forum will build upon the broader definition
of trade facilitation at the first International
Forum on Trade Facilitation in May 2002. Trade
facilitation is a complex area, which involves
government regulations and control, business
efficiency, transportation, information and
communication technology and the financial
services. The work on trade facilitation involves
various actors with different agendas, which
makes agreement on a joint course of action
difficult to achieve. Therefore, it is important
that all stakeholders - governmental agencies,
the business community, and international
and non-governmental organizations - address
trade facilitation strategically through adequate
policies on the national, regional and international
levels, emphasizing assistance for the development
of weaker partners.
Inefficient
trade procedures and a lack of trade facilitation
have a greater negative effect on small and
medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and on enterprises
in developing countries. The reason for this
is that small-value consignments carry a disproportionately
high cost burden due to the fixed costs that
have to be paid per consignment. Addressing
the problems of these “weaker” stakeholders
is one of the principal objectives of the
Forum. Recent studies within the Organization
of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)
and the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation
(APEC) estimate that investment in trade facilitation
would have a very strong effect, increasing
exports from transition and developing economies
by tens of billions of dollars. The greatest
gains to developing and transition economies
would come from improvements in border crossings
and customs efficiency. The institutions that
have done recent studies on the benefits from
trade facilitation will be invited to present
their findings at the second International
Forum on Trade Facilitation.
The
objective is to organize the Forum as a truly
interactive event. The discussion will be
initiated by a limited number of speakers
and will involve panellists and participants
from the audience. Several background concept
papers will be prepared on: the effects of
trade facilitation on income distribution,
the sources of developing country concerns
about trade facilitation, etc. They will be
made available on the Forum web site (www.unece.org/forums).
In addition, the Forum will raise awareness
of the necessity for further work and research
of new solutions, in collaboration with UNCITRAL,
on legal issues in the facilitation and simplification
of trade procedures and information flows.
The Forum will address the issue of trade
facilitation in port procedures.
Parallel
to the Forum, workshops on technical issues
and intellectual property rights in trade
facilitation will be organized, together with
the European Patent Office and the UN Centre
for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business
(UN/CEFACT). It is expected that the Department
for International Development of the United
Kingdom (DFID) will present a study on the
position and reservations of selected developing
countries on the inclusion of trade facilitation
in the WTO multilateral trade negotiations.
This paper, based on interviews with key officials
of a representative set of developing countries,
attempts to understand the economic, political
and legal reasons for these countries’ concerns.
It suggests options for dealing with these
concerns
Objectives
The Forum is expected to define new, practical
measures to progress trade facilitation in
the new world environment. It will highlight
possible ways of constructing an equitable
mechanism of facilitating trade, where small
and large countries and businesses will share
the benefits. It will point to innovative
methods for resolving the dilemma between
heightened security measures and the necessity
for faster movement of goods, services and
information. In particular, the Forum will:
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provide a neutral platform for an exchange
of views and a policy debate among the
various stakeholders in trade facilitation,
especially on the issues of sharing
the benefits and the balance between
advancing security and trade facilitation; |
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provide a platform at which all the
preparatory materials for the Fifth
WTO Ministerial Meeting in Cancún can
be presented and compared; |
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offer a meeting place for representatives
of Governments, business and international
organizations, who can then influence
the decision making processes in their
countries or institutions; |
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enhance the public and private sectors’
understanding of the benefits of trade
facilitation which include:
-
mproving efficiency;
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creating jobs;
- promoting
transparency;
- enhancing
government revenue; and
- boosting
competitiveness;
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put
an emphasis on promoting mechanisms
for capacity building in developing
and transition economies to give substance
to the Doha Development Agenda of the
WTO; |
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underline the multidimensional aspects
of trade facilitation; |
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emphasize the necessity for more work
on the legal aspects of trade facilitation; |
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highlight the role of trade facilitation
in successful e-business; |
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identify areas where new instruments,
including standards, are needed; |
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enhance the mechanisms of cooperation
among Governments, international organizations
and the private sector, including the
possibility of making the best use of
a combination of regional and global
competencies; |
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suggest harmonized methods for measuring
progress in the implementation of trade
facilitation; |
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decide on follow-up action and implementation. |
A publication containing the papers produced
for the Forum will be prepared.
The Forum aims at bringing together the following
groups of participants:
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government policy makers at the level
of ministers and deputy-ministers, heads
of customs services, ambassadors to the
UN and the WTO; |
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senior business executives and chiefs
of large trade associations; |
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heads of international and non-governmental
organizations, donor agencies, national
trade facilitation bodies, and trade associations; |
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experts specializing in international
trade, trade facilitation and globalization. |
Outcome
The Forum, which will be the major event on
trade facilitation in the world in the months
before the WTO Ministerial Meeting in Cancún,
will contribute to creating a positive framework
for implementing international instruments
and proposing an attractive set of solutions
regarding trade and transport facilitation.
It will suggest ways in which trade facilitation
can help improve the efficiency of supply
chain logistics in a volatile international
trade environment. In particular it will:
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strengthen
the global network for trade facilitation
within the United Nations as a place
for open policy debate on the issue;
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adopt
a practical United Nations initiative
fostering trade facilitation around
the world, focused on the next steps
that Governments, the business community
and international organizations should
take; |
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investigate
the possibility of developing an international
standard for security in trade procedures,
which would apply equally to all; |
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contribute to building the political
will necessary for implementing trade
facilitation among various groups of
countries; |
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make
a substantive contribution to the preparations
for the discussion of trade facilitation
at the WTO Ministerial Meeting in Cancún,
Mexico. |
The Forum will encourage greater participation
of developing and transition economies in
the global trade facilitation debate.
Why you should attend
The Forum is organized at the UN in Geneva,
a city that increasingly becomes the global
hub for trade diplomacy. The expected benefits
of the Forum are:
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for policy makers - to participate
in a network of decision makers and
experts who will influence the definition
of the trade facilitation agenda for
the future; to obtain information that
will allow them to make informed decisions
in formulating national strategies and
trade policy; |
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for leaders of the business community
– to make their position heard among
policy makers and ambassadors to the
UN and WTO; to interact with other major
players in trade facilitation; and to
make their companies better known to
the international community; |
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for intergovernmental and non-governmental
organizations - to become involved
in a wide, cross-sector network of government
and business leaders; to carry out reality
checks”; to progress inter-regional
and inter-institutional cooperation
in trade facilitation; |
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for academics and experts - to
contribute to and become part of the
development of concepts and strategies
for future trade facilitation. |
Participants will discuss the opportunities
for enhancing world trade and economic growth.
They will become acquainted with the latest
trade facilitation techniques and regulatory
developments, especially with regard to the
new security environment in world trade, and
contribute to policy debate regarding trade
facilitation.
Simultaneous translation in English, French,
Russian, and Spanish will be provided at the
Forum.
For more details , please visit the Forum's
web site: www.unece.org/forums
or call :
Mr. Mario Apostolov
UNECE Trade Development and Timber Division
Tel.: +41 22 9171134
Fax: +41 22 9170037 e-mail: [email protected]
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