- The Committee for Trade, Industry and Enterprise Development held its ninth session from 23 to 27 May 2005. As part of its session, the Committee also organized an open Executive Forum on “After Fifteen Years of Market Reforms in Transition Economies: New Challenges and Perspectives for the Industrial Sector” which was held on 24 and 25 May. A report on the Forum can be found in addendum to this report (ECE/TRADE/306/Add.1)
- Representatives of the following countries participated in the session: Albania, Armenia, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Georgia, Hungary, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Russian Federation, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Turkey, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and United States of America.
- Representatives of the European Community also participated.
- Representatives of the following countries participated under Article 11 of the terms of reference of the Economic Commission for Europe: China, El Salvador, Sri Lanka and Venezuela.
- In attendance were representatives from the following United Nations organizations and specialized agencies: United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), International Trade Centre/UNCTAD/WTO.
- Also in attendance were the following intergovernmental organizations: Agency for International Trade Information and Cooperation (AITIC), Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC), European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), European Free Trade Association (EFTA), the World Bank and the World Trade Organization (WTO).
- The following organizations participated at the invitation of the secretariat: All-Ukrainian Association of Women Entrepreneurs "Women's Alliance", International Trade Center for Development (CECIDE), Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS) as well as several representatives from the business community and civil society.
Item 1 – Adoption of the agenda
Documentation:
| ECE/TRADE/359 |
Provisional agenda for the ninth session |
- Decisions taken
Decision 05-01: The Committee adopted the agenda as found in document ECE/TRADE/359, with the proposed changes in the sequence of discussion.
Item 2 – Election of officers
- Decisions taken
Decision 05-02: The Committee re-elected Mr. A. Safarik-Pstrosz (Czech Republic) for another term as Chairperson. Mr. Mario W. Cardullo (United States of America), Mr. Dimitri Japaridze (Georgia), Mr. Z. Jolevski (The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia) and Mr. J. Sanz-Benito (Spain) were elected Vice-Chairpersons. The Committee further requested that the report reflect its gratitude to the outgoing Vice-Chairpersons, Ms. A. Oktem (Turkey), Mr. R. van Kuik (Netherlands) and Mr. T. Toichubaev (Kyrgyzstan) for their contributions to the work of the Committee.
Item 3 - Opening Statements
- The Director of the Division on Trade Development and Timber, the Chief of the Industrial Restructuring and Enterprise Development Section and the Secretary to Working Party 5 presented the highlights of the Committee’s work and accomplishments during the past year in their respective programmes.
- The Chairperson of the Committee on Trade, Industry and Enterprise Development presented the Committee’s strategic directions for the coming year, which were: the development of standards, recommendations and policy advice; support to member States on implementation; and the expansion of supporting networks of institutions and experts. He also briefly presented the work undertaken by the Committee’s Bureau since the 2004 session.
Item 4: Matters arising from the sixtieth session of the Economic Commission for Europe and the intersessional meetings of the Committee Bureau
Documentation:
| TRADE/2005/1 |
Matters arising from the sixtieth session of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe of particular relevance to the Committee for Trade, Industry and Enterprise Development |
- The Secretary to the Committee on Trade, Industry and Enterprise Development introduced document TRADE/2005/1 on matters arising from the sixtieth session of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe of particular relevance to the CTIED, making particular reference to UNECE reform, the follow up to the International Conference on Financing for Development, and the programme planning and budgeting process. The Committee chairperson then referred to the discussion in the CTIED Bureau on the sixtieth session of the UNECE, which is reflected in the Annex to document TRADE/2005/1. Finally, the Director of the Division on Trade Development and Timber commented on the positive cooperation with the OSCE Secretariat, especially after the signature of the Memorandum of Understanding between the two organizations.
- Decisions taken
Decision 05-03: The Committee noted the document on “Matters arising from the sixtieth session of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe of particular relevance to the Committee for Trade, Industry and Enterprise Development” (TRADE/2005/1).
Item 5 - Programme of work
- A report was given by the Acting Deputy Executive Secretary, Mr. Patrice Robineau, on the input the Committee would need to provide in the near future to the UN planning and budgeting process.
