Documents
Displaying Results 7561 - 7680 of 359515
This document is associated with the following:
The WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement is a multilateral agreement aiming to streamline border processes and cut red tape. It entered into force on 22 February 2017. UN/CEFACT can help implementation of these articles among others.
Art.10.1. Formalities and Documentation Requirements Recommendation 1 on UN Layout Key provides a standard format and methodology of document management since the 1970s.
Recommendation 18 provides a comprehensive set of recommendations regarding best practices and standards for the facilitation and harmonization of trade transactions.
Art.10.3. Use of International Standards UN/CEFACT offers a number of eBusiness standards in all trade domains covering transport, supply chain, procurement, finance, accounting, agriculture, energy, tourism, among others. The UN/EDIFACT syntax is the only centrally maintained and developed message exchange standard widely used since the 1980s. UN/CEFACT XML messages, each accompanied by their business process standards provide a standard and stable alternative in the plethora of syntaxes available.
UN/CEFACT Code Lists are used by nearly every major international standards organization and contribute to mutual comprehension of data across language barriers.
Art.10.4. Single Window UN/CEFACT developed the first guidance material on Single Window which is widely used by other standards organizations as their basis and by many economies for their implementations. A suite of four recommendations have been developed to cover additional points like data harmonization, creating a legally enabling environment and interoperability. UN/CEFACT continues to develop guidance material in this area.
These are some examples of UN/CEFACT’s deliverables. The full list can be found and downloaded free of charge on our website: www.unece.org/cefact
UN/CEFACT, the United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business, supports activities dedicated to improving the ability of business, trade and administrative organizations, from developed, developing and transition economies, to exchange products and relevant services effectively. Its principal focus is on facilitating national and international transactions, through the simplification and harmonization of processes, procedures and information flows, and so contributing to
the growth of global commerce.
UN/CEFACT has a global mandate. Participation in the UN/CEFACT Forum is open to all. There are some 300 experts representing every region in the world. Within the framework of the United Nations Economic and Social Council, the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) serves as the focal point for trade
facilitation recommendations and electronic business standards, covering both commercial and government business processes that can foster growth in international trade and related services. In this context UN/CEFACT was established, as a subsidiary, intergovernmental body of the UNECE.
With almost a billion people going hungry, it may appear as though hunger is one of the persistent scourges of the world. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), approximately 795 million people are undernourished, of which 780 million live in developing countries.1 At the same time, numerous studies have demonstrated that there is more than enough food on the planet to feed the entire world population.
The FAO estimates that one-third of the food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted globally; this amounts to about 1.3 billion tons per year. In addition to the
food itself, the labour, water, energy and other resources used for its production are also wasted. In view of the growing world population, increasing levels of consumption, and emerging challenges in food production, reduction of food loss is an important factor in the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 2: End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture.
Supply chain inefficiencies that prevent food that is produced from reaching buyers are sometimes overlooked as a key reason for lack of access to food. Such inefficiencies include costly and time-consuming import/export procedures that prevent or reduce access to markets, resulting in perishable goods that rot at borders while awaiting clearance. Indeed, Sustainable Development Goal 2 explicitly targets the elimination of “trade restrictions and distortions in world agricultural markets” to fight hunger and achieve food security.
The United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (UN/CEFACT) is focussed on the simplification, standardization and harmonization of procedures and associated information flows required to move goods from seller to buyer and to make payment. The implementation of UN/CEFACT recommendations and standards helps countries to engage in and benefit from global, efficient and cost-effective trade. These benefits include: the economic prosperity and growth needed to eradicate poverty and hunger; more diversity and availability of food in markets; as well as improved economic accessibility to food
Due to overfishing and illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, the world fish stocks are depleting. As of 2011, the fraction of assessed stocks fished within bologically sustainable levels declined to 71.2% and consequently, 28.8% of fish stocks were estimated as fished at a biologically unsustainable level (FAO, 2014). This threatens not only the fish, but also the humans depending on them. The breakdown or collapse of coastal fisheries has a direct impact on the economic well-being of the coastal communities that rely on fisheries for economic survival and a dependable food source. According to the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), “about 1 billion people largely in developing countries rely on fish as their primary animal protein source. In 2010, fish provided more than 2.9 billion people with almost 20% of their intake of animal protein, and 4.3 billion people with about 15 % of such protein” (MSC, 2015).
