United
Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) back
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1.1 UNCTAD became involved in trade facilitation
work in 1970 when it was agreed, within the ECE context, on the need
for facilitation work to be co-ordinated on a global basis and for
the existing technical functions of the United Nations to be
strengthened in this area. The regional economic commissions agreed
that the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) provided an
appropriate framework for an interregional project to be attached to
UNCTAD. As the work expanded, it became necessary to separate the
UNDP-financed technical assistance activities and the substantive
UNCTAD secretariat work. In 1973, UNCTAD and the ECE agreed that
UNCTAD would provide secretariat technical expertise on a global
basis. In 1975, a separate unit in the secretariat was established
called the Special Programme on Trade Facilitation (FALPRO).
1.2 FALPRO (which was subsequently absorbed by
the Special Programme on Trade Efficiency - see below) did not
report to any of the bodies within UNCTAD's permanent organization
structure and was not part of UNCTAD's policy or negotiation work.
Its attachment with UNCTAD enabled it to work globally with the
regional economic commissions, particularly the UN/ECE, and with the
International Trade Centre (ITC). The original terms of reference of
FALPRO essentially aimed at ensuring the full participation of
developing countries in international trade facilitation work and in
dealing with facilitation matters cross-sectorally with other UNCTAD
programmes such as the commodity agreements; generalized system of
preferences; transport work; harmonization of customs procedures,
etc. The means to achieve this were to create representative
national facilitation bodies and to arrange training of officials
from the countries concerned in order to enable them to carry out
trade facilitation work in their own countries and to participate in
international meetings.
1.3 In 1992, at the UNCTAD VIII Cartegena
Conference(1), it was agreed that an Expert Working Group on Trade
Efficiency be established within UNCTAD. While taking due account of
work done in other international organizations, the Group
"would seek to support, accelerate and enhance these
initiatives...The Group would produce guidelines needed to take
concrete steps towards trade efficiency at the national and
international levels, especially in developing countries...The
culmination of the work of the group would be an international
symposium on trade efficiency, which was to be held in 1994."(2)
The symposium was to reinforce international discussion on the
promotion of harmonized national and regional infrastructures for
trade and trade efficiency. At the secretariat level, UNCTAD's work
in the context of the inter-secretarial FALPRO was incorporated into
the Special Programme for Trade Efficiency (SPTE). In the 1996
re-organization of UNCTAD, SPTE was transformed into the Division of
Services Infrastructure for Development and Trade Efficiency (SITE)
and trade facilitation activities fall under its Trade Facilitation
Section. The objective of SITE is to simplify and harmonize trade
procedures world-wide and give governments and traders access to
advanced technologies and information networks.
1.4 At the conclusion of UNCTAD X in Bangkok, the
Plan of Action(3) of the Bangkok Declaration(4) provides a new mandate for
the UNCTAD secretariat, in particular regarding transport, trade
facilitation and e-commerce:
-
150. UNCTAD’S work should focus on its
comparative advantage in the fields of the applied economics of
transport, trade facilitation and multimodal transport. UNCTAD must
treat problems relating to the provision of, and access to,
international transport services as an integral part of
international support measures designed to enable the trade and
industry of developing countries and particularly the least
developed, land-locked and transit developing countries to
participate more effectively in the globalization processes.
-
152. In close co-operation with other relevant
international organizations, UNCTAD should continue to undertake
studies on the implementation of multimodal transport rules.
-
156. UNCTAD should contribute to informing
international debates on the developmental impact of global
information networks addressing, in particular, developing countries’
specific problems, such as access to information technology,
infrastructure constraints and build-up of human resource
capacity".
SITE carries out a wide variety of activities
which are described below.(5)
United Nations Symposium on Trade Efficiency
1.5 The United Nations International Symposium on
Trade Efficiency was held, at Ministerial level, in Columbus, Ohio,
in October 1994. The Columbus Ministerial Declaration on Trade
Efficiency(6) contains the substantive outcome of the Symposium. The
Symposium noted the signing of the Final Act of the Uruguay Round in
Marrakesh as "the successful conclusion of years of
negotiations on the macro-economic framework required for the
emergence of an open, predictable, secure and non-discriminatory
trading system. However, efforts made to secure an open trade
environment will not bear their full benefits unless the enterprises
of all nations can import and export efficiently...[delegates] have
gathered to find solutions to these micro-economic issues of
international trade".
1.6 The Symposium concluded that "adoption
of trade efficiency measures can significantly lower the costs of
trade transactions. Estimates place the costs of trade transactions
at 7 to 10 per cent of the total value of world trade". The
Columbus Ministerial Declaration put forth a set of practical
actions, recommendations and guidelines for governments,
international and national organizations and enterprises. They
addressed six areas which were considered ripe for tangible results
for international trade: customs, transport, banking and insurance,
information for trade, business practices, and telecommunications.
UNCTAD's role, as agreed at the symposium, was to act as the focal
point in the implementation of the Declaration, which would require
co-ordinated efforts by many national and international bodies,
particularly the United Nations. In particular, the symposium called
for "coordination with the GATT/WTO and all United Nations
regional economic commissions...[as] of particular importance in
facilitation of trade".
1.7 The Declaration called for, in the area of
customs, "governments, through their customs authorities, to
simplify procedures for determining customs value, which can cause
significant delays in the clearance of import consignments, through
the use of the customs valuation method prescribed in the GATT
Agreement, as administered by the Customs Co-operation Council,
which is administratively less complex than other methods currently
in use in some countries...". In addition, the Declaration
called for governments to "avoid as far as possible the use of
pre-shipment inspection agencies to carry out customs-related
activities. While recourse to such services might be a necessity in
certain circumstances, it should be regarded as an interim measure
and conducted in conformity with the provisions of the Agreement on
Preshipment Inspection annexed to the Marrakesh Agreement...".
Trade Point Programme
1.8 UNCTAD's Trade Point Programme was launched
in 1992 as part of a larger campaign towards improving trade
efficiency. Its main objective is to facilitate the access for small
and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to international markets, in
particular using newly emerging electronic commerce technologies.