- Decisions taken
Decision 05-06: The Committee noted the information concerning the input of the Committee to the United Nations planning and budgeting process and requested the Bureau to follow up on these processes.
Item 5.1 - Activities of other UNECE principal subsidiary bodies
Documentation:
| TRADE/2005/2 |
Sustainable Energy and Trade – Activities of the UNECE Committee on Sustainable Energy of Interest to the Committee for Trade, Industry and Enterprise Development |
- The secretariat presented document TRADE/2005/2, describing the activities of the UNECE Committee on Sustainable Energy (CSE), whose goal is to promote cooperation between the UNECE member States in the field of energy.
- The secretariat drew the CTIED’s attention to the table in the report, which summarizes the main areas of the CSE’s activities, and pointed out several of these activities that are of interest to the Committee and represent possible areas for cooperation. Special attention was drawn to the area of regulatory convergence, which looks particularly promising, given the CSE’s active role in the implementation of international classification and labelling systems, such as the United Nations Framework Classification for Reserves and Resources.
- Decisions taken
Decision 05-07: The Committee noted the document on “Activities of the UNECE Committee on Sustainable Energy of interest to the Committee for Trade, Industry and Enterprise Development” (TRADE/2005/2).
Item 5.2 - Legal and commercial practice (WP.5)
Documentation:
| TRADE/2005/3 |
Working Party on International Legal and Commercial Practice (WP.5) |
- The Chairman of the Working Party on International Legal and Commercial Practice, Mr. Bob Hall (United Kingdom), reported on the activities of the Group and its main challenges in going forward. The delegation of the United States stated that their Government would require more information on the proposed High Level Commission on Legal Empowerment for the Poor before being in a position to endorse this activity. The co-chairman of the Intellectual Property Advisory Group, Mr. Nikolaus Thumm (Switzerland) reported on the work being undertaken by his group in several countries.
- Decisions taken
Decision 05-08: The Committee noted the report on recent developments and activities of WP.5 (TRADE/2005/3). The Committee approved, as requested, the renewal of the mandate of the Public-Private Partnership Alliance for a further two years.
Item 5.3. - Industry and Enterprise development (WP.8)
Documentation:
| TRADE/2005/4 |
Working Party on Industry and Enterprise Development – Summary of Main Activities and Developments |
| TRADE/WP.8/2005/17 |
Report of the 6th session of the Working Party on Industry and Enterprise Development (WP.8), held on 10 and 11 February 2005 |
- Mr. Mario Cardullo, Chairman of the Working Party on Industry and Enterprise the Development, summarized the work accomplished by the Working Party since the eight session of the CTIED and highlighted the major directions of its future activities.
- Decisions taken
Decision 05-14: The Committee endorsed the report on the sixth session of the Working Party on Industry and Enterprise Development (TRADE/WP.8/2005/17).
Decision 05-15: The Committee noted document TRADE/2005/4 and, as requested, approved:
- The change in the name of the Team of Specialists on Industrial Restructuring to the “Team of Specialists on Industrial Restructuring and Competitiveness”, its updated terms of reference and the renewed of its mandate for one more year.
- The renewal of the mandate of the Team of Specialists on Internet Enterprise Development for one more year.
- New activities on entrepreneurship and enterprise development directly under WP.8.
- The proposed changes in the programme of work of WP.8.
Item 5.4 – Activities directly under of the Committee
Documentation:
| TRADE/2005/5 |
Activities directly under the Committee for Trade, Industry and Enterprise Development |
- The Secretary to the Committee, Ms. Virginia Cram-Martos, presented an overview of the activities directly under the CTIED. She highlighted the latest developments under the Committee’s information dissemination programme (Multiplier Points Programme). She also cited several trade policy related projects, to which the UNECE trade development subprogramme had contributed during the past year, such as research on regional trade agreements and the 2005 review of the OSCE’s commitments in the economic sphere. Finally, she reported on the latest updates to the online UNECE Trade Directory (http://www.unece.org/trade/ctied/tradedir/trddir_h.htm) and the CD ROM publication “Norms, Standards and Practices for Trade Facilitation and International Business”.