The United Nations has recognised the critical role of the ocean and its resources by dedicating Sustainable Development Goal 14 (Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources) to it. Of the targets for this Goal, 4 out of 6 indicators relate to the conservation of fish stocks,
Ending all forms of discrimination against women and girls is not only a basic human right, but it is also crucial to enhancing sustainable development. It has been proven that empowering women and girls has a multiplier effect, and helps to drive economic growth and development across the board. Gender equality lies at the heart of the United Nations Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development, and Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5 “Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls” is about women and girls enjoying equal access to quality education, economic resources and political participation as well as having the same opportunities as men and boys for employment, leadership and decision-making at all levels.
Gender equality has advanced in recent decades and women are increasingly involved in the market economy. Nevertheless, it remains a persistent challenge for countries worldwide, and the lack of gender equality is a major obstacle to the achievement of full human potential and to sustainable development. A World Bank survey of 143 economies shows that 90 per cent have at least one policy that differentiates between men and women in terms of their treatment and rights; 28 of them have ten or more legal differences for men and women, including inequities in registering a business, travelling outside the country, inheriting, owning land or other productive assets, and opening a bank account. At the same time, particularly in developing economies, women remain the predominant dealers and marketers of agricultural, aquacultural and artisanal industry in domestic markets, while long-distance trade that involves relatively capital-intensive techniques and higher profit margins, is carried out mainly by men.
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (Agenda 2030), with its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) was adopted by world leaders in September 2015, and came officially into force on 1 January 2016. Over the coming years, based upon these new universal Goals, countries will mobilize efforts to end all forms of poverty, fight inequalities and tackle climate change, while ensuring that no one is left behind (A/RES/70/1).
Agenda 2030 puts great emphasis on the role that trade and innovation can play in support of sustainable development. An important emerging innovation that has been in the news often during the last two years is blockchain technology. This briefing note examines the possible contributions that blockchain could make to the achievement of the SDGs. In particular, it explores the possible implications for the facilitation of trade transactions and access to global value chains, especially for small businesses in developing and transition economies, as well as for the provision of effective government services that support more inclusive economic and social progress.
Garment and footwear (GF) are one of the industries with the highest footprint in terms of social, environmental and health impacts, mainly happening in raw material production and manufacturing in developing countries. Its value chains are both global and complex, with numerous stakeholders involved, driven by big retailers and traders, however constituted by an enormous amount of small and scattered production facilities all around the world (OECD 2017). Small brands making around half of the industry, are lacking the knowledge and resources to significantly improve their footprint.
Important ingredients to mitigate sustainability risks and impacts in the sector, include: 1) Improving working conditions of employees in the raw material production and manufacturing stages, especially in the upstream segments of the value chain; 2) Improving the environmental footprint of products and production processes throughout the entire value chain, including aspects such as use, reuse and recycling, in line with a circular economy approach; 3) Moving consumers attitudes towards more intelligent and ethical consumption; 4) Ensuring that final consumers receive accurate and relevant information about the social, environmental and health risks of what they buy (EC 2017).
This paper explores how traceability and transparency of value chains can help advance the sustainability of the garment and footwear sector. It highlights that transparency and traceability must be a collaborative effort and investigate requirements for and components of robust scheme and provides a series of recommendations on possible measures for public authorities. Such efforts will support achieving relevant Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) targets of the 2030 United Nations Agenda for Sustainable Development, particularly under SDG 12 on responsible consumption and production, with targets 12.6 inviting Member States to encourage companies to adopt and report on sustainability practices, and target 12.8 about ensuring that people everywhere have the relevant information and awareness for sustainable development and lifestyles.
Semantics, in the context of electronic data exchange, is the unambiguous meaning of each of the pieces of information to be shared between sender, receiver and any stakeholder who views or uses the information.
