REPORT OF THE SECOND MEETING OF LEGAL AND TECHNICAL

REPORT OF THE SECOND MEETING OF LEGAL AND TECHNICAL
WORKING GROUPS OF THE INTERIM INTERGOVERNMENTAL STEERING
GROUP ON CROSS-BORDER PAPERLESS TRADE FACILITATION
Dates: 5 – 6 November 2015
Venue: CR-4, UNCC, Bangkok
1. The meeting, which brought together 42 nominated participants and 12 regional experts and
observers, was opened with remarks from Mr. Mikhail Maslov, chair of the Interim
Intergovernmental Steering Group on Cross-border Paperless Trade Facilitation.
2. The meeting adopted the tentative annotated agenda without any modifications.
3. Chairs of the Legal Working Group (LWG) and the Technical Working Group (TWG)
respectively reported progress made in improving the draft text of regional arrangement and
preparing a draft road map during interim period since the first meeting. The chair of the
LWG informed the meeting that the LWG members exchanged comments on the version of
the draft text for its improvement and conducted an exercise on preliminary legal gap
analysis. The chair of the TWG reported that it held two virtual meetings during the interim
period and also had an informal session in the morning of 4 November 2015 to follow up on
pending tasks.
4. The meeting invited Russian participants to make a presentation of a white paper it had
prepared on Transboundary Trust Space (TTS) in a joint LWG/TWG session. In-depth
discussions were held to better understand and clarify the TTS concept.
5. The meeting proceeded with the breakout sessions of the Legal Working Group (LWG) and
the Technical Working Group (TWG), respectively focusing on improving the draft text and
preparing a draft road map (See Annexes 2 and 3 for details on activities conducted by each
working group).
6. The LWG and LTG reconvened in a joint plenary session and heard the reports from chairs
of each working group on progress made in their respective tasks during breakout sessions.
The meeting agreed that substantial progress had been made on several key articles of the
draft text of the agreement.
7. The meeting confirmed the dates and venue for the third physical meeting of the working
groups in the last week of March 2016 (28-30 March 2016), United Nations Conference
Centre
(UNCC),
Bangkok,
back-to-back
with
the
second
meeting
of
Interim
Intergovernmental Steering Group on Cross-border Paperless Trade Facilitation (31 March –
1 April 2016). The secretariat would inform members of exact dates of both meetings later.
8. To enable finalization of draft text of regional arrangement by the second meeting of Interim
Intergovernmental Steering Group on Cross-border Paperless Trade Facilitation, the LWG
decided to consider possibility of having an interim physical meeting in January 2016
through online consultation among members using the group mail. The TWG decided to
continue having regular virtual meetings at two- or three-week intervals, without any interim
physical meeting, until the third physical meeting. The secretariat would prepare proposed
dates and time for virtual meetings of the TWG during interim period.
9. The meeting was closed with remarks from Mr. Mikhail Maslov, chair of the Interim
Intergovernmental Steering Group on Cross-border Paperless Trade Facilitation.
Annexes: 1. Final Agenda
2. Main activities and decisions of the Legal Working Group
3. Main activities and decisions of the Technical Working Group
4. Final List of participants
5. Draft Text of the Regional Arrangement for the Facilitation of Cross-border
Paperless Trade: Post 2nd Meeting of LTWG Version (Separate)
_______________
ANNEX 1. FINAL AGENDA
1. Opening of the Meeting
(a) Opening remarks
(b) Adoption of the agenda
(c) Update on progress made by the Legal Working Group in improving the draft text of regional
agreement since the first meeting
(d) Update on progress made by the Technical Working Group in preparing a draft road map since
the first meeting
2. Working group breakout session
3. Review of progress made in improving the draft text of regional agreement
4. Review of progress made in preparing a draft road map
5. Other matters
(a) Confirmation of dates and venue for the 3rd physical meeting
(b) Interim virtual work plan until the 3rd physical meeting
(c) Any other business
6. Closing.
ANNEX 2. MAIN ACTIVITIES AND DECISIONS OF THE LEGAL WORKING GROUP
1) The Legal Working Group (LWG) continued its work on improving the current draft text of the
regional arrangement for the facilitation of cross-border paperless trade.