Through the electronically interconnected network of Trade Points,
known as Global Trade Point Network (GTPNet)(7), in many countries of
the world, SMEs gain access to the latest information and
telecommunication technologies and services, and this enables them
to get their products known to potential customers and find business
partners in other countries. These services are provided at a
reasonable cost, with an overall objective of reducing the risk of
exclusion and increasing the participation of SMEs, particularly
from developing countries and countries in transition, in
international trade.
1.9 Trade points may be government-subsidized;
entirely private-sector operations; or mixed public-private
ventures. They may be based in such institutions as ministries,
trade promotion organizations or universities.
1.10 The Global Trade Point Network, launched at
the Columbus Symposium, is an electronic network inter-linking the
central web site of the Trade Point Programme and web sites of
individual Trade Points. It has recently undergone a substantial
renovation in order to keep pace with the most recent market and
technological trends. Evidence indicates that the proliferation of
new sites and information services on the Internet often does not
make it easier for users to find the right information. Nor does it
automatically guarantee information providers that they will find
customers. UNCTAD Trade Point administrators believe that demand
seems to emerge for: (a) quality instead of quantity of information;
(b) complete, not rudimentary information; (c) trustworthy
information, and (d) user-friendly access to information. The new
GTPNet is conceived so as to embrace these trends. The approach
chosen is based on a decentralized structure and active involvement
of Trade Points with a view to empowering them to eventually become
true owners of the system.
1.11 The redesigned Global Trade Point Network,
or GTPNet, is a database-driven Internet (with password-protected
areas) for providing international traders with up-to-the-minute
listings of potential buyers and sellers of products and services
and other trade-related information not usually available online.
The clients - most of which are small and medium-sized enterprises -
access the network through UNCTAD's "trade points", which
compile, standardize, centralize and update information on a
national or local basis.
1.12 Interactivity and decentralization are the
keywords of the new network architecture, which uses
state-of-the-art tools for uploading, downloading, automatically
updating and searching for information. On the GTPNet, information
is shared through central databases, making data retrieval easier
and faster. A full text search capability, and customized search
tools including user-defined fields for sorting and matching, are
available. Electronic trading opportunities are posted for
registered clients for an 8-day period before being listed on the
publicly accessible part of the site. All the information on each
trade point has been formatted into standardized categories and
codes, and the trade points in turn periodically verify the data on
their member enterprises.
1.13 Three types of information can be found on
the GTPNet website:
-- General information maintained by UNCTAD,
including a list of trade points world-wide, their home pages and
status, relevant guidelines and frequently asked questions;
-- Specific information on individual trade
points, providing details on their services and fees, direct
business contacts, and national trade regulations, posted by the
trade points via online secured forms or automated replication
processes; and
-- Open areas for the exchange of information,
such as electronic trading opportunities or technology developments,
and for user feedback, a discussions database, newsletters and
special announcements. A knowledge management framework will be set
up shortly to make this type of pooling of knowledge, information
and experience among trade points even easier.
1.14 There are currently more than 200 trade
points in 130 countries, of which 54 are operational.(8) As this number
continues to grow, along with the sheer volume of available business
information and quantum leaps in information technology, the GTPNet
is expected to expand even further.
1.15 The long term objective is for the Trade
Points to become self-sustainable and to take the ownership of the
GTPNet. The forthcoming VI World Wide Trade Point Meeting that will
be held from 6 to 10 November 2000 in Geneva, will be a great
opportunity to strengthen and institutionalize the growing community
of Trade Points.
ASYCUDA(9)
1.16 As concerns technical assistance under the
SITE, the ASYCUDA customs software program is the largest technical
assistance project in UNCTAD. The core of the program is a computer
software program which, since 1985, has been installed in over 80
developing and transition economies throughout the world. It is
designed to streamline and reduce customs forms and procedures and
is based on and incorporates UN/ECE and WCO Recommendations and
Standards, (including those related to the Document Layout Key),
codes and other standards. The basic idea is to rid the customs
system of outdated procedures, practices and incorporate
international practices and standards in order to increase the
country's customs revenue through reduced costs and faster
clearance. The first program was developed by UNCTAD in 1983 on
micro computers. Since then, the program has been updated and
revised numerous times to improve capacity and performance. The
software can be adjusted to each country's customs valuation
methodology and translated into its official language.
1.17 A new improved version of ASYCUDA (ASYCUDA++)
offers the traditional core features, i.e. system administration,
national configuration, tariff and masterfile maintenance, cargo
manifest handling, declaration processing and accounting. In
addition, ASYCUDA++ offers to users a number of important new
features: one of the most important enhancements is the full
implementation of the European Single Administrative Document (SAD).
The system also has the technical ability to introduce new
declaration formats based on other regional declaration standards.
The concept of direct trader input (DTI) offers important advantages
to customs and brokers who can now enter a number of declarations
locally before establishing the connection to customs to submit them
for processing; the concept of direct shipper input (DSI) offers
similar advantages to customs and shippers who can now enter the
manifest information in their offices and transmit it to customs for
processing; external system communication can be done through UN/EDIFACT
messages; and a modern and user friendly tariff language has been
developed enabling customs to maintain their tariff rules and
calculation algorithms without the need to do any programming or
recompilation of any part of the system; this language can access
all declaration data elements and link them with formulas using
standard logical and mathematical functions. A flexible selectivity
module provides customs with a powerful tool to significantly
accelerate the goods clearance process while at the same time
improving its control capacity; it efficiently selects consignments
for inspection through selection criteria (including a random rate)
which can be maintained at national, regional and local levels. Full
auditability of the transaction files provide an additional tool to
tighten the functional security of the system.
ASYCUDA and transit issues
1.18 In May 1997, UNCTAD called an expert meeting
on the use of information technologies to make transit arrangements
more effective. The main objective of this meeting was to provide
opportunities to experts to assess information technologies for
facilitating transit transport operations, strengthening customs
transit control and simplifying customs transit procedures.
1.19 The meeting’s recommendations highlight
that "UNCTAD should in co-operation with all other interested
parties, work towards developing a transit module, in the context of
ASYCUDA and ACIS."(10) Furthermore, "the transit module could
cover all functions of customs control and transport monitoring of
transit goods from the beginning to the completion of the transit
operation, including the release of securities where
appropriate."
1.20 As a result of the expert meeting, ASYCUDA
++ has been enhanced to include a new module for the management of
transit procedures (the MODTRS module). A release of this module was
issued for live testing in selected user countries in April 1999 and
the fully operational module was included in an upgraded version of
the software (version 1.15) and delivered to all the user countries.