The United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (UN/CEFACT) has been basing much of its work over the past decades on its semantic standards – standards that describe the clear meaning of the information to be shared, whether it be in the business processes or in the electronic data exchange messages themselves. This paper aims to explain why UN/CEFACT deems this to be essential to its mission and to international trade in general.
Streamlining formalities and documentary procedures allows governments, governmental agencies and business communities to take advantage of elimination of redundant data and duplication of information. This process entails a regular review of domestic and cross border trade documents. The review ensures that (i) the regulatory and official requirements and the business needs of the trading community are fully considered in an open, transparent and inclusive way; (ii) all the data requested is justified by a regulation or a specific business need – the legislative framework should also be reviewed regularly to correspond to actual business practices; (iii) the information requested is still pertinent and up-to- date; and (iv) the data requested cannot be inferred from any other sources.
The review of all the documents used in domestic and international trade should be conducted on a regular basis. For ease of conducting this review, the documents should be divided into specific functional groups, for instance, Commercial, Transport, Financial (including international payments) and Official.
The electronic exchange of data for commercial transactions has taken several names: eTrade, eBusiness, eCommerce… These terms are often used interchangeably. However, the United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business, who has worked on the base semantics of data exchange for over three decades, has proposed some clarity in this area.
In this context, eCommerce is a commercial transaction between a buyer and seller which is initiated on an on-line platform. These two actors could be either economic operators (companies) or direct consumers. The on-line interaction is the eCommerce aspect. Computer-to-computer interaction would be considered eBusiness exchanges. These two terms are therefore not interchangeable, but complementary as the on-line purchase of a product will often trigger eBusiness data transactions.
For example, as a consumer, I purchase a table on an internet website. The actual purchase and most likely the payment as well are performed through internet website(s). Once the company where the table was purchased receives this order, they may need to send a series of messages to other actors on the supply chain such as a shipping instruction to the warehouse, a reservation of transport with a freight forwarder… and other actors on the supply chain may need to send messages to other actors such as detailed export/import declarations, as well as potentially other regulatory declarations. These subsequent messages, if electronic,
would be considered eBusiness as they would be computer-to-computer.
The United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (UN/CEFACT) has been developing, for several decades, base semantic standards to ensure end-to-end supply chain facilitation. These include the United Nations Trade Data Element Directory (UNTDED); the United Nations Electronic Data Interchange for Administrations, Commerce and Transport (UN/EDIFACT); the UN/CEFACT Core Component Library (UN/CCL); and a series of code lists, business process models and message schemas. UN/CEFACT aims to be the semantic hub for all electronic data requirements in the international supply chain. The UN/CCL and code lists cover activities in all sectors including materials management, commercial transactions, logistics, transport, agriculture, health, insurance, finance, payments, customs, etc. They are truly useful tools and provide an encyclopedia of semantic information that anyone can use free of charge.
However, like an encyclopedia, it may not always be easy to find the exact information needed for a single procedure. UN/CEFACT has therefore created subsets of this information (similar to individual volumes in an encyclopedia set) dedicated to single sectors of activity, called Reference Data Models (RDMs).
The International Maritime Organization’s Convention on Facilitation of International Maritime Traffic, or “FAL Convention” dates to the 1960s. It aims to facilitate maritime traffic by providing a degree of uniformity in the number and type of declarations required by public authorities when a maritime vessel enters a port. The convention limits the number of copies that can be requested and defines seven standard documents covering ship, cargo, passengers, but also dangerous goods, postal requirements and health requirements.
The information from these declarations has been sent electronically for many years through a combination of United Nations Electronic Data Interchange for Administration, Commerce and Transport (UN/EDIFACT) messages. Since 2016, the IMO has been working to integrate the notion of an electronic version of these documents into the convention and propose an electronic model to achieve this. The IMO has worked with the United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (UN/CEFACT), the World Customs Organization (WCO) and the International Standards Organization (ISO) to create a clear, semantic data set to cover the needs of the FAL Convention, which will soon be added to the convention itself.