2) On Preamble, the LWG reviewed China’s proposal to add “to advance regional integration, promote
connectivity, and” in paragraph 2. Discussion centered on value of adding such wording in the
preamble in the context of the current regional arrangement as well as purpose of preamble. In this
connection, active discussion was also made on virtue of adding new wording on those provisions
where consensus was reached at previous stage. There was general agreement that, while every
working group members should actively refrain from proposing changes to text and provisions earlier
agreed, the working group would try to accommodate such changes when possible and relevant.
Members of the LWG were not sure and confident about necessity and value-addition of
incorporating China’s proposed wording on regional connectivity, especially under current situation
that the Preamble is mostly finalized. In this connection, China agreed to propose a separate
additional preambular paragraph rather than incorporate words to existing para 2. The meeting
requested China to submit the proposal using the LWG group mail as soon as possible.
3) On Article 3(a), discussion focused on improving clarity on definition of paperless trade in the
context of purpose and scope of the current regional arrangement. Suggestions for its improvement
included adding the word ‘cross-border” to paperless trade, replacing the word “cross-border” with
‘international”, among others. The LWG agreed to exclude the word «international» from para 3 (b)
of article 3 of the draft text of the [Framework] Agreement, and also agreed to combine definitions
3(b) and 3(a) of article 3 into one, with further elaboration using the LWG group mail as necessary.
4) The concept of Transboundary Trust Space (TTS) was discussed at length and was presented by
Russia as a way to achieve mutual recognition of each other’s technology. The concept of ‘trusted
third party’ (TTP) was introduced to the participants as one of the possible models of implementation
of a TTS. Members of LWG discussed how TTP could be implemented. Some participants
highlighted that the issue of mutual recognition under the agreement referred not only to the mutual
recognition of electronic signatures but also to the way the data was transmitted and the quality and
reliability of the data itself. Some participants inquired of how would take responsibility for security
of the data under such an arrangement. It was explained that TTP allowed the States to maintain their
sovereign rights and States would be responsible for the TTP partner. The more stable the TTP the
more stable the legal transactions between the parties. Members of the LWG requested explanations
of the new concepts in written form. There was general consensus that the [framework] agreement
should not contain specific implementation models or technologies, as those would have to be agreed
by parties to the agreement through development of separate protocols.
5) On Article 3(j) bis “Transboundary Trust Space” and ter “Electronically Interacting Parties”, the
meeting agreed to delete them on the condition that a new general principle on “Promotion of
transboundary trust environment” is incorporated in Article 5 (Also refer to discussions on Articles 5
and 8).
6) On Article 5, the meeting, also based on general international practice, reached a consensus to not
define general principles in the text of the Agreement but to explain the principles in the
explanoatory note of the Agreement instead. Accordingly, it decided to delete explanatory wording
on 5(a), (b) and (c), simply reading as “Functional equivalence”, “Non-discrimination of the use
of electronic communications” and “Technology neutrality.” The meeting decided to
incorporate “Promotion of transboundary trust environment” in Article 5, on the condition
that related wording on TTS in Article 3 and 8 were to be deleted. The meeting revised the
Explanatory Note to provide explanation of this and other principles, with additional elaborations and
clarifications to be made through LWG group mail. While general consensus was achieved on
this matter, Japan made a specific reservation on the new principle and it was agreed that it
would update the group on its suggestions soon through LWG group mail (Also refer to
discussions on Articles 3 and 8).
7) On Article 8, the meeting agreed to delete wording on the TTS on the condition that “Promotion of
transboundary trust environment” is incorporated in Article 5 (Also refer to discussions on
Articles 3 and 5).