- The Swiss delegation noted that information about the UNECE’s dangerous goods programme had been distributed to the multiplier points and asked if there might be opportunities for further synergies within the UNECE. The secretary to the Committee replied that the Multiplier Point organizations had been selected because of their contacts with potential users of the Committee’s work, being primarily organizations promoting trade or business associations. Therefore, their interest in areas such as environment or statistics might be limited. Nonetheless, the secretariat answered questions from them on any area of the UNECE’s work and identified and distributed brief descriptions of activities of potential interest to these organizations that take place in other areas of the ECE, as well as in other UN organizations.
- Decisions taken
Decision 05-09: The Committee noted the report on the activities carried out directly under the Committee during the last year, as found in document TRADE/2005/5.
Item 5.5 - Trade facilitation (UN/CEFACT)
Documentation:
| TRADE/2005/6 |
United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (UN/CEFACT) – Summary of main activities and developments |
| TRADE/CEFACT/2004/38 |
Report of the 10th session of the Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (UN/CEFACT), 17-19 May 2004 |
| TRADE/R.650/Rev.4 |
Mandate, Terms of Reference and Procedures for UN/CEFACT |
- The Acting Chair of UN/CEFACT, Mr. Mike Doran (CERN) provided an update to the Committee on recent developments under the Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (UN/CEFACT) as outlined in document TRADE/2005/6. The 11th UN/CEFACT Plenary session would take place on 22 and 23 June 2005, where an update of the Centre's Terms of Reference and Mandate (TRADE/R.650/Rev.4) would be on the agenda for approval in order to complete the reorganization of the Centre. The Centre was also finalizing its Intellectual Property Rights Policy, also hopefully for approval by the Plenary. In the course of the year, the Centre had approved two updates of UN/EDIFACT and UN/LOCODE each and the Plenary was further expected to approve an updated Recommendation 20 (Codes for Units of Measurement), a new Recommendation 33 on the Single Window concept and six new Business Requirement Specifications. The Centre had also launched a call for participants for a new UN electronic trade documents (UNeDocs) project under the International Trade and Business Processes Group.
- Decisions taken
Decision 05-10: The Committee:
- Endorsed the report of UN/CEFACT’s tenth session (TRADE/CEFACT/2004/38).
- Noted the “Summary of main activities and developments” (TRADE/2005/6) and approved the request by UN/CEFACT for a temporary extension of the mandates for its five groups until after the 11th UN/CEFACT Plenary, which will take place on 22 and 23 June 2005.
- Also noted the proposed new terms of reference for UN/CEFACT, which will be discussed at the UN/CEFACT 2005 session (TRADE/R.650/Rev.4).
Item 5.6 - Regulatory cooperation and standardization policies (WP.6)
Documentation:
| TRADE/2005/7 |
Working Party on Regulatory Cooperation and Standardization Policies – Summary of Main Activities and Developments |
| TRADE/WP.6/2004/15 |
Report of the 14th session of the Working Party of Regulatory Cooperation and Standardization Policies (WP.6) |
- On behalf of the Bureau of the Working Party on Regulatory Harmonization and Standardization Policy, the Chairman of the Working Party’s Telecom Task Force, Mr. Nuno Encarnacao (Switzerland) made a presentation on the Working Party’s latest activities and, in particular, on the UNECE “Telecom Initiative”. The “Telecom Initiative” is an industry driven project to explore a possibilities for convergence between mandatory technical regulations and to consider ways of harmonizing such requirements for a number of globally traded telecom products. Delegates were requested to inform their regulatory agencies about this project and to invite them to join the project.
- Information was also provided on the status of the Working Party’s regulatory projects in the CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) and Balkan regions and on other pilot projects, such as the one on harmonization of regulations for earth-moving machinery. It was noted that there was an interest from other regions (Africa and Asia) in the Working Party’s recommendations and in “good regulatory practices”.
- Delegates noted the special importance for countries in transition of the programmes on regulatory convergence and on market surveillance.