Small-scaled lodging houses (SLHs) are hotels or any type of lodging facilities where people stay primarily for leisure rather than business. They are often located in rural areas near tourist attractions, and are favoured by travellers who seek an authentic, local experience. They usually provide their customers with rooms, meals and other services. Due to the unique characteristics of their locations and their features, the services they offer may be quite diversified, varying from one lodging house to another and/or from one location to another.
Tourism in rural areas is becoming increasingly popular. However, it is sometimes difficult for potential visitors to identify the existence and availability of, or the services offered by, a particular SLH. The United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitatio and Electronic Business (UN/CEFACT) Travel and Tourism Domain has developed deliverables that assist SLHs to convey information concerning the offerings of their accommodations and surrounding areas, and to make reservations. The UN/CEFACT deliverables include: Business Requirements Specifications (BRSs), which describe the processes surrounding these procedures and propose their standardization; Requirement Specification Mappings (RSMs), which provide the data that could potentially be exchanged; and a proposed Extensible Markup Language (XML) schema in order to exchange the information in a standardized way.
The SLHs, to whom such standards are addressed, are usually small. Today’s information exchange technologies (Internet, mobile, cloud, etc.) are potential stimulants to the use of such standards and would provide global visibility to SLHs. For these reasons, six Asian-Pacific countries have launched a pilot project through the Asia-Pacific Council for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (AFACT) in order to promote the use of these standards and to assist SLHs to effectively communicate and exchange information related to their offerings and reservations
In a paper document, information can be presented in free text. However, in official forms or common business documents, information is typically presented in structured boxes, which require the entry of specific information related to parties, places, transport or goods details, etc.
Within an electronic message, the majority of information is structured in order to provide specific, identifiable information that can be interpreted correctly by automated systems. In order for this to work, both the receiving and sending parties need to use the same semantics (or basic meaning) for each component of data. To provide these common semantic definitions, the United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (UN/CEFACT) has developed the United Nations Core Component Library (UN/CCL).
If information is presented in a very “flat” manner (i.e. with all components being on an equal level), this may create confusion or redundancy. For example, if we have a data component called “City Name”, do we mean the city name of the destination address, or that of the expedition address, or perhaps that of the freight forwarder, etc.? If we want to know which instance is being referred to, then one option is to qualify “City Name” each time it is used. If this is done for every component of an address, redundant data is required. On the other hand, if the “basic core component” of “City Name” is used in an aggregate core component such as “address” and is used in a business context such as “shipping destination”, then “City Name” and all of the other basic core components used in “Shipping Destination” do not have to be individually qualified.
In order to make the UN/CCL more workable, the information is grouped into logical aggregations and/or it is associated with its business context. This enables a more flexible maintenance as the majority of concepts are expressed in aggregate core components that are built using a smaller number of basic core components (like building blocks) or by associating a core component with a business context. Each change to a basic core component will be inherited in all of its uses. For example, if the base component “City Name” is changed, then it will be changed in all types of “addresses” that include “City Name” and in all of the business contexts that use “City Name”.
This requires a strict methodology for creating the base components: the aggregated components, and the components within business contexts. This methodology can be compared to the rules of grammar for a language, which allow language speakers to understand one another. For the UN/CCL, this methodology is called the United Nations Core Components Technical Specification (UN/CCTS). The specifications in the UN/CCTS are not only useful for creating and maintaining the UN/CCL, they can also be used by business analysts, business users and information technology specialists who supply data content and who design applications that use the data definitions from the UN/CCL.
United Nations Electronic Data Interchange for Administration, Commerce and Transport (UN/EDIFACT) is the global Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) standard developed and maintained by the United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (UN/CEFACT). EDI is defined as “computer to computer interchange of data according to a message standard with a minimum of human intervention”. Differently said, it allows for business documents such as purchase orders, invoices and customs declarations to be exchanged and processed electronically.
UN/EDIFACT development started at the end of the 1980s and the standard currently contains 209 business messages. Updated versions are published twice a year.