8) On Article 17, the meeting agreed to delete Cambodia’s proposal of linking the Council’s role to
dispute resolution; regarding Russia’s proposal to delete paragraphs 2 – 5, no decision was made.
9) On Article 18, the meeting briefly discussed mechanisms for signing, ratifying and accession for the
purpose of clarification. LWG were reminded that this provision – as well as other final clauses of the
agreement – reflect standard and commonly accepted procedures associated with international treaties
and agreements.
10) On Article 19, the meeting revisited the optimal number for entry into force of the current regional
arrangement, comparing benefits of having high and low numbers for its entry into force. The
meeting decided to leave it to the Steering Group to decide.
11) On Article 20, the meeting briefly discussed current pending wording in bracket “present and voting”
as well as “by a two-thirds majority of the Parties”, but decided to further discuss them.
12) On Article 21, the meeting discussed value of having a provision on reservations in light of
nature of the current regional arrangement, and decided to continue discussion on it to reach
a consensus.
ANNEX 3. MAIN ACTIVITIES AND DECISIONS OF THE TECHNICAL WORKING
GROUP
1) The Technical Working Group (TWG) focused its discussion on Transboundary Trust Space (TTS)
proposed by the Russian participants. Through extended hours of discussion, the participants tried to
better understand its concept and possible implementation mechanism, as well as its possible
incorporation into the draft text of regional arrangement.
2) In connection to the TTS and its linkage to the draft text of regional arrangement, the TWG formed a
small task team, comprising of Russian participants, Mr. Sung Heun Ha from the Republic of Korea
and Mr. Tahseen Khan from India, and delegated the team to come up with a proposal for the TWG
to consider. The small task team had an intensive discussion to build a consensus within it with
extensive hours of interaction.
3)
The small task team reached a consensus on how to account for Russia’s TTS proposal into the draft
text of regional arrangement for the TWG’s consideration as follows: (1) Insert “Improving
transboundary trust environment” or similar wording in Article 5 as a general principle, (2) Revise
Article 8 to read as “The Parties [shall (replace with ‘may’: Pakistan)] provide for mutual recognition
of trade-related data and documents in electronic form originating from other Parties.”, and (3)
Incorporate definitions for transboundary trust environment with further improvement.
4) The TWG decided to further elaborate on proposed changes during interim period until the third
physical meeting, in coordination with the LWG. Members of the TWG would have national
consultations on the consensus text and propose better wording as needed.
5) The TWG invited three regional experts, who were currently conducting studies for ESCAP on issues
related to the tasks of the TWG, to present their interim findings as follows:
a)
Mr. Seung Hyun Cha on “Status and lessons learnt in Customs-to-Customs (C2C) cross-border
paperless data exchange for paperless trade facilitation”
b) Mr. Peter Stokes on “Enabling cross-border data exchange among Single Windows”
c)
Mr. Tahseen Khan on “Facilitating transition from paper-based to paper-less and paperless crossborder data exchange environment”
6) Upon listening to the presentations, the TWG had time to ask questions and listen to answers from
the presenters. The secretariat informed the meeting that the study outcomes would be shared to the
members of the TWG through group mail as they were finalized.
7) Further building on discussions and interactions made during an informal session in the morning of 4
November 2015, the TWG invited Mr. Sung Heun Ha to present his initial work on cross-border
paperless trade reference map.
The participants agreed to provide their suggestions for its
improvement, upon receiving it through the TWG group mail.
8) The secretariat introduced what should be included in an international standard implementation
strategy. The secretariat would prepare a template for completing the strategy and circulate it to the
members of the TWG for its development.
9) The secretariat introduced initial terms of references for the Council and the Standing Committee.
The secretariat would circulate it to the members of the TWG for review and further improvement.
10) For virtual meetings during interim period until the third physical meeting, the TWG would continue
having regular virtual meetings with two or three week internal. In this connection, the
secretariat would prepare proposed dates and time for virtual meetings of the TWG during
interim period.