1.21 This module handles three transit documents,
namely the T1, the TIR carnet and the First Identification Procedure
(FIP). It is usable for all the types of transit as defined in the
Kyoto Convention covering the movements from the:
-- border office of entry to an inland office
(Import transit);
-- border office of entry to a border office of
exit (Through transit);
-- inland office to a border office of exit
(Export transit);
--
inland office to another inland office
(Internal transit).
1.22 The three documents are different and
present specific features but all apply the following principle: the
system allows for data capture by the traders using the DTI module
and/or by the customs officers. Upon validation of the document a
message is automatically transmitted to the office of destination
using the appropriate ASYCUDA software, A++ GATE, (ASYCUDA Global
Access to Trade Efficiency), through the national telecommunication
network. This message informs the office of destination that a cargo
should arrive within a given time period. When the cargo arrives at
destination the transit message is retrieved, the transaction is
closed and a release message automatically broadcast to the office
of departure. This functionality gives customs complete and timely
information on all operations.
1.23 The module works satisfactorily on a
national scale and it has been recently enhanced by the development
of new functions such as the re-routing (change the office of
destination). As customs receive in advance complete and timely
information on all the operations and there is no need for re-keying
at the office of destination, processing delays are tremendously
reduced at borders, thus facilitating trade.
1.24 The system is technically designed for
permitting future extension to cover the international transit
operations (data exchange of messages between countries).
Bilateral and regional transit agreements
1.25 Since the mid-1970s UNCTAD has offered
technical assistance to help land-locked developing countries and
their transit neighbours to intensify their co-operative
arrangements for the development of transit infrastructure,
institutions and services in order to facilitate faster movement of
goods in transit. This assistance is based on the recognition that
high transit transport costs are a major disadvantage to landlocked
developing countries and economies in transition; moreover, long,
unpredictable transit times undermine the competitiveness of many
developing countries.
1.26 The Meeting of Governmental Experts from
Land-locked and Transit Developing Countries and Representatives of
Donor Countries and Financial and Development Institutions, which
meets once every two years, has provided a forum for interactive
debates and its conclusions and recommendations for action at the
national, regional and international levels have been transmitted
for review and endorsement by the General Assembly of the United
Nations.
1.27 Priority areas of work where achievements
have been made include: assistance in negotiating and/or
implementing bilateral and regional transit agreements and
arrangements; streamlining and harmonizing administrative and
customs procedures and documentation; assistance in implementing
policies and procedures to reduce transit costs; and assistance in
institution building and human resource development in the transit
sector.
1.28 Much of UNCTAD’s earlier technical
assistance support work was concentrated in Africa, but more
recently, assistance has been extended to other countries and
regions, notably, the newly independent and developing states in
Central Asia where, in co-operation with the Economic Co-operation
Organization (ECO) a Transit Transport Framework Agreement was
adopted (1998). A similar agreement between the People’s Republic
of China, Mongolia and Russia is currently being negotiated with
assistance from UNCTAD. UNCTAD continues to work closely with
regional integration groupings (ECOWAS, COMESA, SADC, ECO etc.),
which play a major role in promoting regional standards, procedures,
documentation and practices designed to facilitate faster movements
of goods in transit.(11)
Transport
1.29 The transport sector has received the most
attention of all sectors of economic activity in UNCTAD's trade
facilitation work. In particular, UNCTAD promotes the
implementation, through advisory services as well as technical
assistance and training activities, of the concept of National Trade
and Transport Facilitation Committees (NTTFC) along the lines
suggested in the UN-ECE/CEFACT Recommendation No.4.(12) These committees
bring together representatives of public and private parties
concerned with international trade and transport facilitation in a
country, i.e. governmental entities, services providers, and
transport users. Established as a consultative body, an NTTFC serves
as a national forum to establish formalities, procedures and
documentation used in international transport and trade; its mandate
is to prepare recommendations and advise on domestic and foreign
policy matters related to the development of trade and transport
through proposals to the institutions concerned and to the executive
branch of the government. UNCTAD and the Latin American Association
for Integration (ALADI) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to
promote jointly the creation of NTTFCs in Latin America. In a
particular sub-region these committees can serve as focal points to
monitor and co-ordinate regional activities on trade facilitation.
1.30 Other activities in the transport area have
concentrated on the increasingly multimodal transport operations of
transport services, on the use of different terms of shipment (e.g.
cif, fob) with special emphasis on shipping and ports. The latter
work is often coordinated with the International Maritime
Organization (IMO), which concentrates on technical and safety
problems in shipping and ports. The technical assistance focuses on
advice, management assistance and training with regard to economics
and management of shipping, and shipping companies, including
corporate planning and fleet operation. It provides advice on the
implementation of conventions negotiated under UNCTAD and on
maritime administration and maritime law. With regard to ports,
UNCTAD's assistance has concentrated on both the economic and
commercial aspects. This includes port operations, administration
and organization (including legislation and regulations), financial
management, cost control and information systems.
ACIS
1.31 UNCTAD has developed and is installing a
transport management tool called the Advance Cargo Information
System, or ACIS. The objective is to counter the high cost of
transportation resulting from extended door-to-door transit times.
ACIS is a set of computer applications designed to produce
management information to address multimodal cargo transit and
transport problems. ACIS has four main modules, each tracking cargo
on a mode or interface: rail (RailTracker), port (PortTracker),
lake/rivers (Lake/RiverTracker) and road (RoadTracker). These
modules are linked together through the Backbone Information System
which can interface with ASYCUDA. These, in turn, have sub-modules
performing different, but inter-related functions, especially with
regard to statistics and performance indicators. ACIS provides
improved information to help control the operations of individual
transport operators and facilitate rational corporate planning. It
is also a database facility available to parties registered as
having an interest in a consignment and its transportation,
providing them with the latest reported location and status of goods
and transport equipment. As a long term record of transport movement
data, it permits governments and institutions to analyze national,
sub-regional and regional problems and investigate alternative
investment opportunities in the transport sector.
