Continuing its work on supporting and promoting the efficient exchange of information between trade and government, the UNECE held in May 2006 a three-day Symposium on Single Window Standards and Interoperability.

Over 200 participants from all regions of the world and many international organisations, including IMO, ISO, UNCTAD, WCO, WB, WCO, and representatives of international business associations such as IATA, FIATA, Global Express Association etc attended the meeting. On day one, the Symposium introduced the Single Window (SW) concept to countries, which were considering establishing such facilities. During the following two days, participants discussed the key implementation and interoperability issues, noting the importance of facilitating the exchange of information between the SW systems through the use of international standards. The meeting proposed the creation of a Stakeholders Group to assist Single Window operators in the simplification and harmonization of cross-border data exchange and in the development of a Cross Border Reference Data Model to allow data interoperability for end-to-end trade transactions.

To view the presentations and the Symposium's conclusions use the menu on the left.

For more information please contact:

Tom Butterly
Team leader, Trade Facilitation
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe
e-mail: [email protected]

Tel: +41-22-917 1178          Fax: +41-22-917 0629