UNITED NATIONS Distr. GENERAL TRADE/CEFACT/GE.1/1997/2/Rev.1 19 August 1997 Original: ENGLISH ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR EUROPE COMMITTEE FOR TRADE, INDUSTRY AND ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT Centre for the Facilitation of Procedures and Practices for Administration, Commerce and Transport Meeting of Experts on Data Elements and Automatic Data Interchange (GE.1) Fifty-sixth session, 17-18 September 1997) REVISED PROVISIONAL AGENDA FOR THE FIFTY-SIXTH SESSION to be held in the Palais des Nations, Geneva, starting at 15:00 p.m. on Wednesday, 17 September 1997 1. Adoption of the agenda TRADE/CEFACT/GE.1/1997/2/Rev.1 2. Migration to CEFACT TRADE/CEFACT/GE.1/1997/3 3. Technical issues and reports from TRADE/WP.4/R.1244/Rev.1 UN/EDIFACT TRADE/WP.4/R.840/Rev.4 TRADE/WP.4/R.1251/Rev.2 standing technical groups TRADE/WP.4/R.1284/Rev.1 TRADE/CEFACT/GE.1/1997/4 TRADE/CEFACT/GE.1/1997/5 TRADE/CEFACT/1997/CRP.2 TRADE/CEFACT/1997/CRP.5 TRADE/CEFACT/1997/CRP.6 4. UN/EDIFACT policy and promotion 5. Reports from UN/EDIFACT Steering Group TRADE/CEFACT/1997/CRP.3 and UN/EDIFACT Rapporteurs TRADE/CEFACT/1997/CRP.4 6. UN/EDIFACT directories and message types TRADE/CEFACT/GE.1/1997/6 submitted as Messages in Development TRADE/CEFACT/GE.1/1997/10 GE.97- 7. International standardization affecting TRADE/CEFACT/1997/CRP.7 trade interchange TRADE/CEFACT/1997/CRP.8 8. Codes and policy related to codes 9. International Trade Transaction Model TRADE/CEFACT/GE.2/1997/3 10. Multilingualism in UN/EDIFACT 11. Legal/commercial aspects of trade TRADE/CEFACT/1997/11 12. Other business TRADE/CEFACT/GE.1/1997/9 13. Adoption of the Report of the fifty-sixth session * * * EXPLANATORY NOTES TO THE PROVISIONAL AGENDA Introduction 1. The provisional agenda for the fifty-sixth session of the Meeting of Experts on Data Elements and Automatic Data Interchange (GE.1) has been established in accordance with decisions taken by the Centre for Facilitation of Procedures and Practices for Administration, Commerce and Transport (CEFACT)at its first session in March 1997 and by the CEFACT Steering Group in its March and May 1997 meetings. 2. The provisional timetable presented below has been proposed by the CEFACT Steering Group for the second session of the Centre for Facilitation of Procedures and Practices for Administration, Commerce and Transport (CEFACT). The timetable is only indicative. The Report of the second CEFACT session will be approved during the first half of the afternoon session on Wednesday, 17 September 1997. It is expected that the experts of GE.1 and GE.2 will have a joint session on legal issues in the second half of the afternoon of Thursday, 18 September 1997. The Reports of the sessions of GE.1 and GE.2, as well as of their joint session will be approved during the afternoon session on Friday, 19 September 1997. The CEFACT Steering Group will convene meetings in the mornings of 15 and 19 of September 1997. a.m. p.m. Monday 15 September 1997 CIG CEFACT Tuesday 16 September 1997 CEFACT GE.2 Wednesday 17 September 1997 GE.2 CEFACT/GE.1 Thursday 18 September 1997 GE.1 GE.1/GE.1-GE.2 Friday 19 September 1997 CIG GE.1/GE.2 3. The second CEFACT session will begin at 15:00 on Monday, 15 September 1997 to discuss agenda items and migration to CEFACT as well as outstanding GE.1 and GE.2 work items. Item 1 - Adoption of the agenda 2. In accordance with the Commission's Rules of Procedures, the first item on the provisional agenda (TRADE/CEFACT/GE.1/1997/2/Rev.1) is the adoption of the agenda. 3. At the September 1996 session, it was agreed that, during the transition process to new CEFACT structures beginning in September 1997, the officers of GE.1 and GE.2 would be "appointed by the CEFACT Plenary Chair after consultation with the Steering Group." Item 2 - Migration to CEFACT 4. The Group of Experts will discuss the migration of those work items under its responsibility to the new CEFACT structures. 5. As requested during the March 1997 session, document TRADE/CEFACT/GE.1/1997/3 contains a consolidated version of the following Caps from the March 1997 session, taking into account decisions made during the April 1997 Singapore JRT meeting: TRADE/WP.4/CRP.123, The Chair's Report on the Activities of the ESG and TRADE/WP.4/CRP.135, Report from the UN/EDIFACT Steering Group (ESG) January 1997 Meeting. Item 3 - Technical issues and reports from UN/EDIFACT standing technical groups 6. The report of the Message Design Rules Group (MDRG) can be found in TRADE/CEFACT/GE.1/1997/4. This document is for information and discussion and may contain recommendations for approval. As agreed at the March 1997 session, the MDRG has also submitted TRADE/WP.4/R.840/Rev.4 (UN/EDIFACT Message Design Rules for Version 3 of the Syntax)for approval. 