11) The TWG decided dates and venue for its third physical meeting to be in the last week of March
2016 (28 – 30 March 2016), United Nations Conference Centre (UNCC), Bangkok, back-toback with the second meeting of Interim Intergovernmental Steering Group on Cross-border
Paperless Trade Facilitation.
ANNEX 4. FINAL LIST OF PARTICIPANTS
ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMISSION FOR ASIA AND THE PACIFIC
Second Meeting of Legal and Technical Working Groups of the Interim Intergovernmental
Steering Group on Cross-border Paperless Trade Facilitation
5-6 November 2015
Bangkok, Thailand
LIST OF PARTICIPANTS
BANGLADESH
Mr. A.H.M. Shafiquzzaman, Deputy Secretary, Ministry of Commerce of Bangladesh, Dhaka
Tel: +88 02 954 0199, fax: +88 02 954 9346, email: [email protected]
Ms. Rama Dewan, Joint Chief, Bangladesh Tariff Commission, Dhaka
Tel: +88 02 933 6447, email: [email protected]
BHUTAN
Mr. Sonam Gyeltshen, Deputy Chief Trade Officer, Department of Trade, Ministry of Economic
Affairs, Thimphu
Tel: +975 2 322407, Email: [email protected], [email protected]
CAMBODIA
Mr. Eng Veng Pha, Deputy Director of Customs Regimes, General Department of Customs and Excise
of Cambodia, Ministry of Economy and Finance, Phnom Penh
Tel: +855 77 459 999, email: [email protected]
Mr. Chantha Un, Chief of Inspection and Registration Office, Export-Import Department, General
Directorate of Trade Support Services, Ministry of Commerce, Phnom Penh
Tel: +855 12 833397, fax: +85 23 866 469, email: [email protected]
CHINA
Mr. Chunyang Wang, Official, Ministry of Commerce of China, Beijing
Tel: +86 10 6519 7765, email: [email protected]
Mr. Jianjun Li, General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, Beijing
Tel: +86 10 82261780, email: [email protected]
Mr. Qiankun Shen, Officer, General Administration of Customs of China, Beijing
Tel: +86 138 2809 3276, email: [email protected]
Mr. Zhengwei Yang, Director, Ministry of Commerce of China, Beijing
Tel: +86 10 6519 7719, email: [email protected]
Mr. Chenyang Zhang, Director, Ministry of Commerce of China, Beijing
Tel: +86 151 2000 4932, email: [email protected]
Ms. Yiwei Chen, Director, Ministry of Commerce of China, Beijing
Tel: +86 10 6519 7495, email: [email protected]
Ms. Ying Xu, Deputy Director, General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and
Quarantine of China, Jiangsu
Tel: +86 25 5234 5536, email:
Mr. Jinjun Zang, Deputy Director, Ministry of Commerce of China, Beijing
Tel: +86 10 6519 7594, email: [email protected]
INDIA
Ms. Anice Joseph Chandra, Director, Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry,
New Delhi
Tel: + 91 112306 3642, fax: +91 11 22306 3642, email: [email protected], [email protected]
ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN
Mr. Ali Gholampour, Minister Counsellor and Deputy Permanent Representative to ESCAP, Embassy of
the Islamic Republic of Iran, Bangkok
Tel: +66 2 390 0871 to 73, email: [email protected]
JAPAN
Mr. Hitoshi Kozaki, Head of International Organization Dep., Embassy of Japan in Thailand, Bangkok
Tel: +66 2 2696-3000, email: [email protected]
Mr. Toru Adachi, First Secretary and Deputy Permanent Representative to ESCAP, Embassy of Japan
in Thailand, Bangkok
Tel: +66 2 2078500, email: [email protected]
KYRGYZSTAN
Mr. Elis Akylbekov, IT Specialist, State Enterprise Single Window Center for Foreign Trade, Ministry
of Economy of Kyrgyzstan, Bishkek
Tel: +996 551 912119, email: [email protected]
MALAYSIA