Creating a paperless environment for trade must address the need for an electronic version of an invoice. But how to create a standard to dematerialize an invoice? There are multiple sectors that use invoices as part of their core sources of information, from the commercial business transaction, transport, customs clearance, fiscal declarations, banking, insurance, etc. Depending on the type of commodity being traded, different types of information must be present on the invoice; an invoice for automobile parts will be very different from an invoice for milk products, and these will both be different from an invoice for transport services.
UN/CEFACT has developed a maximum data-set invoice which covers multiple sectors and multiple types of commodities called a cross-industry invoice (or CII for short). It is unlikely that all the data in the UN/CEFACT CII will be necessary all the time. Most usages will be a subset of the full CII. By creating a standard model with all the potential information, it is easier for parties to identify any possible version of an invoice.
The UN/CEFACT CII is part of a group of messages in supply chain procedures called the “Cross-Industry family of deliverables.” These are all based on the principle of a maximum data set, are integrated into the Supply Chain Reference Data Model, and are fully interoperable with each other. These include the CI-Cataloguing Process, CI-Ordering Process, CI-Quotation, CI-Delivery Process, CI-Remittance Advice, etc.
The United Nations Code for Trade and Transport Locations (UN/LOCODE) identifies locations related to international trade around the world. It is a five-character code where the first two characters represent the International Standards Organization (ISO) country code followed by a three-character code unique within that country. These codes have been maintained and published by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) secretariat since 1981. Updates and new entries are published twice yearly (cut off dates for submissions are 30 April and 31 October).
In order to ensure the precise identification of national locations, the UNECE relies on a network of national focal points to validate all new entries and update requests before they are published. The national focal points also work with key stakeholders in an Advisory Group in order to propose improvements in processes and maintenance.
The basis of UN/LOCODE is UNECE Recommendation 16. The first edition was published in 1980 and has been updated twice since. The first issue of UN/LOCODE had 8000 codes and today has over 100,000 from 249 countries, dependent territories and special areas.
UN/LOCODE is widely used by most major shipping companies, freight forwarders, and the maritime and manufacturing industries. It is also used by national Governments, especially by customs and port authorities, and in related activities such as statistics. Each UN/LOCODE entry provides several details, such as the subdivision of the location country code, the function of the location (maritime port, airport, road hub, etc.), an indicative geolocation coordinate, and the status of the entry (if it has been validated by a national administration, an economic operator or other),etc.
By using UN/LOCODE, operators and authorities can unambiguously identify where transport services begin, where goods will enter an economy and where the goods will be cleared—without needing to know national codes or national languages. It is used for goods movements associated with trade and for use in information exchange between participants in international trade. More information Link to UN/LOCODE page of website
The Convention on the Contract for the International Carriage of Goods by Road (CMR) was developed in 1956. This convention standardizes contractual and carrier liability conditions of transporting goods by road in vehicles for reward if the origin and destination are in two different countries, and at least one of the countries is a contracting party. It has been acceded to by 55 states around the world, thus making the use of the CMR obligatory in these countries. In 1976, the International Road Union introduced a United Nations Layout Key aligned CMR Note template in cooperation with the International Chamber of Commerce. This road consignment note template was updated in 2007 and is now used by most, if not all, parties to contracts of carriage in CMR contracting countries.
The CMR Note is primarily used for commercial transport contract purposes (business-to-business) and is often used by law enforcement and customs authorities for checking the goods details and consignor/consignee/carrier information for clearance in cross-border trade, or additional information in different situations.
In 2008, an Additional Protocol on e-CMR was introduced to support paperless versions of the e-CMR Note. Though several pilot tests have been conducted in the subsequent years, there has not been an official standardized message format for the Electronic Consignment Note. In 2017, a United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business project developed a business requirements specification, core
component e-CMR message structure and XML message.
About ninety percent of non-bulk cargo transported by sea worldwide is moved in standardized container boxes. As the volume of trade by containers increases annually, so does the need to more closely track the location and conditions of each container. With continuous technological advancements, it has been possible to connect these containers electronically with the rest of the supply chain using tracking devices that can monitor, process and communicate a large array of parameters.
