[Index]
Digital Paper for Trade
UNECE Announces the First Release of Electronic Trade Document
Set
for Pilot Implementation
Geneva, 2 March 2004 - The United Nations Economic Commission for
Europe (UNECE) announced today the first release of an integrated set of standards-based
trade documents in both paper and electronic formats. Developed under the
UN electronic Trade Documents project (UNeDocs), the International Document
Set (IDS) will assist governments and enterprises in automating complete trade
documentation systems and building e business and e-governance strategies
based on digital documents.
"Documents are a fundamental part of our global trading system.
Any exchange of goods and services relies heavily on the transmission of trade
information in the form of documents," says Carol Cosgrove-Sacks, Director
of the UNECE Trade Development and Timber Division. "However, document technology
has not significantly progressed over the last 40 years. The electronic International
Document Set will help governments and enterprises rationalise their document
systems and adopt digital trade documents. We expect that it will significantly
increase the efficiency and competitiveness of traders and trading nations."
The UNeDocs International Document Set is based on international
standards and best practice, and incorporates existing trade documents, international
trade conventions and trade facilitation recommendations.
The IDS will now be implemented in selected country pilot
projects for advanced document automation and logistics integration. These
pilot projects will enable UNeDocs to standardize the deployment of electronic
document solutions.
To help governments and trade organizations implement the
IDS, UNECE will use a two-phased approach adapted to each country's level
of readiness. The first phase will consist of capacity building programmes
and technical cooperation projects to improve trade document system readiness.
The second phase will deliver the electronic components of the International
Document Set, helping traders and governments replace paper documents with
electronic equivalents based on prevailing e-business standards such as UN/EDIFACT
or XML. These electronic documents are fully integrated into Internet environments,
thus bridging the gap between paper document systems and advanced information
and communication technologies. Administrations and service providers can
enhance the electronic documents with value-added Internet-based services
for the documents' transmission and security, or to bring them into alignment
with national regulations.
UNeDocs has been developed in cooperation with SITPRO Ltd.,
the Trade Facilitation Agency of the UK Government sponsored by the Department
of Trade and Industry. The Swiss Government has contributed to financing the
release's development through its Secrétariat d'Etat à l'économie
(SECO).
About UNECE: One of the activities of the
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) is to develop and implement
global standards for trade facilitation and electronic business in coordination
with the four other UN Regional Commissions and with fellow United Nations
organizations. UNeDocs is a UNECE technical cooperation project.
See sample.
For further information please contact:
Markus Pikart
Project Coordinator, UNeDocs
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe
Palais des Nations, Room 429-3
CH - 1211 Geneva 10
Phone: +41 (0) 22 917 20 16
Fax: +41 (0) 22 917 06 29
E-mail: [email protected]
Web site: http://www.UNeDocs.org
Ref: ECE/TRADE/04/P02