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- Regional Forum on WTO
(Central and Latin America)
- Ad Hoc Expert Meeting on
Climate change impacts and adaptation
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Transport Newsletters
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ASYCUDA Newsletters
In accordance with the
approved terms of reference (TD/B/55/9, paras.
1-5), the fourth and last session of the
multi-year expert meeting will review topics
discussed in the previous three sessions and
will address the following topics:
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Measures and actions
to optimize the contribution of investment,
in particular private-sector investment, in
trade facilitation, with a particular focus
on its impacts on international transport
networks and on the efficiency of transport
services and their contribution to trade
facilitation.
The meeting will also deal with the use of
information and communication technologies
in logistics, trade facilitation and supply
chain security... (TD/B/55/9, para. 2 (a)).
-
Support to the
implementation process of the Almaty
Programme of Action, including the analysis
of bottlenecks between landlocked and
transit developing countries, and possible
appropriate solutions to address them,
including best practices in the development
and use of transport infrastructure, as well
as the adoption of common standards, in
landlocked and transit developing
countries... (TD/B/55/9, para. 2 (f)).
When improving trade
performance and competitiveness, a holistic
approach is needed to combine policy actions and
measures targeting the access to cost-effective
transport services, the energy efficiency and
sustainability of transport systems, the impacts
of climate change on transport operations, and
trade facilitation reforms and customs
automation.
In the framework of the mandate provided in
paragraphs 107 and 164-168 of the Accra Accord,
the meeting will provide an opportunity to look
at the road ahead in terms of challenges and
policy options in these fields and to consider
the role UNCTAD and partners can play to help
developing countries in the envisaged follow-up
and implementation of policy actions.
More >>
More than 80 per cent of
international trade in goods is carried by sea,
and an even higher percentage of
developing-country trade is carried in ships.
The Review of Maritime Transport, an annual
publication prepared by the Division on
Technology and Logistics of the UNCTAD
secretariat, is an important source of
information on this vital sector. It closely
monitors developments affecting world seaborne
trade, freight rates, ports, surface transport
and logistics services, as well as trends in
ship ownership and control and fleet age,
tonnage supply and productivity.
The Review contains a chapter on legal and
regulatory developments and each year includes a
special chapter analysing a selected topic in
depth. In 2011, the focus is on the
participation of developing countries in
different maritime businesses.
Key developments reported in this year´s Review
include the following:
- After contracting in 2009, international
shipping experienced an upswing in demand in
2010, and recorded a positive turnaround in
volumes, especially in the dry bulk and
container trade segments. Total seaborne
trade reached an estimated 8.4 billion tons
in 2010.
- The year 2010 saw record deliveries of
new tonnage, 28 per cent higher than in
2009, resulting in an 8.6 per cent growth in
the world merchant fleet. The fleet reached
almost 1.4 billion deadweight tons (dwt) in
January 2011, an increase of 120 million dwt
over 2010. New deliveries stood at 150
million dwt, against demolitions and other
withdrawals from the market of approximately
30 million dwt.
- The price of newbuildings was lower for
all vessels types in 2010, reflecting market
views that in the short term, the capacity
of the world fleet is sufficient to meet
world trade.
- World container port throughput
increased by an estimated 13.3 per cent to
531 million 20-foot equivalent units, or TEUs, in 2010, after stumbling briefly in
2009. The UNCTAD Liner Shipping Connectivity
Index (LSCI) reveals that China maintains
its lead as the single most connected
country. It is followed by Hong Kong
(China), Singapore and Germany. In 2011, 91
countries increased their LSCI ranking over
2010, 6 saw no change, and 65 recorded a
decrease.
- In 2010, the rail freight sector grew by
7.2 per cent to reach 9,843 billion freight
ton kilometres (FTKs) The road freight
sector grew by 7.8 per cent in 2010 over the
previous year, with volumes reaching 9,721
billion FTKs.
Important legal and
regulatory developments included the entry into
force on 14 September 2011 of the International
Convention on Arrest of Ships, which had been
adopted at a joint United Nations-International
Maritime Organization (IMO) diplomatic
conference held in 1999 under the auspices of
UNCTAD. Moreover, during 2010 and the first half
of 2011, important discussions continued at IMO
regarding the scope and content of a possible
international regime to control greenhouse gas
emissions from international shipping.