Efficient trade logistics is a critical tool in effective trade facilitation. Boosting the supply chain performance can only be realized by enhancing procedures through the adoption of technology and by building smarter solutions to enhance the level of interconnectivity.
The Basel Convention on the control of transboundary movements of hazardous and other wastes and their disposal which entered into force in 1992, sets down the obligation for its 187 Parties (as of 31 December 2019) to ensure among other things that such movements involving at least two States are reduced to the minimum consistent with the environmentally sound and efficient management of such wastes, and that such movements are conducted in a manner which will protect human health and the environment against the adverse effects which may result therefrom. It also requires that only persons authorized or allowed to transport or dispose of wastes undertake such operations and that such wastes be packaged, labelled and transported in conformity with generally accepted and recognized international rules and standards.
Several actors are involved in the exchange of information, including exporters, importers, waste treatment facility operators, carriers, waste generators, customs and competent authorities of export, import and transit countries. The involved actors are required to exchange information at different stages in the waste shipment process and for each individual transport. For example, each individual transport needs to be announced (Movement Announcement message), each individual receipt of waste needs to be confirmed (Certificate of Waste Receipt message) and each treatment of waste needs to be confirmed (Certificate of Waste Recovery Disposal message). In addition, the permission process also requires several steps of information exchange (Notification Submission, Notification Decision and other messages).
Recent decades have seen impressive growth in all types of data exchanges between entities: governments, organizations, businesses, people, and things (via the Internet of Things). Technology, and the accompanying digitalization of information, has been the main driver behind this growth. At the same time, more than just technology is required for connectivity to be “smart”. It also requires the simplifying, streamlining, and standardizing of connections along three dimensions: infrastructure, knowledge management and collaboration.
The highest levels of smart connectivity are possible when processes are optimized in consultation with all relevant stakeholders and when electronic systems allow data automation based on clear semantic standards. Meanwhile, there are factors which prevent connectivity from becoming smarter, such as pre-existing legacy systems which may be costly to update; ignorance or lack of use of available semantic and syntax standards; processes not viewed from a facilitation perspective; or legislation and regulatory frameworks that do not always encourage cross-border cooperation.
UN/CEFACT delivered the e-Certificate several years ago. Many countries have implemented this and are successfully exchanging e-Certificates.
In 2018 IPPC introduced a tailor-made e-Cert platform called ePhyto. Two operational instruments have been implemented; a hub and a generic web-based system. The ePhyto hub offers a standardized method for exchanging these certificates.
The situation to date is that both direct (country to country, outside a hub) and indirect interactions (via hub’s) exist. This Implementation Gide describes and gives guidance to implementation which is on the one hand
hub compliant and on the other hand facilitates direct communications.
The aim is to facilitate a standardized implementation in countries which wish to implement e-Certification, independent of the chosen infrastructure. Using the Implementation Guide, governments should be able to implement the UN/CEFACT e-Cert standard.
The solution as described in this Guide can be used with both the ePhyto hub as well as country to country direct exchange. Based on the implementations in use the Implementation Guide shall be based on Webservices Description Language (WSDL), a free open standard.
This guideline describes how to construct UN/CEFACT compliant XML messages according to Core Component Business Document Assembly Technical Specification (CCBDA).
This user guideline describes how to define and apply restrictions and extensions to code lists in UN/EDIFACT messages as well as UN/CEFACT XML messages. In addition, it describes example processes for validating those messages. The process could be done in one-phase, for which message structure and value constraints are validated simultaneously (so-called ‘coupled’) or in two-phases, for which these constraints are validated separately (so-called ‘decoupled’).
Parts in this document are excerpts from the XML Naming and Design Rules (UN/CEFACT XML NDR Rules 2.1), UN/EDIFACT Syntax Implementation Guidelines and OASIS Genericode/CVA. They give guidance on how to apply these rules in a real-life environment. The latest version of the UN/CEFACT XML NDR Rules, version 2.1.1, allows decoupling of selective or all qualified data types from a set of value enumerations.
