UNECE and the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) agreed on enhancing their cooperation for the use of international semantic standards for trade data exchange, thus contributing to the establishment of common basis for trade information sharing in the broader European space.
At a UNECE-EEC brainstorming meeting in Moscow on 15 April, the two organizations confirmed the relevance of the UN/CEFACT reference data model for the development of the EEC data model.
In particular, they will consider the possibility that experts from EEC participate in UN/CEFACT projects on preferential Certificates of Origin and will inform each other on data mapping and alignment of data in transport and additional documents. An issue of mutual interest is the broadening of UN/CEFACT semantic standards to use them in developing agreements between the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) with other countries in the framework of free trade areas.
Ms Karine Minassyan, Member of the Board of the EEC (Minister) on internal markets, informatization, information and communication technologies, took part in the meeting. The EEC Representatives stressed their interest in using the UN/CEFACT standards and Core Component Library, which have proven their effectiveness when used by governments and the business community. They noted that the methodology of process modeling in the EAEU was based on and harmonized with the UMM 2.0 methodology of UN/CEFACT.
UNECE Regional Adviser Mario Apostolov noted the importance of data alignment to international standards and UN/CEFACT reference data models for the further development of national Single Window mechanisms in the Eurasian Economic Union and for other trade facilitation tools, such as data pipeline. UNECE’s Lance Thompson explained the process of developing UN/CEFACT tools, including the Core Components Library and the UN/CEFACT Reference Data Models, and how the EEC could join in the development and implementation of these standards. Michael Dill, a UN/CEFACT expert, informed the meeting about tools for implementing UN/CEFACT standards and data models, contributing to the substantive discussions on common issues of data modelling.
The EEC representatives highlighted the excellent record of cooperation between UNECE and EEC on data harmonization and modelling and stressed their interest in deepening the cooperation on these issues.