Harmonization of trade data requirements in Southeastern Europe and possibilities for paperless document exchange

The UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), the USAID-Macedonian Business Enabling Environment Activity, and the Customs Administration of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, are organizing this Regional Workshop on Trade Data Harmonization in Ohrid following consultations among UNECE, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the World Bank, the Stability Pact for Southeastern Europe (SEE), the European Commission, and the Customs Administration of the fYR Macedonia. These consulations took into account:

• The Declaration of the Regional meeting of Directors General of Customs administrations of SEE countries held in Ohrid on 14 April 2005, namely that Customs administrations will cooperate in the field of information exchange via electronic means (paragraphs b, c and d);
• The Conclusions of the 10th meeting of the Regional Steering Committee (RSC) of the Trade and Transport Facilitation project in SEE (TTFSE) held in Cavtat, Croatia, on 5-7 July 2006, namely (para. 4) that participants should invite relevant authorities in their countries (e.g. Customs, inter-agency coordination bodies and other stakeholders) to support seminars and initiatives proposed by UNECE on data requirement harmonization (as a basis to build the environment for Single Windows), according to which the RSC will lead the work in the Customs sphere and the Southeast European Transport Observatory (SEETO) the transport sector;
• sThe eSEE Agenda+ for the Development of the Information Society in SEE (2006-2010) of the eSEE Initiative of the Stability Pact for SEE, which defines as a priority regional “collaboration on the harmonization of trade data requirements by various agencies and private operators” and “creating the environment for electronic Single Window for international trade and electronic trade documents in cooperation with UNECE, the World Bank and other relevant organizations by 2009”.

The objectives of the Workshop are:

• To review data and documentary requirements for export and import, as well as Customs procedures, in the SEE countries;
• To introduce key concepts and case studies of Single Windows ;
• To present best practices and models for the harmonization of trade data and documents on national and regional levels, in alignment with international standards, such as the UN Trade Data Element Directory (UNTDED) , the World Customs Organization (WCO) Data Model and Framework of Standards, the European Union data set, and a UN data model for Customs and Trade. The goals are to improve the conditions for electronic document exchange and to build the environment for a Single Window, notably along trade and transport corridors;
• To assess the need and potential cost of harmonizing data requirements by various agencies and private operators in the region from the perspective of international standard data sets;
• To assess the needs and potential cost of improving infrastructure for electronic information exchange among Customs administrations and other agencies in the region;
• To identify the milestones in building an environment for interoperable Single Windows in SEE, from the perspective of the region’s integration into Europe.
Representatives from the SEE countries will give presentations on the current situations in data requirement harmonization in their respective countries. Keynote speakers from U.S. Customs, UN/CEFACT, UNECE, WCO, EC and TTFSE will offer best practice experience, with special reference to international standards and data sets. The model of aligning data with international standards (UNTDED, the WCO Data Model) used in developing a Single Window in the US will receive special focus. We expect the meeting to propose a regional initiative on harmonizing data requirements in SEE with international standards and directories. Customs services, relevant government agencies, trade, transport, freight forwarding and other business operators will all contribute to this resulting initiative, which will be nationally and regionally owned.

The USAID WTO Compliance Activity and the Customs Administration of the fYR Macedonia will provide organizational support.