1.32 ACIS PortTracker and RailTracker modules
have been installed in 15 countries and the system is currently
being implemented in another five countries. Project documents are
presently under negotiation with a number of Far East Asian
Countries (Sri Lanka, Mongolia, Vietnam, Thailand), and
implementation in Nigeria, Brazil and Lebanon should start in
September 2000. Installation in the Port of Bandar-Abbas in the
Islamic Republic of Iran, after an international meeting in Tehran,
could constitute the first step to an extension to ECO and Arabic
countries.
TRAINFORTRADE(13)
1.33 The TRAINFORTRADE programme aims at
strengthening training capacities in developing countries,
particularly in the least developed countries (LDCs), in the fields
of international trade and trade-related services.
1.34 To intensify the training activities in the
field of legal aspects of electronic commerce, especially for
developing countries and their SMEs, a new TRAINFORTRADE course on
"Legal and regulatory aspects of electronic commerce" is
currently under preparation.
United
Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN/ECE)
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2.1 Work on trade facilitation activities began
in the ECE in 1960, following a 1959 initiative from the Nordic
countries, when it was decided to set up a Group of Experts to
explore ways in which export documents could be simplified and
standardized. In 1971, the trade facilitation work was reorganized
into the newly established Working Party on the Facilitation of
International Trade Procedures, also referred to as Working Party 4
or WP.4. Its activities were concentrated in two areas, each carried
out in a group of experts (GE.1 and GE.2):
"the analysis of trade 'formalities' and
procedures as embodied in information requirements (whether legal,
administrative, commercial or operational) of participants in
international trade; and
the development of improved transmission methods
(computerized processing and tele-transmission) for trade
information which could replace traditional paper documents."
2.2 Participants included representatives from
the ECE member governments, representatives from national trade
facilitation bodies, major international organizations as well as
countries not members of the ECE.(14)
2.3 The work of the two expert groups has been
oriented towards the following trade facilitation objectives:
- seeking improvements in trade procedures in
order to assist governments and trade participants to be more
efficient and effective while also minimizing delays and
costs...thus reducing 'artificial' barriers to increased
participation in world trade;
- reducing the cost of the paperwork used in
trade by seeking, in cooperation with the interests and authorities
involved, the reduction, simplification and international
harmonization of the information and documents required for foreign
trade;
- standardizing the formats (whether electronic
or paper) used in transaction information flows for administration,
commerce and transport at an international level;
- ensuring that the information flows related to
the distribution of goods and services facilitate and do not impede
national industrial development or growth in external trade.
2.4 In February 1997, WP.4 was reorganized into
the Centre for Facilitation of Procedures and Practices for
Administration, Commerce and Transport (CEFACT) by decision of the
Committee on the Development of Trade. In March 2000 considering
that trade facilitation and electronic business were central to the
remit of the UN/ECE and to achieve improved world-wide coordination
of trade facilitation, UN/ECE modified the Centre’s name into the
Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (UN/CEFACT)
which reflected its new focus.(15) UN/CEFACT reorganized the work of the
WP.4 in order to streamline decision-making, leverage collaborative
efforts and delegate technical decision to field experts. It works
through informal technical groups; allows the full participation of
non-ECE countries, interested international organizations and
recognized NGOs within its meetings and management structure; and
makes use of focal points in interested UN Regional Commissions and
an inter-secretariat task force of the ECE, UNCTAD and the ITC. UN/CEFACT
also co-operates with private business and other intergovernmental
organizations which participate directly in its work.
2.5
UN/CEFACT has produced 28 UN/ECE Trade
Facilitation Recommendations(16),
developed over the past 37 years.
Several of these recommendations have been adopted by the
International Standards Organization (ISO) as ISO international
standards. The first Recommendation was the United Nations Layout
Key which essentially establishes a set of rules on how national
trade documents should be formulated. Before its implementation, the
information on the numerous documents needed for trade was scattered
in different places on different forms without any uniform system.
Implementation, which intensified in the 1970's, saw the forms
printed on the same size of paper with common items of information
occupying the same relative position on each form. In the area of
trade procedures, the Recommendation 18 "Facilitation measures
related to international trade procedures" is to be noted. It
covers, inter alia, some aspects of customs procedures and
pre-shipment inspection. UN/CEFACT is currently reviewing and
updating this recommendation. UN/CEFACT has also developed a
Compendium of Trade Facilitation Recommendations which is currently
under revision and is intended to be used as a reference by those
engaged in the process of simplifying, harmonizing and rationalizing
trade procedures and practices.
2.6 As a result of the work on the UN Layout Key,
the importance of structured trade and business data was recognized.
This resulted in the development of standardized codes and data
elements for use in both paper and electronic based information
exchange. These standards are compiled in a publication called the
UN Trade Data Element Directory (UNTDED), as well as in some
Recommendations. Volume I contains definitions of data elements
including UN/EDIFACT and is an ISO standard (ISO 7372), which is
jointly maintained by the ECE and the ISO central Secretariat.
Volume III contains the ECE Recommendations(17).
Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)
2.7 The use of computers to carry out buying and
selling between individuals, individuals and companies, and
companies and companies, known as electronic commerce, has
contributed significantly to facilitating international commerce
because it is reducing the amount of paperwork that is related to
doing business. This can be done through the Internet, the World
Wide Web, E-mail and Electronic Data Interchange (EDI). EDI can be
defined as the "structured exchange of data between
applications in different companies." A structured message is
formatted according to a predefined arrangement of putting the
information into a file. On paper, this would be a "form."
In EDI, the format used in general is called UN/EDIFACT or the
United Nations Electronic Data Interchange for Administration,
Commerce and Transport.
2.8
UN/EDIFACT is an international standard for
the formatting and sequencing of data for EDI. It was developed
through the work of WP.4 to develop an international standard to
replace the two regional standards, which had emerged in the United
States and in Europe and whose incompatibility with each other was
creating difficulties for international trade. The UN/EDIFACT is
"a set of standards, directories and guidelines for the
electronic interchange of structured data, in particular related to
trade in goods or services, between independent computerized systems
in different organisations, irrespective of the type of computer or
software used". In other words, EDI is used for the automation
of data exchange.