Mr. Ahmad Hafiz Abdul Aziz, Principal Assistant Director of Trade Facilitation Unit, Investment
Policy and Trade Facilitation Division, Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI), Kuala
Lumpur
Tel: +60 3 6200 0166, fax: +60 3 6203 3173, email: [email protected], [email protected]
Mr. Khairul Azreem Mamat, Senior Federal Council, Ministry of International Trade and Industry
(MITI) Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur
Tel: +60 3 6299 0041, email: [email protected]
MONGOLIA
Mr. Enkhbold Liguu, Officer, Trade Policy and Coordination Department, Ministry of Industry,
Ulaanbaatar
Tel: +976 51 266430, fax : +976 11 5126 3333, email: [email protected]
NEPAL
Mr. Shambhu Prasad Ghimire, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Commerce and Supplies, Kathmandu
Tel: +977 98 5113 2735, fax: +977 1 421 1167, email:
PAPUA NEW GUINEA
Mr. Wilson Tom, Director, Post Clearance Audit and Valuation, Papua New Guinea Customs
Authority, Port Moresby, NCD
Tel: +675 312 7571, email: [email protected], [email protected]
REPUBLIC OF KOREA
Mr. Son Minho, Assistant Director, Ministry of Strategy and Finance, Seoul
Tel: +82 44 215 8077, email: : [email protected]
Mr. Sung Heun Ha (Rama), Director, Paperless Trade Business Team, Korea Trade Network
(KTNET), Seoul
Email: [email protected]
Mr. Seung Hyun Cha, Strategic Research Team Manager, Customs UNI-PASS International Agency
Seoul, Republic of Korea
Email: [email protected]
RUSSIAN FEDERATION
Mr. Mikhail Maslov, Head, Division of UN Organizations and Multilateral Cooperation, Department
of Europe, North America and International Organizations, Ministry of Economic Development of the
Russian Federation, Moscow
Tel: +7 495 9513338, fax: +7 495 9512364, email: [email protected]
Mr. Dmitry Kozlov, Counsellor of the Department of Coordination, Development and Regulation of
Foreign Policy Activities, Ministry of Economic Development, Moscow
Tel: +7 495 6508 700 (12616), email: [email protected]
Mr. Alexander Plakhov, Legal Adviser, Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian
Federation, Moscow
Tel: +7495 650 8911, email: [email protected]
Mr. Sergei Nikolaevich Anikin, Deputy Head, Information Technology Department – Chief
Information Security, Federal Customs Service of the Russian Federation, Moscow
Tel: +7 499 449 7186, [email protected]
Ms. Kseniia Verbitskaia, Chief State Customs Inspector Division, International Law, Customs
Cooperation Department, Federal Customs Service of the Russian Federation, Moscow
Tel: +7 985 133 6408, email: [email protected]
Mr. Alexey Alexandrovich Domrachev, Advisor, Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications of
the Russian Federation, Moscow
Tel: +7 495 771 8000, email: [email protected]
Mr. Sergei A. Kiryushkin, Counselor to General Director, Gaxinformservice, Ltd., Moscow
Tel: +7 812 677 2050, email: [email protected]
Ms. Alla Kryzhanovskaya, Counsel, Association of Innovative Regions of Russia (AIRR), Moscow
Tel: +7 499 709 8110, email: [email protected] copy to [email protected]
Mr. Sergey Demidenkov, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to ESCAP,
Bangkok
Mr. Konstantin Kozlov, Third Secretary, Assistant Russian Permanent Representative to ESCAP,
Bangkok
Ms. Natalia Karmazinskaya, Third Secretary, Assistant Russian Permanent Representative to ESCAP,
Bangkok
THAILAND
Mr. Sakchai Sakabucha, Director of International Law Division, Thai Customs Department, Ministry
of Finance, Bangkok