Developing countries are expanding their
participation in a range of different maritime
businesses. They already hold strong positions
in ship scrapping, ship registration and the
supply of seafarers, and they have growing
market shares in more capital-intensive or
technologically advanced maritime sectors such
as ship construction and shipowning. China and
the Republic of Korea between them built 72.4
per cent of world ship capacity (dwt) in 2010,
and 9 of the 20 largest countries in shipowning
in January 2011 are developing countries.
More


Global trends in
international trade logistics, combined with
developments in information and communication
technologies, have transformed today’s business
environment. In response to those trends, since
2004, the members of the World Trade
Organization (WTO) have been negotiating trade
facilitation within the Doha Development Round.
In these negotiations and in view of the
possible resulting commitments, developing
countries are analysing their trade facilitation
needs and priorities and attach an increasingly
high priority to trade facilitation reforms.
The private sector plays a key role in this
endeavour:
-
During the
negotiation phase, to identify needs and
priorities regarding the trading environment
and the potential implications of
commitments resulting from a multilateral
agreement.
-
During the
implementation stage, the private sector may
also contribute with experience and
knowledge, as well as actively participate
in the application of numerous specific
measures on trade facilitation.
The Forum focused on the
private sector’s perspectives regarding
perceived administrative and procedural
obstacles to international trade, and the role
of multilateral rules in overcoming these
obstacles.
The Forum also outlined how the private sector
actors, governments and development agencies
contribute to the implementation of possible
future commitments under the WTO.
The Forum brought together representatives of
governments and the private sector from the
Central American region involved in trade
facilitation, Geneva-based country delegates,
and representatives of regional organizations.
Co-organized with: UNCTAD, in
collaboration with the Centro y Observatorio
Nacional de Facilitación de Comercio e Inversión
en Latinoamérica (CONAFACIL).
Sponsor / funding: The Government of
Spain, through the UNCTAD Trust Fund on Capacity
building in developing countries and least
developed countries to support their effective
participation in the WTO negotiations process on
trade facilitation.
Contact: Mr. Jan Hoffmann, UNCTAD Trade
Facilitation Section
T.: (+41) 22 917 20 32
F.: (+41) 22 917 00 50
E.:
jan.hoffmann@unctad.org
More >>
The Forum focused on the
private sector’s perspectives regarding
perceived administrative and procedural
obstacles to international trade, and the role
of multilateral rules in overcoming these
obstacles.
The Forum also outlined how the private sector
actors, governments and development agencies can
contribute to the implementation of possible
future commitments under the WTO.
The Forum brought together representatives of
governments and the private sector from the
Latin American Integration Association (ALADI)
member countries involved in trade facilitation,
Geneva-based country delegates, and
representatives of regional and international
organizations.
Sponsor / funding: The Government of
Spain, through the UNCTAD Trust Fund on Capacity
building in developing countries and least
developed countries to support their effective
participation in the WTO negotiations process on
trade facilitation.
Co-organized with: UNCTAD, in
collaboration with the Economic Commission for
Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).
Contact: Mr. Jan Hoffmann, UNCTAD Trade
Facilitation Section
T.: (+41) 22 917 20 32
F.: (+41) 22 917 00 50
E.:
jan.hoffmann@unctad.org
More >>
The meeting follows and
builds on earlier related activities carried out
by the UNCTAD secretariat, including in
particular the first session of the
Multi-year Expert Meeting on Transport and Trade
Facilitation, held on 16-18 February 2009
with a focus on "Maritime Transport and the
Climate Change Challenge", and a
Joint UNECE-UNCTAD Workshop on "Climate Change
Impacts on International Transport Networks",
held on 8 September 2010.
With over 80 per cent of the volume of world
trade carried by sea, international shipping and
ports provide crucial linkages in global
supply-chains and are essential for the ability
of all countries, including those that are
landlocked, to access global markets. Ports are
likely to be affected directly and indirectly by
climatic changes, such as rising sea levels,
extreme weather events and rising temperatures,
with broader implications for international
trade and for the development prospects of the
most vulnerable nations, in particular least
developed countries (LDCs) and Small Island
Developing States (SIDS).
Given their strategic role as part of the
globalized trading system, adapting ports in
different parts of the world to the impacts of
climate change is of considerable importance. A
good understanding of risks and vulnerabilities
is a pre-condition to well-designed and
effective adaptation response measures that
enhance the resilience of port systems,
structures and processes and minimize the
adverse effects of climatic factors.
