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More and more countries are participating in international trade and global value chains, and the demand for instruments for electronic exchange of trade data and information is increasing at a rapid pace. The penetration of the digital economy in international trade reinforces the need to adopt…
Sustained efforts in the area of trade facilitation are playing an important role in unlocking economic development potential in Central Asia, at both country and regional levels.The reintegration of Uzbekistan into these practical efforts comes as a positive sign of advancing economic…
How can companies demonstrate compliance with sustainability criteria? How can small and medium enterprise suppliers avoid administrative burdens when doing so for cross-border trade? What policies, standards and good practices for sustainable procurement, and their impact on trade facilitation…
Blockchain is an important emerging innovation that has the potential to bring together all the stakeholders involved in value chains and those regulating them. Blockchain can be used to advance the implementation and monitoring of many of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) such as…
How could blockchain technology be used to facilitate trade? What do government decision-makers who deal with information technology need to be aware of? And how could UNECE contribute to the development of this technology as a trade facilitation tool? UNECE’s United Nations Centre for…
The ready-made garment industry continues to accelerate its pace. Its growth is estimated at a 2% annual rate, according to the Global Fashion Agenda (GFA), while clothing utilisation has decreased by 36% in the last 15 years, meaning more clothes are being produced and then disposed of after a…
The Port Community System (PCS) in Odessa, Ukraine, is a success story for trade facilitation. The PCS system, launched after UNECE capacity-building seminars in Kiev in 2010 and Odessa in 2011, is up and running and today inspires broader work on trade facilitation in the country thanks to its…
Kyrgyzstan is a landlocked transition economy, like other Central Asian countries. According to the World Bank’s 2018 Doing Business report, the cost for documentary, domestic transport and border formalities for one export shipment is USD 590. Reductions in time and cost can contribute to…
In April 2018, the Eurasian Economic Commission adopted a decision requesting its members to use a risk-based approach for enforcement activities. Efforts towards effective risk management are particularly important in a country like Kyrgyzstan. The 2017 World Risk Report ranks Kyrgyzstan as…
Many women-owned small businesses in Kyrgyzstan specialize in traditional crafts and ensure that know-how that has been passed on for generations – in particular in the textile and clothing industry – continues to be enjoyed by locals, tourists, and offered on international markets.For women…
E-commerce has become a game changer in the international trade arena. Cross-border e-commerce is estimated to reach 1 trillion US dollars in 2020; for the top 10 e-commerce markets, it accounts for 34% of the gross domestic product.Cross-border e-commerce trade has flourished in China in recent…
Do you know where your clothes come from? And how are they made? When you buy your clothes, are you looking for this type of information, but without much success?The textile industry is a complex one, with value chains stretching around the globe. We all know that the bulk of the clothing and…
UNECE is actively supporting the trading community to gain the maximum benefits from the e-trade revolution. Through its participation in the UNCTAD e-Commerce week 2018 from 16-20 April, UNECE highlighted that enabling digital technologies for greater e-trade requires a cohesive approach by…
How can international organizations ensure that their rule-making activities are fit for purpose for Agenda 2030 for sustainable development? How can they make their norms and standards more effective, and their development more inclusive? What more can international organizations do to promote…
Going beyond a national economy to access new markets is a challenge for any company. It requires time and investment as well as a good deal of knowledge in other markets. Even for large companies, this is a big step to take and can represent a significant financial risk. For Micro-, Small- and…
A circular economy is an economy that keeps pollution and waste out of the system, maintains products and materials in use, and regenerates natural resources. It promotes resource and energy efficiency, reduces food waste along the whole supply chain, builds sustainable infrastructure, and…
Trade can be a powerful engine of growth, creating new opportunities for investment, job creation and development. However, for some countries, efforts to capitalize on this potential are undermined by the lack of adequate regulatory frameworks, which can inflate transaction costs, limit export…
Kazakhstan has consolidated its national non-tariff measures (NTM) system according to the Multi-agency Support Team (MAST) classification system administered by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). The database was validated yesterday during a national stakeholder…
Cumbersome, costly and time-consuming customs procedures can be a major barrier to international trade, holding back countries’ development potential.In Iraq, this remains a significant challenge. The country requires among the highest number of documents worldwide for imports and exports, and…
To ensure the successful implementation of its commitments under the WTO Agreement on Trade Facilitation, the Republic of Moldova has integrated the recommendations from the UNECE study on regulatory and procedural barriers to trade into its National Action Plan for Trade Facilitation. The Plan…
National Single Windows – which simplify import and export transactions by making it easier to input all regulatory and commercial information at a single electronic point – streamline cross-border data exchange, reducing bureaucracy and making it easier for businesses to engage in international…
Uniquely identifying locations in trade, transport and regulatory documents is vital to the smooth functioning of international trade. For over thirty years, this has been possible thanks to a five-character reference known as UN/LOCODE, which provides a coded representation for the names of…
International standards shape every aspect of our lives: from the moment we brush our teeth in the morning, to the time we wrap up in a warm – and safe - blanket at night. Standards also make the world more resilient and more sustainable: when houses, offices and plants comply with norms, they…
National Single Windows – which simplify import and export transactions by making it easier to input all regulatory and commercial information at a single electronic point – streamline cross-border data exchange, reducing bureaucracy and making it easier for businesses to engage in international…
How can countries best harness transport and trade to drive progress in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)? How can enhancing countries’ statistics on trade and transport support this process? This was the focus of discussions at a workshop organized last week by UNECE in…