UNCEFACT Trade Facilitation in the WTO Context Mike

UN/CEFACT Trade Facilitation in the WTO Context Mike Doran - CERN, UN/CEFACT Vice Chair & Tom Butterly - UNECE Geneva, 26 May 2005 UNITED NATIONS CENTRE FOR TRADE FACILITATION AND ELECTRONIC BUSINESS United Nations Economic Commission for Europe

Agenda 1. UN/CEFACT 2. International Trade Transaction Process 3. Trade Facilitation & e. Business Standards 4. UN/CEFACT Instruments Related to GATT Articles VIII and X 5. Capacity Building and Implementation UN/CEFACT

International Standards – The UN Role The United Nations promotes trade for its potential to foster economic development and eradicate poverty UNECE develops, maintains and leads the implementation of trade-related recommendations, standards and tools This activity is carried out through UN/CEFACT (the United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business) which is open to the participation of any business or government UNECE developed standards are open and technology neutral, and will cater to the needs of large or small companies and of developed and developing countries alike. UN/CEFACT

UN/CEFACT Mission To deliver trade facilitation recommendations & ebusiness standards which can improve the ability of business, trade and administrative organizations within developed, developing and transitional economies, to trade products and relevant services more effectively and so contribute to the growth of global commerce. Focus The worldwide facilitation of national AND international trade transactions, through the simplification and harmonization of business processes, procedures and information flows. UN/CEFACT

UN/CEFACT’s Future Strategy UN/CEFACT

UN/CEFACT Programme of Work Details all the specific work items of UN/CEFACT o o o Project Title Description Target Audience Target Date for Completion Link to CTIED Programme of Work Lead Group Submitted for approval of the UN/CEFACT Plenary in June UN/CEFACT

Agenda 1. UN/CEFACT 2. International Trade Transaction Process 3. Trade Facilitation & e. Business Standards 4. UN/CEFACT Instruments Related to GATT Articles VIII and X 5. Capacity Building and Implementation UN/CEFACT

International Trade Transaction Process Intermediary Customer BUY SHIP PAY Supplier Authority The International Trade Transaction Process consists of integrated and coordinated flows of information, goods & payments Source: UN/CEFACT International Supply Chain Reference Model UN/CEFACT

INTERNATIONAL TRADE TRANSACTION PROCESS SHIP BUY Prepare For Export Transport PAY Prepare For Import INVOLVES • • Commercial Procedures Transport Procedures Regulatory Procudures Establish Contract Order Goods Advise On Delivery Request Payment • Establish Transport Contract • Collect, Transport and Deliver Goods • Provide Waybills, Goods Receipts Status reports etc. • Obtain Import/Export Licences etc • Provide Customs Declarations • Provide Cargo Declaration • Apply Trade Security Procedures • Clear Goods for Export/Import Financial Procedures • • • Provide Credit Rating Provide Insurance Provide Credit Execute Payment Issue Statements UN/CEFACT

Agenda 1. UN/CEFACT 2. International Trade Transaction Process 3. Trade Facilitation & e. Business Standards 4. UN/CEFACT Instruments Related to GATT Articles VIII and X 5. Capacity Building and Implementation UN/CEFACT

UN/CEFACT Instruments - UN Layout Key for Trade Documents - UN/EDIFACT - UNe. Docs - eb. XML - Single Window - Compendium of Trade Facilitation Recommendations UN/CEFACT

e. Business Standards Development ag. XML XAML c. XML IATA OTA Rosettanet CIDX GCI HL 7 x. BRL Bolero SMDG EHD GML SWIFT PIDX x. CBL UBL VICS Togaf UNe Doc HRXML BSML Open trans Acord Econstruct CAT XML x. Cat Need for a common, agreed, international standard! UN/CEFACT

eb. XML UN/CEFACT + OASIS Combining 30 yrs trade facilitation, 15 yrs of traditional EDI and 20 yrs of SGML electronic documentation standards Launched in Canberra September 1999 eb. XML is now ISO 15000 UN/CEFACT

Agenda 1. UN/CEFACT 2. International Trade Transaction Process 3. Trade Facilitation & e. Business Standards 4. UN/CEFACT Instruments Related to GATT Articles VIII and X 5. Capacity Building and Implementation UN/CEFACT

GATT Article VIII (Fees &) Formalities Connected with Import/Export v Recognizes the need to minimize the incidence and complexity of import and export related formalities and documentary requirements UN/CEFACT

Proposals on Article VIII Standardization of Trade Documents using international standards (many countries) Use of UN Layout Key (UN/CEFACT Recommendation 1) – Korea, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland Establishment of a repository or bank of trade documents - New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland Standardization of Data Elements Single Window (one time submission, one agency, single entry point) – Peru, Korea, Japan, Mongolia UN/CEFACT

