ECE

Trade in the next decade will be dependent on the global information infrastructure, putting the spotlight on the potential of telecommunications and computers to make trade more profitable and efficient. Modern trade facilitation techniques are essential to achieve this goal. Many of these techniques are developed by ECE, including the reduction or elimination of trade procedures and paperwork, as well as the implementation of recommendations and standards for electronic data interchange (EDI).

In its capacity as the international focal point for trade facilitation standards and recommendations, ECE cooperates with other UN agencies and international organizations. To that end, trade facilitation activities have recently been reorganized and streamlined, with the establishment of the United Nations Centre for Facilitation of Procedures and Practices for Administration, Commerce and Transport (UN/CEFACT). UN/CEFACT additionally develops and maintains the international standard for electronic data interchange (UN/EDIFACT). This standard is used to exchange structured information between computers and is critical to the implementation of management techniques such as "just-in-time" manufacturing and international supply chains which are so important in world trade. In an increasingly global economy, it is essential for the success of trade facilitation to take into consideration the needs of all countries and work closely with them. This is why UN/CEFACT is open to all countries both within and outside the ECE region and to international organizations.

The participation of all Regional Commissions is of particular importance for the continued relevance of UN/CEFACT’s work. It has been agreed that each Regional Commission would appoint a special representative to UN/CEFACT.

All five Regional Commissions are exploring the possibilities of more active support to the implementation of trade facilitation techniques and electronic commerce in their regions. Several expert group meetings and seminars have taken place in collaboration with ESCWA. These resulted in the development of an initiative, supported by ESCWA, to establish national trade facilitation bodies in the ESCWA member States. Recently ECE has also had the opportunity to work closely with ECA which will organize a workshop on trade facilitation at ECA headquarters to increase the awareness about trade facilitation issues in the region. ECLAC has been for a long time participating in awareness raising activities and is disseminating information from UN/CEFACT to many parties implementing trade facilitation measures in the region.

ECE and ESCAP have long-established cooperation on a range of trade facilitation issues. Training guides on electronic data interchange as well as joint seminars have been developed, and ESCAP has set up a mirror site of the ECE trade facilitation WEB site called TraFIX (WWW.unicc.org/unece/ trafix). The two Regional Commissions are also actively working together in SPECA (Special Programme for the Economies of Central Asia) whose border-crossing project encompasses trade and transport facilitation.

"There should be greater attempts on the part of developed countries to lower barriers to agricultural trade through an across-the-board tariff reduction, including the lowering of out-quota tariffs. Quotas should be expanded and quota management guidelines should be improved in order to create a more transparent trading environment."

This was the view of a three-day Meeting of Senior Officials on the "Future of WTO Trade Agenda and Developing Countries", organized by ESCAP, UNCTAD and the Asian Development Bank from 23-25 August 1999 at the United Nations Conference Centre in Bangkok. The meeting was held in preparation for the Third WTO Ministerial Conference to be held in Seattle.

Increased integration of developing countries into the world economic arena would lead to a significant expansion in international trade and investment. Delegations also noted that accession could place a significant burden on weak administrative and institutional structures. They called for "sufficient assistance" to be given to developing countries to provide the opportunity to achieve rapid accession.

The agenda of the three-day Meeting included discussions on the impact of the Asian economic crisis on trade and liberalization process; built-in agenda and interests of ESCAP member countries; enhancing the participation of least-developed countries including accession issues; scope of future trade agenda: various scenarios and development implications; and definition of elements of a positive trade agenda.

ECLAC is preparing a set of two documents to be distributed during the Seattle Meeting. One report is a compilation of statistical data on Latin American and the Caribbean countries with an emphasis on trade and financial data. The other report will provide conceptual and analytical information on several aspects of the structure of world trade and world economy, as well as on structural changes in Latin American trade and integration to the world economy. In addition, the report will discuss some elements of the international organization of production that impinge on questions of market access of interest to the region. These documents will later be incorporated into the yearly publication, The Integration of Latin American and the Caribbean in the World Economy, 1999 Edition.

ECLAC has also organized, jointly with UNCTAD and UNDP (with the cooperation of the Latin American Trade Network—LATN), a regional meeting to review research and training needs for the future negotiations, including multilateral, subregional and hemispheric levels. The meeting was held in ECLAC, Santiago, on November 4 and 5. In addition, ECLAC held jointly with SELA (Latin American Economic System) and LAIA (Latin American Integration Association) the Fifth Meeting of Senior Government Officials in Trade Policy, on 11-12 November in Lima, Perú, hosted by the Andean Community, that brought together trade policy officials to discuss the preparations for the Seattle Ministerial Meeting. On November 17 and 18, also at ECLAC, Santiago, a workshop on Open Regionalism took place that brought researchers from Latin America, Asia Pacific and from other major research centres, to discuss current and future research on the regional and multilateral dimensions of trade policies.

In collaboration with the Organization of African Unity (OAU), UNCTAD and WTO ECA organized a meeting on 23-26 July 1999 in Addis Ababa, in preparation for the Third WTO Ministerial Conference in Seattle, USA, and for the tenth Session of UNCTAD, February 2000 in Bangkok, Thailand.

The aim of the meeting was to formulate a common African position on key global trade issues, with special emphasis on the necessity for developed countries to ensure Africa’s equitable integration into the World Trade Organization. The meeting recommended that:

• Progress achieved in improving WTO transparency should be achieved through a broader policy of document de-restriction and informal means for dialogue with civil society;
• Further measures to enhance transparency of WTO operations should be looked into;
• Pending multilateral trade negotiations should be finalized so as not to divert attention from the necessity for a streamlined and accelerated accession process, particularly for LDCs;
• The automatic granting of special and differential treatment provisions to acceding developing countries as stipulated in the respective WTO agreements;
• Acceding developing countries should not be pressured to join Plurilateral Trade Agreements or accept optional sectoral market access initiatives.

The meeting also urged UNCTAD to assist African countries in the formulation of national policies that are consistent with their individual development realities. The meeting also emphasized the need for UNCTAD X to commence the launching of a new initiative that would bring together greater coherence between UNCTAD and the Bretton Woods institutions in translating policy ideas into practical programmes at the national level. It emphasized the imperative need for achieving substantial reduction in the level of external debt of Africa and called for widening the HIPC initiative to include more countries.

For trade facilitation, which has been a high priority in ESCWA’s activities, emphasis has been placed on border-crossing and trade-related procedures as well as on the physical aspects of transport infrastructure development. To achieve these objectives, ESCWA and ECE concluded in 1997 a "Framework of Cooperation" that is in consonance with the global mandate and the activities of the "Centre for the Facilitation of Procedures and Practices for Administration, Commerce and Transport" (CEFACT).

In the agreement, the two Commissions recognize the necessity of adopting a common approach to the trade facilitation activities and the work programme of CEFACT. They also undertake to appoint focal points to carry out coordination so as to ensure the effective dissemination of relevant trade facilitation information, promotion and training material.

In accordance with this agreement, ESCWA carries out specific trade facilitation activities relevant to the region. It supports the CEFACT work programme, particularly encourageing the establishment of a network of national trade facilitation bodies.