2.9 Within the work programme of UN/CEFACT there
are activities for the review, monitoring and evaluation of on-going
developments in the information technology area in order to
incorporate appropriate new technologies, such as those related to
Electronic Commerce, into its work. Recommendation 25 (adopted by
the UN Economic and Social Council as a UN Recommendation in July
1997) encourages the use of UN/EDIFACT by governments in their
administrations and in their EDI communications with the private
sector. A description of the technical aspects of EDI and UN/EDIFACT
is included as Annex II of this note. Recently, in order to take
advantage of information technology, UN/CEFACT decided to asses the
use of internet technology and new techniques and methodologies to
transfer data in line with the work done over the years (UN/CEFACT’s
Strategy for Electronic Business, document TRADE/CEFACT/2000/21,
February 2000).
Other work of
UN/ECE
2.10 Another area relates to legal issues arising
from trade facilitation initiatives and is based on the recognition
that the removal of legal impediments is a key requirement to enable
global trade to develop and be facilitated. In carrying out its
legal work programme, UN/CEFACT liases with other organizations,
particularly the UN Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL)
and the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). In March 2000 the
UN/CEFACT Plenary approved a recommendation on the Electronic
Commerce Agreement that proposes a model for a contractual approach
of electronic commerce operations. This approach takes into
consideration the need for a framework of basic provisions to be
agreed by business entities combined with the flexibility required
to conduct day-to-day commercial transactions.
2.11 The
UN/CEFACT International Trade
Procedures Working Group (ITPWG) is dedicated to identify,
simplify, harmonize and align public and private sector practices,
procedures and information flows relating to international trade
transactions both in goods and related services. Its key
deliverables are:
-- development of relevant instruments and
recommendations for trade facilitation, and proposals for revision,
amendment or abolition of these recommendations, in co-operation
with the other working groups;
-- evaluation of the state and progress in the
implementation of trade facilitation measures; systematic review and
monitoring of the implementation of trade facilitation
Recommendations; notification to other working groups of constraints
identified in the field of international trade procedures;
-- contributions in support of and to influence
related work in other relevant intergovernmental and
non-governmental organizations; and
-- provision of relevant know-how, educational
and promotional material.
2.12 The
UN/CEFACT Business Process Analysis
Working Group (BPAWG) is dedicated to the analysis of current
business processes, identification of constraints and the
development of proposals for appropriate changes to business
processes. Its key deliverables are:
-- analyses of business processes relevant to the
mission and objectives of UN/CEFACT using the common descriptive
techniques and methodology agreed within the Centre;
-- identification of constraints to more
effective business processes;
-- proposals, including draft Recommendations,
for more effective business processes;
-- assistance to other working groups in
understanding approved proposals in order to enable them to develop
solutions, based on these proposals, for the migration from existing
to new business processes.
World
Customs Organization (WCO)
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3.1 The World Customs Organization was founded in
1953 as the Customs Co-operation Council (CCC). Established originally
by 13 European countries, its membership has expanded to 151 members.
All aspects of the WCO’s work relate closely to questions of trade
facilitation. The WCO’s mission is to enhance the efficiency of
customs administrations in the areas of compliance with trade
regulations, protection of society and revenue collection. The WCO's
main activities include:
-- examination of the technical aspects of
customs systems, as well as the related economic factors, and
promotion of communication and co-operation among Members and with
other international organizations;
-- fostering of human resource development and
of improvements in the management and working methods of customs
administrations and the sharing of best practices;
-- preparation of draft conventions and other
legal instruments for the harmonization and uniform application of
simplified and effective customs systems and procedures governing
the cross-border movement of commodities;
-- making recommendations to ensure the uniform
interpretation and application of conventions;
-- making recommendations for the settlement of
disputes concerning the interpretation or application of the
conventions;
-- furnishing interested governments with
information or advice on customs matters;
-- promoting co-operation between customs
administrations and between customs administrations and the
trading community to improve communication and facilitation.
3.2 While not all the aspects of the WCO's work
programme can be depicted here, the various legal instruments
established and maintained under its auspices are introduced below.
Due to the vast amount of material, not all conventions can receive
detailed treatment. However, the Kyoto Convention, as the key
convention covering customs procedures, and the Istanbul Convention on
temporary admission, are described in more detail.
International Convention on the Simplification and
Harmonization of Customs Procedures (Kyoto Convention) 1973
3.3 The Kyoto Convention, agreed in May 1973,
consists of two parts. The first is comprised of 19 Articles setting
out the general provisions essential for the implementation of the
instrument. The second consists of 31 Annexes (26 of which have
entered into force), each devoted to a specific customs procedure(18). An
Annex enters into force when five Contracting Parties have accepted
it. Each Annex consists of a set of definitions clarifying the main
customs terms used and the rules governing the implementation of the
procedure concerned. These provisions take the form either of
Standards, whose general application and incorporation in national
legislation are considered essential for harmonization and
simplification, or the form of Recommended Practices, which are
provisions recognized as constituting progress towards the
harmonization and simplification of customs procedures, and whose
application is considered to be desirable. Both categories of
provisions may be accompanied by Notes, intended to indicate ways in
which the relevant Standard or Recommended Practice might be applied.
3.4 The Kyoto Convention is open for accession by
any State, and by Customs or Economic Unions. Presently, the Kyoto
Convention has 59 Contracting Parties. The 31 Annexes are the real
instruments of harmonization of customs procedures, since they contain
the principles intended to be incorporated in national legislation. At
the time of accession to the Convention, a State has to accept at
least one Annex. Subsequently, each of the remaining Annexes can be
accepted individually. For the purposes of the rights and obligations
of a Contracting Party each of the Annexes it has accepted together
with the body of the Convention constitutes a single legal instrument.
Countries may select Annexes if they want to limit their obligations
to those particular sections of their legislation which they wish to
modernize or to align with international practice.
3.5 Contracting Parties which are not yet in a
position to implement a particular provision of an Annex can enter a
reservation in respect of that provision, indicating the differences
between the provisions of their national legislation and those of the
Standard or Recommended Practice concerned. Disputes regarding the
interpretation or application shall be settled through negotiations.
Any party may refer a dispute to the Permanent Technical Committee of
the WCO which will make recommendations on the settlement of the
dispute.
3.6 The Annexes to the Kyoto Convention, A through
J, are listed below. More detail is contained in Annex III of this
report.