- The Committee was also informed about the Working Party’s preparations for a the joint session between this Working Party and the Committee in June 2006 and for the Committee’s 2006 forum on regulatory issues. The Committee agreed to the Working Party’s proposal to invite other UNECE Principal Subidiary Bodies and Subsidiary Bodies to present their activities and share their experience in regulatory harmonization during the Forum.
- Decisions taken
Decision 05-11: The Committee endorsed the report of the 14th session of the Working Party on Regulatory Cooperation and Standardization Policy (WP.6) , and its addendum (TRADE/WP.6/2004/15 and TRADE/WP.6/2004/15/Add.1).
Decision 05-12: The Committee noted the report on recent developments and activities under WP.6 (TRADE/2005/7) and approved the request by Working Party 6 to extend the mandate of its Team of Specialists on Standardization and Regulatory Techniques (“START” Team).
Item 5.7 - Agricultural quality standards (WP.7)
Documentation:
| TRADE/2005/8 |
Report of the Working Party on Agricultural Quality Standards – Summary of Main Activities and Developments |
| TRADE/WP.7/2004/10 |
Report of the Sixtieth Session of the Working Party on Agricultural Quality Standards (WP.7) |
- In the absence of the Chairman of the Working Party, Mr. David Priester (United States) the secretariat introduced the report of the Working Party (see TRADE/WP.7/2004/10) and the Summary of Main Activities and Developments (see TRADE/2005/8).
- Highlights of the work during the last 12 months included:
- Eight new/revised UNECE standards and eight new/ revised UNECE recommendations were adopted. Among these was the revised UNECE Standard for Citrus Fruit, which is the result of successful cooperation between UNECE and the Codex Alimentarius Commission.
- Cooperation with the World Health Organisation on the implementation of their Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health that resulted in the production of a series of 12 postcards promoting the consumption of fruit and vegetables (and the programmes of WHO, UNECE, OECD and Codex Alimentarious).
- A seminar on the implementation of the UNECE standards for meat in Lithuania and other expert meetings organised in the United States, Ireland and Poland. The secretariat also participated in an expert meeting on Chicken Meat in Moscow.
- The start of cooperation between the Working Party and UN/CEFACT in order to align the UNECE control certificate for the export of fruit and vegetables with the UN layout key.
- Decisions taken
Decision 05-13: The Committee:
- Endorsed the “Report of the 60th session of the Working Party on Agricultural Quality Standards”, and its addenda (TRADE/WP.7/2004/10, TRADE/WP.7/2004/10/Add.1 and TRADE/WP.7/2004/10/Add.2).
- Noted the “Summary of main activities and developments” for WP.7 (TRADE/2005/8).
- Invited the secretariat to do everything possible to ensure that the post of secretary to WP.7 is filled as soon as possible and does not become vacant.
Item 5.8 - Follow-up to the 2005 and 2005 forums and review of work accomplished to date for the 2004-2005 biennium
Documentation:
| ECE/TRADE/NONE/2005/1 |
Final Programme – Executive Forum “After Fifteen Years of Market Reforms in Transition Economies: New Challenges and Perspectives for the Industrial Sector” |
| TRADE/2005/9 |
UNECE Executive Forum “Competing in a changing Europe: Opportunities and Challenges for Trade and Enterprise Development” |
| TRADE/2005/10 |
Report on Activities that Support the Outcome of the 2004 Executive Forum “Competing in a Changing Europe” |
| TRADE/2005/11 |
Evolution of the Industrial Sector in Transition Economies: A Statistical Overview |
| TRADE/2005/12 |
Review of Programme of Work Implementation for 2004-2005: Trade and Development Subprogramme |
| TRADE/2005/13 |
Review of Programme of Work Implementation for 2004-2005: Industrial Restructuring and Enterprise Development Subprogramme |
- The Secretary to the Committee on Trade, Industry and Enterprise Development introduced document TRADE/2005/9 - which summarized the results from the interactive discussions sessions that had been held during the 2004 CTIED Forum - and document TRADE/2005/10 - which reported the activities undertaken by the CTIED and its subsidiary bodies in support of the recommendations from the 2004 Forum. She then introduced the programme of the 2005 CTIED Forum (TRADE/2005/11) and document TRADE/2005/12, which had been prepared by the Secretariat as background for the 2005 Forum discussions.
