Steering by the Chair of the Steering Committee on Trade ...

© Copyright 2015 United Nations Economic Commission for Europe.

Report by the Chair of the Steering Committee on Trade Capacity and Standards

Ms. Damegul Kabiyeva Chair

UNECE Executive Committee, 118th sessionGeneva, 15 October 2021

© Copyright 2015 United Nations Economic Commission for Europe..

• Support the removal or regulatory and procedural barriers to trade in goods and increase the contribution of trade to the achievements of SDGs

Evidence-based, demand-driven research

• On standardization and regulatory harmonizationBest practice recommendations

• For fresh fruits and vegetables, dry and dried produce, seed potatoes, meat, cut flowers, eggs and egg products

Agricultural quality standards

• Help countries implement recommendations from the evidence-based researchand internationally recognized best practice recommendations and standards

Targeted, demand-driven capacity-building projects

“Supporting trade reforms in the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe region, particularly those pertaining to removing regulatory

and procedural barriers to trade in goods”

Strategic Objective


Subsidiary BodyWorking Party on Regulatory

Cooperation and Standardization (WP.6)

Subsidiary BodyWorking Party on Agricultural

Quality Standards (WP.7)

Steering Committee on Trade Capacity and StandardsChairperson: Ms. Damegul Kabiyeva (Kazakhstan)

Vice-Chairs: Dmitry Doroshevich (Belarus), Mariam Gabunia (Georgia)

Cooperation

Overview of Committee structure

Ad hoc Team of Specialists on

Standardizationand Regulatory

Techniques (START)

Advisory Group on Market

Surveillance (MARS)

Group of Experts on Risk Management on

RegulatorySystems (GRM)

Seed Potatoes Meat

Fresh Fruit and Vegetables

Dry and DriedProduce

4 Specialized Standard-setting Sections


Achievements since the previous session (1/2)

Evidence-based research

• Bolstering transparency in trade by going beyond online publication of up-to-date information on trade rules and procedures to strengthen the capacity of state agencies, and on the implication of these rules in continuous consultations with the private sector

• Transitioning to a paperless trading environment by streamlining, harmonizing and standardizing information flows, providing tools for Single Windows for a one-time submission to data elements

• Further reducing clearance time by, among others, synchronizing the working hours of control agencies, streamlining control procedures, further developing the risk management system and equipping border crossing points with the required facilities

• Consolidating the national system of quality infrastructure with additional tools for addressing capacity shortfalls in the areas of standardization, conformity assessment and metrology

• Bringing the enterprise sector, particularly MSMEs, up to regulatory requirements in domestic and global markets through programmes to develop their productive capacity.

4


Achievements since the previous session (2/2)

5

Standardization policies and regulatory cooperation

• WP.6 finalized Recommendation V on Addressing Product Non-Compliance Risks in International Trade

• The Declaration for Gender-Responsive Standards and Standards Development has been signed by 73 national and international standards development organisations


• WP.7 continued to issue and revise standards for fresh fruit and vegetables, dry and dried produce, meat, and seed potatoes: Ten new or revised standards were adopted and published in 2020, along with a new ECE Minimum Quality Specifications for Fresh Fruit and Vegetables.

• WP.7 developed (i) a Code of Good Practice: reducing food loss and ensuring optimum handling of fresh fruits and vegetables along the value chain, (ii) a methodology to measure and quantify food loss and waste in fresh produce supply chains, and (iii) FeedUP@UN

• WP.7 Initiated discussions on a digital certification scheme related to food loss experienced by operators

Capacity-building

• A self-paced online training course “Building Stronger Economies after COVID-19: Standards Implementation for boosting MSMEs’ resilience” was published in early 2021, financed through UN DA Project “Global Initiative towards post-COVID-19 Resurgence of the MSME sector


Major activities planned for 2021 and beyond (1/3)

6

Evidence based research

• Finalized two demand-driven national assessments to discern the impact of COVID-19 on the development prospects of export oriented female owned MSMEs in Armenia and the Republic of Moldova

Standardization policies and regulatory cooperation

• WP.6 plans to finalize: (i) a revision of the Glossary of Market Surveillance Terms; (ii) an enhancement of the Market Surveillance Model Initiative Guide to the Use of the General Market Surveillance Procedures; (iii) the guide on Facilitating Trade for Business Through Integrated Risk Management: Guide for Border Regulatory Agencies developed jointly with the International Trade Centre