Tel: +66 2 667 7495, email: [email protected]
Mr. Aphichat Aumyoo, Legal Officer, Thai Customs Department, Ministry of Finance, Bangkok
Tel: +66 2 667 8330, email: [email protected], [email protected]
Ms. Kanokporn Hanbumrungtham, Director of Export and Privilege System Development Division,
Information and Communication Technology Bureau, Thai Customs Department, Bangkok
Tel: +66 2 667 6192, email: [email protected]
TIMOR-LESTE
Mr. Luis Pereira, Chief of Legal Support Unit, Cabinet of the State minister Coordinator for Economic
Affairs (MECAE), VI Constitutional Government of East Timor,Dili
Tel: +670 331 1243, email: [email protected]
VIET NAM
Ms. Hang Thi Thanh Bui, Deputy Chief of International Affairs Division, Vietnam E-commerce & IT
Agency, Ministry of Industry & Trade, Hanoi
Tel : +84 4 2220 5486, email : [email protected]
__________________
RESOURCE PERSONS
Ms. Caroline Tabitha Mutema, Assistant Manager, Kenya Revenue Authority, Nairobi, Kenya
Tel: +254 722 622169, email: [email protected]
Mr. Francis Norman Ortiz Lopez, President, InterCommerce Network Services Inc., Makati City,
Philippines
Email: [email protected]
Dr. Hong Xue, Professor, Director of Institute for the Internet Policy & Law (IIPL), Beijing, China
Tel : +86 10 8242 5692 Email: [email protected], [email protected]
Mr. Jonathan Koh, Senior Director, Crimson Logic Pte. Ltd., Singapore
Tel: +65 6887 7888, email: [email protected]
Ms. Kyeongrim Ahn, Consultant, ADB, GPANS SmartLo Co., Ltd., Seoul, Republic of Korea
Tel: 82 10 6266 6424, email: [email protected]
Ms. Mee Wan Wong (Marianne), Expert of Single Window and Paperless Trade, Selangor, Malaysia
Tel: +60 12 290 3117, email: [email protected]
Mr. Peter Stokes, Executive Consultant, Axway
Tel: +85 2 9461 8925, email: [email protected]
Mr. Tahseen A. Khan, Consultant and UN/CEFACT Vice Chair, New Delhi, India
Tel: +91 11 2467 6898, fax: +91 11 2436 5982, email: [email protected]
Mr. Wan Mohd Asnur Wan Jantan, Senior Federal Counsel at International Affairs Division, Attorney
General's Chambers Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, email: [email protected]
__________________
UNITED NATIONS BODY
United Nations Commission on
International Trade Law (UNCITRAL)
Secretary of Working Group IV (Electronic
Commerce)
UNCITRAL
Vienna, Australia
Tel: +43 1 26060 4078
Email: [email protected]
Mr. Luca G. Castellani
Legal Officer and
__________________
OTHER ENTITIES
Ms. Damirgul B. Osmonova, Programme Coordinator in Kyrgyzstan, German International
cooperation/GIZ Regional Program “Support to regional trade in Central Asia”, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
Tel: +996 312 909138, email: [email protected]
Ms. Nozigul Khushvakhtova, Programme Coordinator in Tajilistan, German International
cooperation/GIZ Regional Program “Support to regional trade in Central Asia”, Dushanbe, Tajikistan
Tel: +992 93 570 8004, email: [email protected]
__________________
ESCAP SECRETARIAT
Ms. Susan F. Stone
Director
Trade and Investment Division
Mr. Yann Duval
Chief, Trade Facilitation Unit
Trade and Investment Division
Mr. Sangwon Lim
Economic Affairs Officer
Trade Facilitation Unit
Trade and Investment Division
Mr. Tengfei Wang
Economic Affairs Officer
Trade Facilitation Unit
Trade and Investment Division
Mr. Jun Ho Shin
Ms. Maame Agyeben
Expert in Regional Trade and
Monetary Cooperation
Trade and Investment Division
Associate Economic Affairs Officer
Trade Facilitation Unit
Trade and Investment Division
__________________