- The Director of the Industrial Restructuring Energy and Enterprise Development Division briefly reported on the results of the 2005 Forum. He recalled that countries in the UNECE region are at different stages in the transition process. This means that while, in some areas, integration into the world economy has proceeded speedily, in others the trend towards deindustrialization has created high unemployment with many workers that have not succeeded in being reabsorbed into the labour force leading to deep pockets of poverty. The opportunities offered by the information and communication technologies (ICT) and the knowledge-based economy needed to be fully exploited, especially by the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) of the region. A number of areas for further work had been mentioned, including the link between ICT and productivity in the services sector; the convergence among regulatory frameworks in different countries and the link between competitiveness and different regulatory frameworks. Exploring the problem of finance for SMEs was also an important priority. There was a need to see how these different elements could be tackled by WP.8 and by the Committee’s other subsidiary bodies within their respective programmes of work.
- Decisions taken
Decision 05-16: The Committee noted the “Report on inputs to the 2004 Forum Discussions” (TRADE/2005/9) and the “Report on activities undertaken in support of the 2004 Forum” (TRADE/2005/10).
Decision 05-17: The Committee also noted the “2005 Forum Programme” (ECE/TRADE/NONE/2005/1) and the background document to the Forum (TRADE/2005/11).
Decision 05-18: The Committee requested the secretariat to prepare a document on the results of the 2005 Forum, invited the subsidiary bodies of the Committee to follow up on the results, and requested the secretariat to report on this follow-up to the next Committee session.
Decision 05-19: The Committee noted the report on “Review of programme of work implementation for 2004 - 2005: Trade Development Sub-programme” (TRADE/2005/12) and the report on “Review of programme of work implementation for 2004 - 2005: Industrial Restructuring and Enterprise Development sub-programme” (TRADE/2005/13).
Item 5.9 - Future Directions: final discussion and approval of changes to the programme of work (2005-2007)
Documentation referred to in the decisions below:
| TRADE/2004/4 |
Programme of Work for 2004-2007: Strategic Directions |
| TRADE/2004/4/Add.1 |
Draft Programme of Work for 2004-2007: Trade Development Subprogramme: Work items |
| TRADE/2004/4/Add.2 |
Draft Programme of Work, 2004-2007 – Trade Development Subprogramme Work Items |
| TRADE/2004/4/Add.3 |
Draft Programme of Work, 2004-2007 – Industrial Restructuring and Enterprise Development Subprogramme Work Items |
| TRADE/2004/4/Add.4 |
Draft Programme of Work, 2004-2007 – Industrial Restructuring and Enterprise Development Subprogramme Work Items – Summary Table of Work Items |
| TRADE/2004/4/Add.5 |
Draft Programme of Work, 2004-2007 – Trade Development Subprogramme – Summary Table of Work Items |
| TRADE/2005/19 |
Committee for Trade, Industry and Enterprise Development – Guidelines and Procedures |
| TRADE/2005/20 |
Summary of Proposed Changes to the Draft Programme of Work, 2004-2007 |
| ECE/TRADE/NONE/2005/3 |
CTIED Subsidiary body sub-Groups – Dates of Establishment and Renewal |
- Based on the discussions that took place during the policy segment on Trade Facilitation in the WTO context, and its background document (TRADE/2005/18), a brief discussion took place on follow-up activities. Several delegations noted that it was important for the UNECE to provide input to, and participate as an observer in, the WTO negotiations on trade facilitation.
- The Secretary to the Committee then introduced the proposed changes to the 2004 – 2005 programme of work (document TRADE/2005/20), which had been approved by the Bureau and now were for discussion and approval by the Committee. It was noted that the document on the dates of establishment and renewal of CTIED subsidiary bodies (ECE/TRADE/NONE/2005/3) had been taken into consideration during all of the discussions under agenda item 5 and would now be updated.
- Decisions taken
Decision 05-29: The Committee approved the additions and deletions to the 2004-2007 Programme of Work (see TRADE/2004/4 and its addenda), as proposed in document TRADE/2005/20.