• Development of guidance material for the implementation of the Recommendation V on Addressing Product Non-Compliance Risks in International Trade, and for assessing gender responsiveness of existing standards along with training material for the thematic areas of the working party

• Review existing recommendations for possible updates (e.g. Recommendation M on Use of market Surveillance Infrastructure as a Complementary Means to Protect consumers and Users against Counterfeit Goods

• Expand the mapping of remaining SDGs and use cases published on the “Standards for SDGs” online portal• Consider how the theme of Circular Economy might be addressed as part of existing of future deliverables under its

mandate

© Copyright 2015 United Nations Economic Commission for Europe..7


• WP.7 will continue its work on reviewing and updating standards for fresh fruit and vegetables, dry and dried produce, meat, and seed potatoes

• The Code of Good Practice: reducing food loss and ensuring optimum handling of fresh fruit and vegetables along the value chain is scheduled for adoption

• Discussions on a digital certification scheme for food loss will be continued

• The Specialized Section on Meat will continue its work on meat eating quality and discuss international minimum sustainability guidelines for the meat sector

• Consider how the theme of Circular Economy might be addressed as part of existing of future deliverables under its mandate



Capacity-building

• Continue to support the Governmental of Georgia in the process of integration national NTM legislation into the UNCTAD online TRAINS, covering around 200 laws and regulations by product at detailed 11-digit level Harmonized Coding System

• Support effort of Kyrgyzstan to increase transparency in trade, and assist the Governmental in developing a national platform for facilitating the exchange of information on NTMs

• Conduct a peer review the online self-paced training course on commercial quality standards for publication in 2021

• Publish the online self-paced training course “Building Stronger Economies after COVID-19: Standards Implementation for Boosting MSME Resilience”, languages available: Armenian, Georgian, Romanian, Russian, and Serbian

• Support the implementation of recommendations made in previous studies on regulatory and procedural barriers to trade and the COVID-19 impact assessments

8



Main cooperation w/ other UNECE bodies & other international organizations (1/2)

The Trade Subprogramme participates in the work of the UNECE nexuses: • WP.6 is an active member of the Sustainability and Smart Cities nexus• The WP.7 secretariat supports the Sustainable Use of Natural

Resources nexus• The SCTCS secretariat is a member of the Measuring and Monitoring

Progress towards the SDGs nexus• The SCTCS secretariat also contributes to the innovation performance

reviews under the Committee on Innovation Competitiveness and Public-Private Partnerships

9

The Steering Committee noted the completion of the UN DA financedproject «Strengthening the National Capacities of Selected UNECE Countries for Evidence-Based Regulatory Procedural Trade Policies to Achieve SDGs»


Main cooperation w/ other UNECE bodies & other international organizations (2/2)

10

Through WP.7, UNECE pools efforts withESCAP, ECA and ECLAC to increase policycoherence and sustainability of national production and consumption patterns in North-South and South-South agriculture trade

UNECE cooperates with UNESCWA on food loss and waste solutions for fosteringsustainability and food security

UNECE works closely with the EuropeanCommission to ensure harmonizsation of marketing standards with UNECE standards

UNECE also cooperates with the OECD for the Application of International Standards for Fruit and Vegetables

UNECE also cooperates with the Codex Alimentarius Committees on Fresh Fruits and Vegetables and on Processed Fruits and Vegetables in developing new commercial qualitystandards and maintainign existingones. UNECE also participated in the workshopts of the FAO on foodloss and waste

UNECE is a permanent observer at the WTO Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade, and has strengthened cooperation withthe UN Entity for Gender Equalityand the Empowerment of Womenin support of gender-responsive standards

© Copyright 2015 United Nations Economic Commission for Europe..11

The Executive Committee is invited to

Approve the Programme of Work of the Economic Cooperation and Integration subprogramme for 2022, as contained in document ECE/CTCS/2021/7.

UNECE Executive Committee, 118th session Geneva, 15 October 2021

© Copyright 2015 United Nations Economic Commission for Europe. 12

Thank you!

Ms. Damegul KbiyevaChair, Steering Committee on Trade Capacity and Standards

More information is available on the UNECE website:https://unece.org/economic-cooperation-and-integration

https://unece.org/economic-cooperation-and-integration

Steering by the Chair of the Steering Committee on Trade ...

Documents

Transcript of Steering by the Chair of the Steering Committee on Trade ...