Annex A: Formalities Prior to the Lodgement of the
Goods Declaration
Annex B: Clearance of Goods for Home Use
Annex C: Clearance of Goods at Exportation
Annex D: Origin of Goods
Annex E: Conditional Release Procedures and
Processing Traffic
Annex F: Special Customs Procedures
Annex G: Relations between Persons Engaged
in International Trade and the Customs administrations
Annex H: Disputes and Offences
Annex J: Customs Applications of Computers
Revised Kyoto Convention (1999)
3.7 In 1999, the WCO completed a full revision of
the 1973 Convention. The goal of the revision work was to provide
customs administrations with a modern set of uniform principles for
simple, effective and predictable customs procedures that also achieve
effective customs control. The revised Convention is intended to be
the blueprint for standard and facilitative customs procedures in the
21st century.
3.8 This revision was necessary as a result of the
radical changes in trade, transport and administrative techniques
since the Convention had originally been adopted. An additional reason
was that the Convention had not significantly resulted in the
harmonization and simplification of customs procedures world-wide. In
the modern international trade environment, the original structure of
the Convention and the limited obligations it imposed on
administrations to apply the legal provisions ran counter to the goal
of simplification and harmonization of customs procedures.
Furthermore, the original version of the Convention had only a small
number of Contracting Parties to the individual annexes, and
additionally, many Contracting Parties had entered reservations to the
legal provisions in the annexes that they had accepted.
3.9 The revision was completed in June 1999 when
the Council of the World Customs Organization adopted the revised
texts along with a Protocol of Amendment which would give effect to
the amendments once it entered into force.
3.10 The existing Articles of the Convention and
the provisions of its Annexes have been reviewed and updated to ensure
that they reflect modern procedures and address the requirements of
both the trade and customs administrations. New provisions have been
added and the texts now incorporate modern methodologies to provide a
balance between the customs functions of control and revenue
collection with that of trade facilitation. The use of information
technology and risk management techniques have been integrated into
the core of the revised Convention. These will ensure that customs are
able to carry out their responsibilities more efficiently and
effectively, and are able to facilitate the international movement of
goods while ensuring full compliance with national laws.
3.11 The key feature of the revised Convention is a
new structure consisting of a General Annex and ten Specific Annexes.
The General Annex contains the core procedures and practices for
clearance of goods that are common to all customs procedures. The
General Annex is obligatory for accession and implementation by
Contracting Parties. This key Annex contains 10 Chapters and covers
areas relating to the clearance of goods, payment of duties and taxes,
customs trade co-operation, information to be supplied by customs, and
appeals in all customs matters – areas that are of concern both to
customs administrations and to the trading community. It also covers
customs control including risk management, audit-based controls and
mutual administrative assistance between customs administrations and
with external organizations, as well as the use of information
technology which provides the key to simple procedures while ensuring
adequate customs Control.
3.12 No reservations can be entered against the
Standards and Transitional Standards of the General Annex. However, in
recognizing that many countries may not be able to commit to a number
of Standards immediately, the revised Convention provides a transition
period for the present and new Contracting Parties to make any
necessary changes in their national legislation in order to apply the
provisions. Contracting Parties will have a period of up to three
years to implement Standards and five years to implement Transitional
Standards.
3.13 The revised Convention has 10 Specific Annexes
containing a total of 25 Chapters, each dealing with a different
customs procedure. Contracting Parties are required to accede to only
those Specific Annexes and/or Chapters applied by their
administration. As in the General Annex, the Standards are obligatory
and binding on Contracting Parties accepting an Annex(es) and/or
Chapters, and there is the same transitional period for the
application of the Standards. Reservations, however, can be entered
against the Recommended Practices in the Specific Annexes.
3.14 A Management Committee which is required to
meet at least once every year will administer the revised Convention.
This will ensure that the provisions in the Convention are kept
up-to-date and, if necessary, revised at appropriate times to meet the
needs of customs and trade. The Management Committee is also empowered
to extend the time periods for implementation of the provisions of the
General Annex and Specific Annexes on request from Contracting
Parties.
3.15 The revised Convention contains comprehensive
Guidelines for each of the Annexes. It was recognized during the
revision process that implementation guidelines for simplified customs
procedures were essential if the principles contained in the
Convention were to be applied successfully by customs administrations.
Guidelines on simplification through the use of effective
control techniques and automation, which include examples of best
practices, have been developed for each procedure. The Management
Committee will regularly update these in order to provide information
on new and modern practices, which in the future will become the basis
of legal texts in the Annexes to the Convention.
3.16 The revised Convention will be brought into
force by a Protocol of Amendment. Forty of the current Contracting
Parties will have to accede to the Protocol for it to come into force.
As of July 2000, five Contracting Parties have acceded to the Protocol
and nine have signed the Protocol subject to ratification. Many other
Contracting Parties are carrying out the necessary internal
consultations and legislative processes for their accession to the
Protocol. The WCO Secretariat is conducting a number of technical
assistance missions and regional seminars to promote the revised
Convention and to assist Contracting Parties in their accession.
3.17 The text of the General Annex of the
Convention, as well as an index of its Specific Annexes can be found
in Annexes III and IV to this document.
Customs Convention on Temporary Admission
(Istanbul Convention)
3.18 The Istanbul Convention, which entered into
force on 27 November 1993, combines in one legal instrument all
existing agreements covering temporary admission of goods into one
state or customs union from another, and creates a framework for
accommodating future requirements. The Convention also provides for
the continuing use of the ATA carnet (carnet de passage en douane pour l’admission temporaire) for temporary admission and
broadens its application. It currently has 35 Contracting Parties, and
another 8 signatories subject to ratification. It is open for
accession by any state and customs or economic unions. Since it is
expected that for some time not all those implementing the ATA and CPD
(carnet de passage en douane) carnet scheme will be a
Contracting Party to the Istanbul Convention, the WCO Council adopted
a Recommendation inviting Contracting Parties to accept ATA and CPD
carnet regardless of whether they are issued under the Istanbul
Convention or other legal instruments.
3.19 The body of the Convention consists of 34
Articles representing the main principles and provisions essential for
the uniform implementation of the instrument, such as scope,
administration, accession and amendment procedures. The main
provisions foresee that each Contracting Party may require
presentation of a document and security for temporary admission;
security shall not exceed the amount of import duties and taxes from
which the goods are conditionally relieved. General minimum periods
for re-exportation of six or twelve months were agreed in specific
annexes.