This guideline includes material that focuses on the business community doing further discovery and analysis work. Some of the contents of this guideline are not typical of this type of technical document. However, they are critical for successful adoption and standardization.
This Guideline has been developed in accordance with the Revised Open Development Process ECE/TRADE/C/CEFACT/2016/17 for Guidelines and approved for publication by the UN/CEFACT Bureau.
Codes and identifiers are essential components of any machine-to-machine information flow. They have been developed over time to facilitate the flow of standardized data that can be easily validated for correctness to ensure consistent semantics (e.g. plain text versus coded text).
Objective
The objective of this document is to identify and describe code lists and identification schemes supporting the business processes and transactions for traceability and transparency in the textile and leather value chains.
This paper on Sustainable Tourism aims to study how Experience Programs in tourism can be a catalyst to enhance local economies and promote decent employment at a micro-, rural level. According to the World Tourism Organization, international tourism in 2017 accounted for 1,340 billion USD of receipts, 55% of which represents leisure, recreation and holidays.
The purpose of this Green Paper Project was to examine a recent global trend in tourism, called Sustainable Tourism (Experience Programs) (EPs), and to consider next steps in facilitating the trade of EPs globally. In this paper, as far as the standardization processes are concerned, conventional tours are considered in the same category as EPs, as it is anticipated that even conventional tours could benefit from careful consideration of the ‘New perspectives’ in tourism.
The objective of this United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (UN/CEFACT) project is to articulate the linkages and complementarities of Trade Facilitation activities with the financing of international commerce under the broad array of Trade Finance and Supply Chain Finance solutions.
In essence, getting everything right around the physical movement of goods by streamlining operations from education to logistics, and infrastructure to regulatory considerations (i.e. the commonly understood scope of Trade Facilitation) is important.However, in the absence of adequate and affordable levels of financing and risk mitigation, such activities will only partially allow importers and exporters to conduct trade in a
sustainable way. Furthermore, the economic and development objectives will only be partially achieved.
Financing, in some form, supports the vast majority of trade flows, and lack of it has been identified almost globally as a serious obstacle to the growth and sustainability of enterprises—particularly Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). Suppliers linked to cross-border and international supply chains are often based in developing and emerging markets where the challenges of accessing affordable financing are further complicated. It is often the case that financing available locally in developing markets is simply too expensive for SMEs to take advantage of, thus the challenge is not only about access to finance, but also about the
risk for banks in financing SMEs.
Trade Facilitation is a mature discipline and a critical contributor to development efforts either at the policy or transactional level. It does this by fostering the adoption, effectiveness and success of programs for simple, transparent and effective trade processes being deployed in both advanced and developing economies. The exclusion of financing as an element of Trade Facilitation efforts misses a critical commercial reality that underpins global trade flows, trade relationships and international supply chains. That is, the lack of adequate levels of financing is consistently identified as a major obstacle to the pursuit of additional opportunities in international markets.
In this context, this paper discusses the strategic importance to “bridge” Trade Facilitation, Trade Finance and Supply Chain Finance instruments, practices, and supporting technologies, and demonstrates that the inclusion of financing as an in-scope element of Trade Facilitation presents significant, untapped potential in trade-based international development. It does so concurrently from the perspective of Trade Facilitation practitioners and Trade Finance and Supply Chain Finance experts.
When goods and services cross borders in international trade, information needs to be passed between relevant parties, whether private companies or public bodies, including suppliers, logistics providers, customs, regulatory agencies, sellers and buyers. Paperless trade refers to the digitization of these information flows, including making available and enabling the exchange of trade-related data and documents electronically. Less formally, one can think of this as cross-border trade transactions using electronic data in lieu of paper-based documents.
Transforming what was traditionally a paper-based documentation system into an electronic format can speed up trade and ease the cost of doing business in today’s interconnected world. Bottlenecks in supply chain management and regulatory documentation can be particularly tricky for smaller businesses or e-traders with less experience and resources. Paperless trading, therefore, serves as a promising means to deal with the logistical challenges of e-commerce and, in particular, small shipments across borders. Overall, it is quickly becoming an essential component of governmental efforts to improve the efficiency of customs controls and trade administration processes, and of ensuring trade competitiveness in a rapidly digitizing world.