Decision 05-30: The Committee also noted the document on the dates of establishment and renewal of the CTIED subsidiary bodies (ECE/TRADE/NONE/2005/3).
Item 6 - International Forum: After Fifteen Year of Market Reforms in Transition Economies: New Challenges and Perspectives for the Industrial Sector
- The Forum took place on 24 and 25 May 2005 and a report on the Forum can be found in document ECE/TRADE/360/Add.1. Possible follow-up activities were discussed under agenda item 5.8.
Item 7 - Reports for information only
Documentation:
| TRADE/2005/19 |
Committee for Trade, Industry and Enterprise Development – Guidelines and Procedures |
- Decisions taken
Decision 05-20: The Committee noted the document “Guidelines and Procedures for the Committee” (TRADE/2005/19).
Item 7.1: Cooperation with other organizations in support of the programme of work
Documentation:
| TRADE/2005/14 |
Cooperation with Other International Organizations |
- The Secretary to the Committee introduced document TRADE/2005/14, which outlines the Committee’s and the secretariat’s widespread cooperation with other international organizations in all areas of its programme of work. UNECE’s partners include international organizations, the private sector, regional bodies and non-governmental organizations. Delegates were also reminded that while cooperation with other organizations helps avoid duplication, effective cooperation also requires significant secretariat resources.
- Decisions taken
Decision 05-21: The Committee noted the report on “Cooperation with other international organizations” (TRADE/2005/14).
Item 7.2 - Capacity building and implementation activities
Documentation:
| TRADE/2005/15 |
Capacity Building and Technical Cooperation in Support of the Programme of Work |
- The secretariat introduced document TRADE/2005/15 that describes the Committee's capacity-building and implementation activities. The attention of delegations from transition economies, and especially lower income transition economies, was drawn to several capacity building activities that could potentially be implemented or replicated in their countries if the secretariat was requested to do so. Among the specific projects described were:
- The Joint UNECE and Czech Republic Project for Technical Assistance in Trade Facilitation aimed at assisting relevant government authorities/institutions and the business sector to implement more effectively trade facilitation tools and instruments at a national level. The programme had already provided assistance to: Belarus, Latvia, Lithuania, Republic of Moldova, the Russian Federation, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.
- The Capacity-building Project in Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business in the Mediterranean, funded from 2002 to 2004 by the United Nations Development Account (UNDA), and focused on trade among non-European Union Mediterranean countries and increasing the competitiveness of that region's companies in regional and global markets. Among the project outputs were: a module for aligning and automating trade documents based on the United Nations electronic trade documents project (UNeDocs) and a CD-ROM-based training module to introduce modern supply-chain concepts.
- A new US$920,000 UNDA project to be launched in 2005 and involved all five UN regional commissions. The United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean was the lead agency, but the UNECE would be the primary “resource organization” for the technical parts of the programme. The project would deliver 15 capacity-building workshops - three in each region - between 2005 and 2007.
- The secretariat had organized a series of Capacity-Building Workshops on Trade Facilitation Implementation in Geneva and the Asian Region, which could also be replicated. These had:
- Discussed current challenges and opportunities in trade facilitation from a regional and global perspectives
- Explained existing and forthcoming UN/CEFACT standards, recommendations and other instruments, including the "Single Window" concept (UN/CEFACT Recommendation 33)
- Reviewed the technical aspects of GATT Articles V, VIII and X in relation to the Doha Work Programme
- The Regional Advisor for Trade Facilitation presented some of the highlights of his work during the past year, which had included 13 missions to provide assistance to European and Central Asian countries. He had also developed an e-business strategy paper for the e-Southeast Europe Initiative of the Stability Pact for Southeast Europe and projects for capacity-building in the transition economies in Central Asia and the Caucasus and for the integrated management of trade information flows in the TRACECA countries (Transport Corridor Europe - Caucasus - Asia).
