News
Displaying Results 126 - 150 of 235
In the garment and footwear industry, worth 2.4 trillion USD, brands are increasingly confronted with the rise of the “conscious consumer”, who questions the environmental footprint of clothes and the social conditions in garment factories and calls for greater transparency and sustainability.…
The world’s 32 Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs) face high transport and trade costs due to challenges including the lack of direct access to sea ports, multiple border crossings, complex administrative transit and border procedures, and limited institutional capacities. However, taking…
USD 1.5 billion – that’s the annual saving in logistics costs in Thailand following an investment of USD 7.5 million in setting up a national Single Window, based on UN/CEFACT Recommendations.Speeding up border crossing for trade with tools like Single Windows – which make it easier to input all…
Gender imbalance in the development and implementation of standards hampers progress towards the achievement of the Agenda 2030 and undermines their potential as powerful instruments for sustainable development. To address the fundamental lack of representation of women in standardization, UNECE…
In recent years, UNECE’s Working Party on Agricultural Quality Standards (WP.7) has worked on gender equality and diversity, with advances and tangible results achieved in many areas including the dried fruit industry in Central Asia, inclusion of more women in standardization and implementation…
UNECE, the World Bank and the European Commission have joined forces with the Customs service of North Macedonia and the other Western Balkan countries to improve the region’s trade connectivity with the European Union. Six Western Balkan countries have requested a World Bank project in support…
With rapidly growing competition for resources and increasing waste and pollution, the need to move towards an inclusive circular economic system is growing. A circular economy has the incentives and means to use existing resources in an efficient and sustainable fashion – relying on…
UN member States are moving towards more seamless and efficient trading environments, within and beyond their national borders. In general, countries across the globe have made the formalities in international trading simpler and increasingly digital or electronic. The key preliminary findings…
High-level decision makers from Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan have come together for strengthened action to harness trade as a driver of sustainable development.Under the auspices of the Trade Working Group of the United Nations Special…
Forest tree nuts and dried fruits can contribute to the sustainable use of natural resources as well as livelihoods of producers, supporting cross-cutting progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). More than 1.6 billion people, mostly in developing countries, depend on forests…
Optimizing the combination of different modes of transport for the movement of goods can bring significant efficiency gains. Supporting improved data sharing between transport modes is crucial to unlock this potential.UNECE and its subsidiary body – the United Nations Centre for Trade…
UNECE and the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) agreed on enhancing their cooperation for the use of international semantic standards for trade data exchange, thus contributing to the establishment of common basis for trade information sharing in the broader European space. At a UNECE-EEC…
How can blockchain technology help to capitalize on the opportunities of smart cities for sustainable development?Aiming to harness this potential, start-ups from ten countries congregated in the Palais des Nations this week as part of the 25th Session of the UN/CEFACT Plenary, coinciding…
How can the digital revolution in technologies help to overcome challenges in implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development?This was at the heart of debates at the 33rd UN/CEFACT Forum (United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business) held in Geneva on 1-5 April.…
Technology is evolving faster than ever before in human history. We are at the intersection of several cutting-edge technologies that are redefining interactions between the physical and virtual world, driving disruption and enabling new business models. Thought-leaders and practitioners…
Blockchain, a form of Distributed Ledger Technology, is providing new frontiers of innovation for sustainable development through decentralized authentication processes secured by cryptography. Blockchain technologies have developed rapidly over the last few years and have the potential to…
Over the last few years, Tajikistan has strengthened its efforts to make international trade easier, boost exports and achieve more inclusive growth. UNECE, through its UN Centre for Trade Facilitation and e-Business (UN/CEFACT), has been a steadfast partner in this effort. However, further…
There are about 162.8 million micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the world. More than 500 million people are employed in these enterprises. However, these companies face many barriers to participating in international trade, also missing out on opportunities in the booming global…
Trade and transport physical flows of goods are moving more and more towards the use of electronic data exchange to replace the paper flow of information. Electronic messages are being proposed from all sides often, independently from each other, developed within a bubble of their individual…
In September, last year, on the day of the opening of the Milano Fashion Week, The New York Times published an investigation shedding a disturbing light on the practices of several renowned clothing brands in South Italy. Finishing a luxury coat, sold for 800-2000 €, requires some 4-5 hours of…
Food loss and waste occurs throughout the entire supply chain, from production to consumer, at almost every node of the chain. The gigantic amount of 1.6 billion tonnes of food worth USD 1.2 trillion is lost every year, according to FAO. The Boston Consulting Group, in its 2018 report, presented…
Interoperability of Single Window and other IT systems that simplify international trade procedures can only be achieved by using harmonized standards for data sharing.Azerbaijan has already developed a quite advanced Single Window system, which is particularly important since the country does…
Illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing accounts for one-fourth of all fish catches and costs a staggering USD 23 billion to legitimate fishers every year. This threatens fish stocks, ocean biodiversity and the economic security of fishing communities. Sustainable Development Goal (…
UNECE has launched a project to support Belarus in assessing its readiness to implement the measures in the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA), identify gaps, and draft a work plan to implement not yet fulfilled measures. Any country aspiring to join the WTO now will have to implement the…
Thailand is one of the top fish producing nations in the world, with an average maritime catch of 2.048 million tonnes per year, and the fisheries sector accounting for 1.2% and 9.9% of the national GDP and the agricultural GDP, respectively (FAO 2008). Combating illegal, unreported and…