3.20 The Convention has 13 Annexes, of which Annex
A (concerning temporary admission papers, ATA and CPD carnets) as well
as at least one other Annex have to be accepted by each Contracting
Party:
Annex A: concerning temporary admission papers (ATA
carnets and CPD carnets)
Annex B.1: concerning goods for display or
use at exhibitions, fairs, meetings or similar events
Annex B.2: concerning professional equipment
Annex B.3: concerning containers, pallets,
packings, samples and other goods imported in connection with
a commercial operation
Annex B.4: concerning goods imported in connection
with a manufacturing operation
Annex B.5: concerning goods imported for
educational, scientific or cultural purposes
Annex B.6: concerning travellers' personal effects
and goods imported for sports purposes
Annex B.7: concerning tourist publicity material
Annex B.8: concerning goods imported as frontier
traffic
Annex B.9: concerning goods imported for
humanitarian purposes
Annex C: concerning means of transport
Annex D: concerning animals
Annex E: concerning goods imported with partial
relief from import duties and taxes.
3.21 To date, only Annexes A, B.1., B.2, B.5 and
B.6. have entered into force. The other Annexes have not yet reached
the minimum number of five signatories. Both the provisions of the
body and the Annexes are accompanied by explanatory commentaries,
which are designed to facilitate implementation of the provisions.
More detailed information on the annexes of the Istanbul Convention
can be found in Annex V of this document.
3.22 Other instruments dealing exclusively or
mainly with temporary admission which are contained in the relevant
annexes to the Istanbul Convention will be terminated and replaced for
those Contracting Parties who have accepted these annexes.
International Convention on the Harmonized
Commodity Description and Coding System
3.23 The Harmonized Commodity Description and
Coding System (Harmonized System) is an international product
nomenclature in force since 1 January 1988. Its main application is
for customs purposes such as classification and valuation, but also
for the collection of trade statistics, rules of origin and for all
kinds of transactions in international trade (transport, insurance
etc.) The WTO schedules of almost all Members are based on the
Harmonized System, which means that more than 95 per cent of world
trade is covered by the Harmonized System. The Harmonized System
groups product items in 96 chapters, 1,241 headings and more than
5,000 sub-headings. It provides a legal and logical structure for
tariff classification. In order to keep the Harmonized System up to
date and to take into account changes in technology and the
development of new products, the Convention provides for periodic
amendments. Two revisions have taken place (1992 and 1996) and a third
set of amendments is to be introduced in 2002.
3.24 The Harmonized System (HS) contributes to the
facilitation of international trade by providing a common basis for
classification of goods. The HS Convention has 102 Contracting Parties
to date, and about 170 countries apply HS-based customs tariffs and
trade statistical nomenclatures (October 1998). In order to secure
uniform interpretation and application of the legal texts of the HS,
the WCO has put in place a number of programmes. These include
settling of classification questions and disputes, publishing of
classification related information on the internet (www.wcoomd.org),
development of a classification infrastructure and best practices in
developing countries, pre-entry classification information programmes
and development of a commodity database (CD-ROM) giving HS
classification of more than 200,000 commodities in trade.
International Convention on Mutual Administrative
Assistance for the Prevention, Investigation and Repression of Customs
Offences (Nairobi Convention)
3.25 In the face of increasingly widespread customs
offences concerning all countries, the WCO Council in 1974 felt the
necessity to go beyond the development and promotion of bilateral and
multilateral agreements, which were until then the standard
instruments for customs co-operation. The Nairobi Convention was drawn
up between 1974 and 1977 to combat customs fraud. It consists of a
body and 11 Annexes, one of which has to be accepted at minimum by
each Contracting Party. Acceptance with reservations is not permitted
(Article 18). As a basic principle, "customs administrations
shall afford each other mutual assistance with a view to preventing,
investigating, and repressing customs offence". The Convention is
based on the concept of reciprocity: a Contracting Party has an
obligation to render assistance to another Contracting Party only in
so far as both have accepted the same Annex. The Nairobi Convention
currently has 34 Contracting Parties. All 11 Annexes are in force
(each Annex enters into force after acceptance by at least two
Contracting Parties) and are listed in Annex VI of this document. The
WCO Council administers the Convention with assistance from the
Enforcement Committee.
3.26 In 1996, the WCO updated its 1967 "Model
Bilateral Agreement on Mutual Assistance for the Proper Application of
Customs Law and for the Prevention, Investigation and Combating of
Customs Offences". The model agreement sets out and explains a
number of provisions that should be considered when drawing up a
bilateral agreement.
Other Customs Conventions administered by
the WCO
3.27 The following Customs Conventions, details of
which can be consulted in Annex VII, were designed to solve certain
specific customs problems:
- on the temporary importation of packing;
- on the temporary importation of professional
equipment;
- concerning customs facilities for the importation
of goods for display or use at exhibitions, fairs, meetings or similar
events;
- concerning welfare material for seafarers;
- on the temporary importation of scientific
equipment;
- on temporary importation of pedagogic material;
- on the ATA carnet or the temporary admission of
goods (ATA Convention);
- on the international transit of goods
(ITI
Convention);
- on Containers, 1972.(19)
Other instruments and programmes
3.28 The WCO has drawn up Recommendations which do
not have a binding character. They are intended as tools for
improvement of customs techniques by national customs administrations
and "they are designed to be accepted by as many States as
possible and cover facilities on which a large measure of agreement
already exists and lay down precisely the scope of any facilities
granted." WCO Members indicate their acceptance of a
recommendation, and have, in certain instances, accepted them with
reservations. Recommendations have been issued in five areas, as set
out in Annex VIII.
3.29 International Customs Norms, developed by the
WCO, are designed to guide customs administrations in addressing
certain specific customs issues. Each norm deals with a specific point
of customs technique and sets out the fundamental principles to be
incorporated in customs legislation or regulation. These norms will be
reviewed and incorporated as appropriate in the guidelines of the
revised Kyoto Convention. For a list of the existing norms, refer to
Annex IX.