Against this background and to help advance the
important debate on how best to move forward,
the ad hoc expert meeting provides a platform
for discussion as well as an opportunity to
share information, experiences and practices.
The meeting aims to bring together a wide range
of interested parties from the public and
private sectors, including policy makers and
planning authorities, port industry
representatives and operators, port users,
relevant international organizations, as well as
scientists and engineers, to share their
insights and discuss relevant issues with a view
to identifying:
* Vulnerabilities and risks
* Associated adaptation requirements
* Existing best practices, information and data sources
* Issues requiring further study, including data
requirements
* Partners and mechanisms for effective collaboration
More >>
UNCTAD in collaboration with UNECE
continue to maintain the
on-line repository on national and regional
Trade Facilitation Working Groups. The
repository offers case studies from countries
that have set up an operation national and/or
regional coordinating mechanism on trade
facilitation.
The repository will be expanded over time.
Countries are invited to share their experiences.
Please contact
Jan.Hoffmann@unctad.org
More >>
The Technical Notes on Trade Facilitation
Measures were first published in 2006 to provide
background information on the concepts discussed
in the trade facilitation negotiations at the
World Trade Organization (WTO). The WTO
negotiations on trade facilitation have evolved
over the past three years, with a number of new
issues being brought up, and other concepts
dropped.
These notes have been revised to reflect the
latest developments in these negotiations; they
now feature 17 individual technical notes on
trade facilitation. Each of the notes introduces
technical and practical details of major trade
facilitation concepts and best practices as they
relate to the consolidated draft text of the WTO
negotiations on trade facilitation issued by the
Chair of the Negotiating Group on Trade
Facilitation in December 2009 (TN/TF/W/165 and
its revisions)
Many trade facilitation measures included in
RTAs are non-discriminatory against non-RTA
trading partners.
On the other hand, RTAs include some trade
facilitation measures such as the provision of
advanced rulings, the use of regional standards
strictly applied only between RTA partner
countries, and simplified customs procedures and
fees afforded only to RTA members, and may be
discriminatory against third parties.
Another potential complication arises when a
country or a regional grouping is party to
several RTAs that apply similar trade
facilitation measures with different scopes.
This might lead to a "spaghetti bowl" of
different customs procedures applied for
different trading partners in the region.
The objective of the Ad Hoc Expert Meeting is to
suggest, what the role of UNCTAD could be in
assisting developing countries in ensuring
coherence between regional and multilateral
trade facilitation commitments.
More >>
More than 80% of
international trade in goods is carried by sea,
and an even higher percentage of
developing-country trade is carried in ships.
The Review of Maritime Transport, an annual
publication prepared by the Division on
Technology and Logistics - UNCTAD secretariat,
is an important source of information on this
vital sector. It closely monitors developments
affecting world seaborne trade, freight rates,
ports, surface transport, and logistics
services, as well as trends in ship ownership
and control and fleet age, tonnage supply, and
productivity. The Review contains a chapter on
legal and regulatory developments and each year
includes a chapter highlighting a different
region. In 2010, the focus is on Asia and the
Pacific.
Key developments reported this year´s Review
include the following:
-
In 2009, world
seaborne trade (goods loaded) decreased by
4.5% to 7.94 billion tons.
-
By the beginning of
2010, the total world merchant fleet had
expanded by an impressive 7%, to reach 1.276
billion deadweight tons (dwt).
-
World container port
throughput declined by estimated 9.7% to
reach 465 million TEUs in 2009, the Review
reports.
-
UNCTAD´s Liner
Shipping Connectivity Index revealed that
the average ranking of Least Developed
Countries (LDCs) in 2010 was 111, compared
to an average ranking of 78 for other
developing countries and 64 for developed
countries. The rating indicates that LDCs
remain isolated from major or frequent
shipping routes. Between 2004 and 2010, the
connectivity ranking of LDCs improved just 1
point.
-
The RMT also details
recent developments in maritime legislation
such as steps by the International Maritime
Organization (IMO) regarding the scope and
content of an international regime to
control greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from
international shipping. In April 2010 a
protocol on the 1996 Hazardous and Noxious
Substances Convention was adopted which aims
to overcome obstacles to the ratification
and entry into force of the Convention.
