UNECE – UNESCAP 4 th Expert Group Meeting on Developing Euro-Asian Transport Linkages Thessaloniki, Greece November 2006 Robert Nowak Transport Division UN Economic Commission for Europe

Legal arrangements for the smooth movement of goods internationally Agenda Item 8

TRADING ACROSS BORDERS World Bank’s “Doing Business”

WB – Doing Business: “Trading Across Borders” The procedural requirements for exporting and importing a standardized cargo of goods Every official procedure is counted -- from the contractual agreement between the two parties to the delivery of goods -- along with the time and cost necessary for completion

WB – Doing Business Number of all documents required to export/import goods Time necessary to comply with all procedures required to export/import goods Cost associated with all the procedures required to export/import goods

Region or Econo my Documents for export (number) Time for export (days) Cost to export (US$ per container) Documents for import (number) Time for import (days) Cost to import (US$ per container) OECD East Asia & Pacific ,037.1 Middle East & North Africa ,182.8 Latin America & Caribbean , ,225.5 South Asia , ,494.9 Europe & Central Asia , ,589.3 Sub-Saharan Africa , ,946.9

Number of documents required to export (Top 10 – bottom 10 UNECE members)

Canada

Tajikistan

Number of documents required to import (Top 10 – bottom 10 UNECE members)

Sweden

Azerbaijan

Number of days required to export (Top 10 – bottom 10 UNECE members)

Estonia

Kazakhstan

Number of days required to import (Top 10 – bottom 10 UNECE members

Denmark

Uzbekistan

Exports: Inland transportation (in days)

Exports: Customs Clearance and Technical Control (in days)

Exports: Number of documents required

Exports: Documents Preparation (in days)

Imports: Inland Transportation (in days)

Imports: Customs Clearance and Technical Control (in days)

Imports: Number of documents required

Imports: Documents Preparation (in days)

Developing transport infrastructure and facilitating international transport in Europe and Asia Best practices: some European examples Agenda Item 10

Transport facilitation: what is it? Removal of unnecessary barriers to international transport

Transport facilitation: what for? To reduce transportation time and costs

Transport facilitation: how? Reduce the physical costs of transport Improve the efficiency of border crossing operations How? Reform customs and other border agencies through modernization, improved staff training, better inter-agency and cross-border cooperation Provide high quality infrastructure and services for transport, logistics, customs and information technology

The International Convention on the Harmonization of Frontier Controls of Goods, 21 October 1982

Objectives of the Convention: The “Harmonization Convention” aims at facilitating border crossing of goods by harmonizing and reducing: · formalities · number and duration of border controls

The “Harmonization Convention” establishes procedures for:  customs controls, medico-sanitary, inspections, veterinary inspections, phyto- sanitary inspections, quality controls and controls of compliance with technical standards

These procedures call for:  national cooperation and coordination of various services  international cooperation between the respective border services

The “Harmonization Convention” foresees:  joint controls of goods and documents through the provision of shared facilities  same opening hours and same types of services at the same border  promotion of the one-stop-shop principle for border controls

Best practices Border crossing information: national governments

Customs: the government of Poland

Best practices Industry associations: International Road Transport Union