3.30 The WCO has developed "Guidelines for
consignments for which immediate release is requested" to provide
a tool for customs administrations to grant fast clearance while
maintaining customs control with regard to consignments that require
immediate release. Guidelines are given on the scope of documentation
necessary for clearance, on valuation, on conditional and
unconditional clearance, and on the differentiation between high- and
low-value consignments. The Guidelines have no legal character or
binding force. The principles in the new General Annex of the revised
Kyoto Convention reflect the same principles contained in these
Guidelines. It was recently noted by the WCO that the term
"Express Guidelines" was used in normal parlance when
referring to these Guidelines, even though they were to be applied for
all consignments for which immediate release was requested. It has
been agreed to refer to these Guidelines as "Immediate Release
Guidelines". It has also been agreed to review the documentation
requirements for the different categories of goods covered by these
Guidelines and to take into account the changes in the customs and
trade requirements in the years since the Guidelines were adopted. It
is expected that these Guidelines will be revised and available for
application by the end of 2001.
3.31 The WCO has issued three Resolutions. They
concern the abolition of the passenger manifest in respect of
passengers arriving or departing by air; customs facilities for
tourists; and abolition of control of motor vehicle insurance at
frontiers.
Integrity of Customs administrations
3.32 The international customs community realized
the need to deal effectively with the problem of integrity at the
trade/customs interface and the WCO adopted the Arusha Declaration
in 1993. The Declaration calls for:
-- clear and precise customs legislation,
moderated import tariffs, limited number of tariff rates, minimum
administrative regulation of trade, and standard rules with minimum
number of exemptions;
-- simple, consistent, non-discretionary and
easily accessible customs procedures with possibilities of legal
remedies;
-- utilization of automated processes;
-- appropriate measures in human resource
management including rotation of assignments and relocation of
staff, proper recruitment, adequate training, and sufficient
remuneration;
-- more responsibility and accountability of line
managers in identifying weakness;
-- more effective internal and external audit;
-- more loyalty and pride among customs officers;
-- clear direction to customs officers on expected
behaviour;
-- open and transparent relationship with the
business community.
3.33 The WCO Secretariat hosted an open discussion
on this issue in Brussels in April 1998. The Customs Integrity Forum
was attended by heads of customs administrations, relevant
international organizations (OECD, ICC, Interpol, Transparency
International) and representatives of the business community.
3.34 The recommendations from the Forum were
discussed at the annual meeting of the Council of WCO in Morocco in
June 1998 and it was decided to establish an Integrity Working Group
to develop an Integrity Action Plan to assist Members' to implement
the provisions of the Arusha Declaration and improve the level of
integrity within their administrations. The Working Group has since
met three times and has developed a comprehensive Action Plan which
was approved by the Council in June 1999.
3.35 As a part of the WCO Integrity Action Plan,
the WCO Secretariat, with the assistance of a number of Member
administrations, has:
-- developed an Integrity Self-Assessment Guide
which assists administrations to examine their own systems and
procedures and identify areas for improvement;
-- developed and piloted an Integrity Workshop to
assist Member administrations to design and implement integrity action
plans based on their own needs and unique operating environments. To
date, workshops have been conducted on a national basis in the Czech
Republic, Sri Lanka, Zambia, India and Vietnam and on a regional basis
in Japan, Lesotho and Australia;
-- drafted a Model Code of Ethics and Conduct which
can be used by Members to develop an appropriate code of conduct or
alternatively to review and upgrade an existing code;
-- established an Integrity Resource Centre that is
designed to provide Members with access to a wide range of
integrity-related information and resource material.
Customs Reform and Modernization Programme
3.36 The Customs Reform and Modernization (CRM)
Programme is a comprehensive approach to help improve the overall
performance of customs administrations and meet the growing
expectations of society, business and governments. The CRM Programme
is a collection of management tools available to customs
administrations to assist them to better understand the requirements
of their changing external and internal environment, and to develop
self-assessment abilities and skills to implement a comprehensive and
sustainable organizational improvement and change programme.
3.37 The current programme consists of several
stages. Firstly an initial mission is undertaken to determine the
needs of the administration and its readiness to implement the
program. This mission also involves the delivery of the Customs
Orientation Package for Policy Makers which explains the role of
modern customs administrations and their importance to society,
business and government. During the initial mission attention is given
to securing the necessary political commitment and financial resources
from both the participating government and the private sector. The
second stage involves conducting an intensive diagnostic and planning
mission which involves assisting key managers of customs to undertake
a comprehensive assessment of the current situation and to develop a
range of practical and sustainable solutions. The key outcome of this
stage is the development of an agreed Implementation Plan. Depending
on the nature of the solutions identified during the diagnostic phase
further follow-up assistance and evaluation missions may be
undertaken. Likewise, depending on the nature of the corrective
strategies identified, the WCO can assist Member administrations
through the provision of technical assistance in areas of WCO
competence or by assisting participating administrations to identify
alternative sources of donor support.
3.38 WCO CRM Programmes have been completed in
Latvia, Senegal, Uganda, and are currently under implementation in
Cuba, Lithuania, Mauritius, Namibia, Sri Lanka and Vietnam and on
regional basis in the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
The Programme is currently under preparation in Bangladesh and
Mongolia.
3.39 The WCO has developed the necessary tools for
implementation, trained 150 experienced customs officers to use these
tools and maintains a pool of accredited facilitators who support the
process of self-assessment in beneficiary countries. The WCO
Secretariat is currently reviewing the content of the CRM program to
further improve its effectiveness and to ensure it remains relevant to
the needs of Member administrations.
Other WCO technical assistance activities
3.40 The main objectives of the WCO training and
technical assistance programme are:
- to ensure the implementation and uniform
application of Customs Conventions, Instruments and Recommendations
(e.g. the Single Goods Declaration) developed and administered by the
WCO;
- to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of
customs administrations in the enforcement of regulations and in the
delivery of quality service to the society, to the business community
and to government;
- to help Members' customs administrations to
reform and modernize their organizations, to employ modern
technologies to introduce better management practices and human
resource management including training system development, greater
transparency in procedures, and improve the integrity of their staff.
3.41 The WCO offers 38 standard training programmes
in the fields of Harmonized System, customs valuation, origin of
goods, customs procedures, computerization of customs, enforcement,
organization and human resources development in customs
administrations. The WCO has developed 66 training modules to assist
technical training for customs officers. The WCO carries out
approximately 250 seminars, training courses and expert missions
annually.
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