-
The chapter on the
developments in the Asia-Pacific region
reviews the period from 2007 to 2009, and
gives special consideration to landlocked
developing countries in the region. The
Review shows a downturn 4 % in economic
activity in 2009, reflecting the wide
geographical spread of the global 2008
crisis. The Asia-Pacific region decelerated
to its lowest level in 8 years. Container
trade volumes on the trans-Pacific and the
Asia-Europe trades plummeted in 2009 as did
intra-Asian container volumes and the
Asia-Pacific port container throughput. By
mid-2010, economic indicators were showing a
recovery in the region´s economic growth and
trade.
More


Against a background of
growing demands on transport and trade brought
about by globalisation and with the world
economy currently at a critical juncture, the
three-day Expert Meeting will provide a forum
for discussion and expert policy debate with a
view to improving the understanding of various
emerging challenges and recent developments
affecting transportation and trade facilitation.
Topics are diverse and include: • recent
developments in trade facilitation, including
the WTO trade facilitation negotiations and
relevant regional and national initiatives; •
some key issues at the interface of the energy
and climate change debate and their implications
for transport costs and trade: fossil fuel
supplies, the impact of oil prices on transport
costs and the costs of climate change adaptation
in transportation; • recent developments in the
field of environmental regulation and labour
standards namely (i) liability for ship-source
pollution under the 1996 HNS Convention and the
1992 IOPC Fund Convention regimes, with emphasis
on latest developments, (ii) the 2009 Hong Kong
International Convention for the safe and
environmentally sound recycling of ships, and
(iii) the 2006 Maritime Labour Convention; • the
use of information and communication
technologies (ICT) in logistics, trade
facilitation and supply-chain security.
The programme of speakers includes
representatives from the Asian Development Bank,
West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA),
IEA, World Bank, IOPC Fund, IMO, ILO, WCO, CEMAC
as well as representatives from national
governments and academia.
Relevant documents, including a background note
and a provisional agenda are available
here. Other information pertaining to the
Expert Meeting, including logistical details can
also be found by accessing the above weblink.
Participation in the Expert Meeting is open to
government nominated experts from all UNCTAD
member States, as well as accredited
intergovernmental and non-governmental
organizations. Individuals who may wish to
approach their government with a view to being
nominated as Experts are advised to contact the
relevant mission to the United Nations in
Geneva.
More >>
A combination of factors is currently
transforming the international transportation
landscape, spanning a broad range of areas,
including economic, energy-related,
environmental, political, regulatory, and
technological. These factors have a significant
impact on transport and trade costs which
greatly determine developing countries’ trade
performances and competitiveness. They also
entail implications for transport policy
objectives such as efficiency,
cost-effectiveness, trade facilitation, security
as well as environmental, energy and social
sustainability. UNCTAD’s next session of the
Multi-year Expert Meeting on Transport and Trade
Facilitation, to take place in Geneva from 8–10
December 2010, will provide a forum for experts
from UNCTAD’s member countries to analyse and
discuss these implications.
Two articles in this issue look at liner
shipping, notably at trends in liner shipping
connectivity and the transport of refrigerated
cargo, and we report on a recent meeting on
climate change impacts on international
transport networks. We further present a
recently initiated trade and transport
facilitation project in Pakistan, report on a
trade facilitation workshop in St. Lucia, and
suggest which topics of the Global Facilitation
Partnership (GFP) portal cover the issues dealt
with in the 15 Articles of the future agreement
on trade facilitation which is currently being
negotiated at the WTO. Finally, we present new
documents and events of interest to policy
makers and researchers dealing with transport
and trade facilitation.
The
UNECE-UNCTAD Workshop, held, as part of
the twenty-third session of the UNECE Working
Party on Transport Trends and Economics, is
part of a series of UNECE activities focused on
climate change and transport, and builds on the
expertise and earlier work by UNCTAD on related
issues.
It is expected to raise awareness among UNECE
and UNCTAD member States, transport industry
stakeholders, and
intergovernmental/non-governmental organizations
about the potentially important challenges
climate change impacts and adaptation
requirements present for international
transportation - a complex set of issues that
has so far received little attention.
It is hoped that the Workshop will provide a
platform for fruitful and considered discussions
and set the pace for future work on how best to
bridge the knowledge gaps related to our
understanding of climate change impacts on
transport networks with a view to identifying
adequate adaptation responses. Discussions are
expected to cover issues relating to different
modes of transportation in international
supply-chains, taking into account the situation
in both developed and developing countries.
Additional information and documents pertaining
to the Workshop will also be posted on the
UNECE website.
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