Taking place during the 36th United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (UN/CEFACT) ForumM (26 April - 7 May 2021)

Background
The COVID-19 pandemic crisis has affected nearly every country in the world, both on a national health level but also on an economic level. Despite curfews and lockdowns – which have generally been necessary to reduce the spread of the pandemic – trade has continued to flow and, in some cases, even increase. The electronic data exchange, enabled by the Single Window of many countries, has enabled trade to cross borders. This has helped to underline the pertinence and facilitations offered by a Single Window.

Objective
This webinar will be organized around round tables aimed to

• Remind the importance of the Single Window concept and outline the latest trends. These include the advances in the recently revised UNECE Recommendation 33, the results of the White Paper on Core Principles and the results of the new Recommendation 38 on Pandemic Crisis Trade-Related Response.
• Receive feedback from country experiences on how their Single Windows have helped to keep trade flowing during the Pandemic, any changes or adaptations they have needed to make, linkages to other programs, and any other pertinent topics
• Brainstorm any additional guidance which might be useful and discuss next steps in UN/CEFACT’s Single Window development and how this could relate back to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Target Audience
Single Window implementors and related stakeholders, government officials, trade representatives and others.

Agenda

Table 1 : Latest trends (10:00-11:00)

Moderator: Mr. Aleksei BONDARENKO, UN/CEFACT Vice Chair   BIO

• Welcome speeches:
  • Ms. Elisabeth TUERK, Director, UNECE Economic Cooperation and Trade Division   BIO
  • Mr. Aleksei BONDARENKO, UN/CEFACT Vice Chair   BIO
• Update on related, recent UN/CEFACT deliverables
  • Recommendation 33 on Single Window Implementation revision
    • Mr. Ibrahima DIAGNE, Project Leader   BIO    PPT
  • Recommendation 38 on Trade Information Portals
    • Ms. Eva CHAN, UN/CEFACT expert   BIO    PPT
  • White Paper on the Core Principles for Managing Risks and Contingencies in the Operation of a Systemically Important Single Window
    • Mr. Tarik NACIRI, UN/CEFACT expert   BIO    PPT
  • Recommendation 47 on Pandemic Crisis Trade-Related Response
    • Mr. Lance THOMPSON, Project Leader   BIO    PPT

Table 2: Country experience (11:00-12:30)

Moderator: Ms. Estelle IGWE, UN/CEFACT Vice Chair   BIO

• Georgia Single Window experience with COVID
  • Ms. Irina SIGUA, Advisor, Department for International Relations, Georgian Revenue Services   BIO     PPT
• Australia Single Window experience with COVID
  • Ms. Cheryl WONG, Assistant Director, Customs and Border Modernisation, Australia Border Force  BIO   PPT
  • Mr. Steve CAPELL, Managing Director, GoSource Pty Ltd   BIO
• Kyrgyzstan Single Window experience with COVID
  • Mr. Kutman KALYBEKOV, Heade of ICT Department, Kyrgyzstan Customs Agency   BIO    PPT

Table 3: Country experience (13:30-15:00)

Moderator: Ms. Estelle IGWE, UN/CEFACT Vice Chair  BIO

• Morocco Single Window experience with COVID
  • Mr. Youssef AHOUZI, Acting Directing General, Portnet  BIO
• Cameroun Single Window experience with COVID.
  • Mr. Abdoullahi FAOUZI, Directeur Technique du Guichet Unique du Cameroun  BIO    PPT
• Dominican Republic Single Window experience with COVID
  • Mr. Luis Omar FERNANDEZ, Coordinador, Ventanilla Única de Comercio Exterior (VUCE)  BIO    PPT

Table 4: Related experiences around the world (15:00-15:55)

Moderator: Mr. Aleksei BONDARENKO, UN/CEFACT Vice Chair  BIO

• Return on experience from the African Alliance on e-Commerce (AACE) December 2020 conference on the topic
  • Mr. Amos S. WANGORA, AACE   BIO     PPT
• Technical barriers to trade, UNECE studies
  • Ms. Hana DAOUDI, UNECE Market Access Section    BIO     PPT
• Return on recent, related experiences from Latin America
  • Ms. Krista LUCENTI, Integration and Trade Senior Specialist, Inter-American Development Bank   BIO     PPT

Conclusions (15:55-16:00)

• Mr. Aleksei BONDARENKO, UN/CEFACT Vice Chair  BIO