Article VIII: UNECE Instruments available United Nations Layout Key for Trade Documents (UNLK/ ISO 6422) - most key trade documents UN Trade Data Element Directory (UNTDED) Codes: UN/LOCODE, Currency, Modes of Transport, ISO Country Code. . . UN/EDIFACT UN e. Docoments for trade (UNe. Docs) UN/CEFACT

Mode of transport Destination

United Nations Standards for Trade Documents… SAD UN/CEFACT

UN/CEFACT

Article VIII: UNECE Instruments available Recommendation and Guidelines on establishing a Single Window (UN/CEFACT Recommendation 33) Repository of Single Window Implementations: http: //www. unece. org/cefact/recommendations/ rec 33/sw_present_cases. htm Standards for Single Windows - September ‘ 05 UN/CEFACT

Article VIII: UNECE Instruments available UN/CEFACT Recommendation 18 (Facilitation Measures related to the simplification of International Trade Procedures) UN/CEFACT Recommendations 4 (TF Pro Committees) UN/CEFACT

Article X: Publication & Administration of Trade Regulations Imposes obligations regarding: v v v Transparency and Predictability – publish trade laws, regulations etc promptly and in an accessible manner Not to enforce measures prior to publishing Impartiality in administration of laws, regulations and administrative rulings of general application UN/CEFACT

Proposals on Article X Use of the Internet for publishing Single Window (one stop service, single entry point, single inquiry point) – Canada, China, European Community, Hong Kong China, Japan, Korea, Mongolia, Peru, Establishment of consultative mechanism between trade and government (several) UN/CEFACT

Article X: UNECE Instruments available Recommendation and Guidelines on establishing a Single Window (UN/CEFACT Recommendation 33) UN/CEFACT Recommendations 4 (TF Pro Committees) UN/CEFACT

Agenda 1. UN/CEFACT 2. International Trade Transaction Process 3. Trade Facilitation & e. Business Standards 4. UN/CEFACT Instruments Related to GATT Articles V, VIII and X 5. Capacity Building and Implementation UN/CEFACT

Capacity Building Approach Help countries to understand our recommendations and standards and where they can fit their needs One Size does not fit all – but standards essential National and Regional strategies Partnership approach National Experience UN/CEFACT

UNECE UN/CEFACT Recommendations / Standards Development and Maintenance UNECE in partnership with other organizations Capacity Building (Helping governments elaborate a national TF strategy) UNCTAD, WB, UNIDO, etc Technical Assistance (Donors decide what is to be done) - UNECE does not provide long term TA WTO UNECE’s role is to create the standards through participation of UN member States and the business community in UN/CEFACT Working Groups. We engage in an active Capacity Building programme to help countries understand how best to implement these standards, given their unique needs, priorities and resources while other organizations assist in long –term technical assistance (UNCTAD, WB etc). The WTO sets the rules

Capacity Building and Cooperation UN Development Account Project on Trade Facilitation A PP R O A C H Implementation, with all five Regional Commissions (ECE, ECA, ESCWA, ESCAP, ECLAC) – 2005 to 2007 15 Regional Workshops (3 in ECE, 2 of which in CIS) 2. 2 Inter-regional Workshops (one in Geneva) 3. African Group Workshop (March 2005) 4. Asia and the Pacific Region (March 2005) 5. Latin and Central America Region (July 2005) PA R TN ER SH IP 1. Single Window Workshop (September 2005) Global Facilitation Partnership (GFP) – World Bank, UNCTAD, WCO. . . WTO UN/CEFACT

Capacity Building Tools § § § Tool for the Alignment of Trade Documents Repository of Aligned Trade Documents Repository of Single Window Implementations Guide to Trade Facilitation Implementation Benchmarking Guide Case Studies of PPP in TF Implementation UN/CEFACT

A Policy Framework for Paperless Trade UN Forum on Paperless Trade, Geneva 20, 21 st June 2005 o UN High Level Stakeholder Group National and Regional Capacity Building o o o in cooperation with UN Regional Commissions UNe. Docs Regional Competence Centre joint project plan with ESCAP UN/CEFACT

Summary Points Trade Facilitation key element in Trade and Economic Development UN/CEFACT instruments provide a solid foundation for implementation UN/CEFACT Capacity building programme working with key partners to assist in these efforts Strong momentum now for more and better implementation UN/CEFACT

. . now we have to make trade facilitation happen! UN/CEFACT

THANK YOU ! tom. butterly@unece. org UN/CEFACT

Follow-up · All UNECE Recommendations, codes, standards and publications are available for free on our website at: o o o www. unece. org/trade www. unece. org/cefact/ www. unece. org/etrades/unedocs/ UN/CEFACT