These issues are discussed in the UNCTAD report TD/B/CN.4/46. It is suggested that the Standing Committee may wish to recommend to the Trade and Development Board that transport services be placed on the agenda of UNCTAD IX together with services subjects as key components in the services sector in fostering the development of trade.
Regarding technical cooperation, the Trade and Development Board agreed, at the first part of its forty-first session, that the secretariat's technical assistance cooperation contributes to the intergovernmental deliberations, research and analysis [1], and that the priority objectives of the technical cooperation programmes should include, inter alia, transport and human resource developments [2]. It is consequently assumed that the Standing Committee would wish this work to be continued.
The Standing Committee may wish to evaluate the necessity of carrying out an assessment of the impact of the liberalization policies and increased competitiveness now being introduced throughout the developed world, on MT providers in developing countries and countries in transition with a view to identifying the most suitable transport policies for these countries to participate on a fair and equitable basis in the international transport of their foreign trade.
The Standing Committee may wish to give consideration to whether developing countries' MTOs are allowed to compete on an equal basis on access to business to and from their own countries, and whether the limited open access is a result of small markets already saturated by domestic and international transport providers.
A constructive way of promoting MT is to monitor world-wide developments in transport technologies and publishing the findings. This would avoid "re-inventing the wheel" and making infant-industry mistakes, by "leap-frogging" into recognized transport choices regarding transport infrastructure, technology and policies. The Standing Committee may consider that there might be a need to monitor the continuing development of MMTOs, which continue to grow in size and shrink in numbers. The Standing Committee may also wish to propose specific actions for national MT providers in developing countries and countries in transition on actions to take to survive and prosper.
Governments and the local transport industry may consider ways in which the creation of such NTTFCs may be promoted in each country. Once this has taken place, the coordination among neighbouring NTTFCs may bring about harmonization at the subregional level without the intervention of outside parties.
It would seem desirable to draw up a set of voluntary minimum standards for MTOs, drawing to the largest possible extent on the earlier developed UNCTAD Minimum Standards for Shipping Agents. This would not only reduce the amount of work required, but would also ensure compatibility between the two sets of rules. This should be done with the assistance of the private sector including FIATA and other NVO-MTO organizations as appropriate.
The secretariat is working with the ICC in Paris to promote the use of these modern rules such as the new INCOTERMS and the latest version of the ICC Uniform Customs and Practices for Documentary Procedures. It would seem useful if more localized training activities could be mounted in developing countries and countries in transition to promote these rules.
It might be useful to take stock of the experiences of different regions on the establishment of subregional MT laws, regulations and administrative procedures. Governments might wish to harmonize national regulations and procedures with international commercial practices and recognize the need for a globally accepted framework for multimodal transport operations. In light of the slow ratification of the MT Convention and of the increasing importance given to MT by commercial parties (through the development of the UNCTAD/ICC Rules for MT Documents) and some governments (regional legislation such as the one implemented in the Andean Pact or the one proposed by the Latin American Association for Integration (ALADI)), governments might consider elaborating a new international instrument. This could be a convention on the transport of goods and would cover the door-to-door movement of goods, or it could be achieved by overhauling the existing conventions, by means of a protocol, after identifying the obstacles that have prevented their ratification (or adherence to them).
The Standing Committee may wish to consider if there is a need for transport providers and users in developing countries and countries in transition to become more acquainted with the introduction of EDI, particularly the need to adapt to the needs to possible changes in the definition of "writing", "signature" and "document" all of which are of crucial importance to the trading possibilities of developing countries and countries in transition.
The Standing Committee may wish to give further consideration to the need for MT users and providers in developing countries and countries in transition to take the new development of telematics into account when they upgrade their electronic data processing (EDP) systems.
The secretariat has developed a number of software tools for use by developing countries and countries in transition. For any software to be of any long-term use, it must constantly be updated and/or upgraded. States members of UNCTAD might wish to consider making such expertise available to the secretariat in order to allow the software to be maintained.
The monitoring of the developments in the field of international container standards has permitted the secretariat to draw the attention of ISO to the needs and requirements of developing countries. At present the main issue in this area is connected with the use of larger-than-present-ISO standard containers and with the venture of the so-called second-generation containers. These developments continue to be closely monitored and the cooperation between UNCTAD and ISO/TC 104 will be maintained in order to safeguard the interests of those countries not represented on this Technical Committee.
Pooling of containers allows large companies to benefit from economies of scale. This makes it questionable to what extent container operators (or lessors) in developing countries and countries in transition that only control a few thousand units are able to compete with operators from developed countries. The Standing Committee may wish to consider giving this matter further attention, particularly regarding the potential benefits that may be derived from the use of "grey boxes" when used in a way that reduces the number of days containers are remaining idle or are moved empty.
This migration by transport service providers from "simple" MTOs into full physical distribution, multimodal logistics or "total transport" providers is opening new opportunities to the transport industry and to the trading community. The Standing Committee may wish to give further attention to ways and means of keeping aware developing countries and countries in transition of the potential benefits which can be derived from this development.
The introduction of ICDs has far-reaching implications for infrastructure requirements and transport organization. The Standing Committee may wish to give attention to the impact of such development.
Transferring the transport of goods from the environmentally unfriendly road mode to the less environment-damaging modes of rail, inland waterway or coastal shipping transport services is one of the possible measures to protect the environment. A comparative analysis might be undertaken to investigate to what extent such a transfer of modes by MTOs in different countries might be beneficial for the transport environment. The Standing Committee might consider steps an MTO could take to facilitate the choice of transfer of traffic away from road transport towards railways, inland waterway and coastal shipping in a MT chain, resulting in an improvement of the environment and the economic performance. The Standing Committee may also consider how it may shape its policy in this important field so as to emphasize the need for transport providers to use the most environmentally friendly modes. This would make it possible to provide the necessary conditions for a greater use of sea/air, inland waterway transport and short-sea shipping operations in the context of international combined and MT operations. At the same time it may wish to consider the damage to the environment and infrastructure caused by overweight containers. In this connection it is suggested that eco-labelling and eco-certification of MT services may be of interest to the consumers and that a study might be undertaken of the conditions under which such certificates may be issued by a third party professional body.
The second session of the Standing Committee [3] stressed that a major factor in the performance of an organization is the quality of its products or services. It would seem important that the MT industry takes measures to deal with this subject as a matter of some urgency, for example, through technical advice and training.