7. TRADE/CEFACT/GE.1/1997/5 contains the Executive Summary Report prepared by the Chairman of the Joint UN/ISO Syntax Working Group (JSWG). 8. As agreed during the March 1997 session , the SDG has finalized Parts 4, 7 and 10 of UN/EDIFACT Syntax 9735 Version 4 and is submitting them for approval. They can be found in: - TRADE/WP.4/R.1244/Rev.1: UN/EDIFACT Syntax, Part 4, Syntax and service report message for batch EDI, (message type - CONTRL); - TRADE/WP.4/R.1251/Rev.2: UN/EDIFACT Syntax, Part 7, Security rules for batch EDI (Confidentiality); - TRADE/WP.4/R.1284/Rev.1: UN/EDIFACT Syntax, Part 10, Security rules for interactive EDI; 9. TRADE/CEFACT/1997/CRP.6 contains recommendations from the German delegation on how any eventual changes made to version 4 of the EDIFACT syntax by ISO TC154 should be handled. 10. The Research, Strategic Advice and Implementation Planning Group's (AC.1's) report on its work since the last session can be found in TRADE/CEFACT/1997/CRP.2. This document is for information and discussion and may contain recommendations for approval. AC.1 will also submit a copy of their Reference Guide (TRADE/CEFACT/1997/CRP.5) which they plan to update on an ongoing basis. This last document will be for information and comment. Item 4 - UN/EDIFACT policy and promotion 11. The secretariat will provide an oral report on progress being made towards the implementation of Recommendation 25 (Use of UN/EDIFACT) and its approval by ECOSOC as a UN resolution. Item 5 - Reports from UN/EDIFACT Steering Group and UN/EDIFACT Rapporteurs 12. A report on the activities of the UN/EDIFACT Steering Group from the ESG Chairman will be submitted as TRADE/CEFACT/1997/CRP.3. This document is for discussion, although it may reference other documents that are for approval. 13. A report on recent developments in the regions from the Regional UN/EDIFACT Rapporteurs is provided in document TRADE/CEFACT/1997/CRP.4. This document is for information only. Item 6 - UN/EDIFACT Directories and Message Types Submitted for noting as Messages in Development 14. The UN/EDIFACT directory D.97B, including the statement from the Directory Audit Team on the quality of the D.97B directory is submitted for approval as TRADE/CEFACT/GE.1/1997/6. 15. The UN/EDIFACT Rapporteurs have submitted the following message types for information as Messages in Development. A summary of these messages can be found in TRADE/CEFACT/GE.1/1997/10. The list reflects information received when the agenda was prepared and may be extended before the meeting. PASREQ Travel, Tourism and Leisure Product Application Status Request PASRSP Travel, Tourism and Leisure Product Application Status Response PROCST Project Cost Reporting TIQREQ Travel, Tourism and Leisure Information Inquiry Request TIQRSP Travel, Tourism and Leisure Information Inquiry Response Item 7 - International standardization affecting trade interchange 16. The Standards Liaison Rapporteur's Executive Summary is found in TRADE/CEFACT/1997/CRP.7. This document is for discussion and may contain recommendations for approval. The Standards Liaison Rapporteur's Meeting Report is contained in TRADE/CEFACT/1997/CRP.8 and is for information. Item 8 - Codes and policy related to codes 17. No documents were planned for this agenda item as of 11 July 1997. Item 9 - International Trade Transaction Model 18. As decided during the March 1995 Session of GE.1, this item has been added to the agenda. Document TRADE/CEFACT/GE.2/1997/3 contains the Report from the Steering Group for the International Trade Transaction Model. This document is for discussion. Item 10 - Multilingualism in Electronic Data Interchange for Administration, Commerce and Transport (UN/EDIFACT) 19. No documents were planned for this agenda item as of 16 June 1997. Item 11 - Legal and commercial aspects of trade facilitation 20. TRADE/CEFACT/1997/11 contains the report from the Legal Rapporteurs. This document is for information and discussion and may contain recommendations for approval. Item 12 - Other business 21. The PAEB Rapporteur has submitted document TRADE/CEFACT/GE.1/1997/9 (The ITIGG Guide to UN/EDIFACT Container Messages) for information. Item 13 - Adoption of the Report of the fifty-sixth session 22. In accordance with established practice, the Meeting of Experts will adopt the Report of its fifty-sixth session, as prepared by the secretariat in the form of a summary of decisions taken during the session and to be presented to CEFACT for approval. __________________