This document provides insight into a new approach to the well-known and wide-spread problems created by the lack of information interoperability between applications in the e-business arena. Traditionally, standards for the exchange of business data, including international trade data, have been focused on static message definitions, reflecting historical paper-based trade documents and related business processes. Such static message definitions have not enabled a sufficient degree of interoperability or flexibility. The era of reliance on static message definitions (documents) for information exchange throughout supply chains is
being complemented or replaced with real-time supply chain collaboration and real-time standard data exchange structures which use cloud-based services.
A more flexible and interoperable way of standardizing business semantics is required. The development by the United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (UN/CEFACT) of Reference Data Models (RDMs) paves the way for this required new approach. The RDMs being developed by UN/CEFACT are applicable to specific segments of the e-business arena and are based on UN/CEFACT standardized business semantics. In summary, “an RDM provides a consolidated list of standardized data and processes for use in a particular business domain, which are globally understandable and exchangeable between parties using common standard data exchange structures.”
This document provides the key elements for an official definition of Single Window, and proposes an alternative vocabulary for mechanisms that are similar in nature or function to Single Windows but do not satisfy all of the criteria of Recommendation N° 33. The objective is to create a controlled vocabulary in order to be clear about the scope and nature of any given mechanism.
The United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (UN/CEFACT) has been working on the topic of Single Windows since the early 2000s and has developed a definition which has been largely accepted by national implementation and international organizations. This definition has been recently updated in a new revision of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Recommendation N°331.
“A Single Window is defined as a facility providing trade facilitation that allows parties involved in trade and transport to lodge standardized information and documents with a single entry point to fulfil all import, export, and transit-related regulatory requirements. Individual data elements should only be submitted once electronically.”
If a National Single Window has been developed in line with UNECE Recommendations N°33, 34 and 35, and it fully or partially ceases to function, this would result in considerable losses in international trade. These losses would be of “systemic importance” to an economy. In other words, the failure of the Single Window facility could potentially trigger an economic crisis.
The basic principles (outlined in section 3 of this White Paper) are meant to serve as universal benchmarks to help design Systemically Important Single Windows that are resilient and globally efficient. These principles should be of particular importance to Governments because of the effort required to improve and facilitate foreign trade procedures in order to promote a nation’s position in international markets. Indeed, the establishment of a Single Window can improve the trade environment, making the country more attractive for trade flows and foreign investment.
The supply chain of today is much more complex than it has ever been, yet the data flows are still built around traditional paper-based processes that no longer satisfy today’s requirements. The need for accurate, timely data through a supply chain is now a standard requirement from the commercial sector, yet the data provided by multiple parties is often re-keyed several times, typically open to interpretation or watering down to populate various types of documents that are passed between parties to support regulatory, financial or operational requirements. This is often done without consideration of where those documents will go or who will use them and for what purpose beyond the initial recipient.
This document-based approach does not adequately support today’s requirements. With the increased automation that businesses are implementing into their warehouses and the advancements made in artificial intelligence (AI) and predictive analytics, the quality, timing and accuracy of data is more important than ever.
The intention of this paper is to facilitate and encourage the creation of a trusted transboundary environment for the international legally significant exchange of electronic documents and data between public authorities, and natural and/or legal persons. This paper is intended for those parties interested in the establishment, operation and practical usage of such transboundary infrastructures.
The Internet has become a habitual tool and environment for obtaining electronic services for individuals and entities of various states. The advantages of such services are evident, but a number of organizational and legal issues prevent their widespread use in cases where parties require a certain degree of confidence in each other, and in the electronic services they use. One of the main issues is ensuring the legal validity of e-
documents and the legal significance of electronic interaction in general. This problem is urgent on both the national level (within single jurisdictions) and the transboundary level (where interactions occur between participants acting under the jurisdiction of different states).