- The Industrial Restructuring and Enterprise Development programme had developed an e-business repository project aimed at organizing and presenting company registration data that already exist through country-specific registration processes in order to enhance the transparency of business registration in the UNECE region. A seminar on the Regulatory Framework for Internet-based Entrepreneurship had been organized to discuss the preliminary findings of the e-Business Repository Project including a survey of business registration practices in Bulgaria, Hungary, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Kyrgyzstan, the Russian Federation and the United Kingdom.
- The Regional Advisor for SMEs had prepared a report on SME development in 25 countries in transition for the period 2002 - 2003 highlighting the most important regulatory measures in entrepreneurship and SME development and a UNECE Guide on Business Ethics for Start-up Entrepreneurs "The Principles for Responsible Entrepreneurship". A pilot project on the Creation of Quality Management Systems in accordance with the ISO 9,000 series of standards for Russian Light Industry had also been successfully completed. The Team of Specialists on Quality Management Systems had undertaken a survey on quality models, awards and practices for SMEs in cooperation with the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) the results of which had been presented at an International Workshop on National Quality Management Schemes that was held in conjunction with the 14th session of the UNECE Working Party on Regulatory Cooperation and Standardization Policies (WP.6) on 23 November 2004.
- The Committee also reviewed a draft list of under funded technical cooperation areas under its responsibility, which was submitted to them by the Bureau (in annex to TRADE/2005/15) and which had been prepared at the request of the Group of Experts on the Programme of Work.
- In the context of discussions on the upcoming retirement of the Regional Advisor for SMEs, the secretariat was requested to explain the use of resources for regional advisory services related to enterprise development. The secretariat provided this information to the Committee’s Bureau at its meeting on 27 May 2005.
- Decisions taken
Decision 05-04: The Committee noted the report on “Capacity Building and Implementation” (TRADE/2005/15). It also approved, for submission to the UNECE Group of Experts on the Programme of Work, the list of priorities for technical cooperation that are under funded.
Decision 05-05: The Committee requested that:
- The secretariat take steps towards maintaining the capacity of a minimum of one regional adviser for entrepreneurship and SMEs,
- The secretariat provide the Committee with written information on resources available and their use under the scope of the Industrial Restructuring and Enterprise Development (IRED) programme budget,
- The Bureau deal with this matter in cooperation with the Group of Experts on the Programme of Work (GEPW) and inform the Committee about the results.
- The Committee also invited the UNECE to give its full attention to the importance of regional advisers to enable countries in transition to benefit fully from the programme of work.
Item 7.3 - Cross-sectoral activities in sustainable development, gender mainstreaming and ICT for development
Documentation:
| TRADE/2005/16 |
Cross-Sectoral Activities in Sustainable Development, Gender Mainstreaming, ICT for Development, and the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) |
- The secretariat introduced document TRADE/2006/16 on cross-sectoral activities, noting that while these global themes are incorporated into the programme of work wherever possible, due to limited resources the Committee could only play a rather marginal role.
- Decisions taken
Decision 05-22: The Committee noted the report on “Cross-sectoral activities in sustainable development, gender mainstreaming, ICT for development and the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)” (TRADE/2005/16).
Item 7.4- Tools to support promotion and implementation: a presentation of the Committee’s CD-ROM and Internet resources
Documentation:
| ECE/TRADE/327 |
“Norms Standards and Best Practices for Trade Facilitation and International Business” |
- The Secretary to the Committee presented the CD ROM publication, “Norms, Standards and Practices for Trade Facilitation and International Business” (TRADE/2005/327), which contains a compendium of all of the norms, standards and recommendations on best practices which have been developed under the CTIED. She emphasized several features, which make this CD ROM particularly effective in promoting the Committee’s work, such as an English, French and Russian interface, easy navigation, explanatory screens and a multilingual search engine.
- Decisions taken
Decision 05-31: The Committee noted the CD-ROM on Norms, Standards and Best practices for Trade Facilitation and International Business (ECE/TRADE/327)
Item 8 - Review of Recent and Prospective Trade Trends, policies and problems - A look at regional trade agreements
| ECE/TRADE/NONE/2005/2 |
Economic Survey of Europe 2005 No.1 – Chapter 1: The Economic Situation in the ECE Region and Selected Policy Issues |
| TRADE/2005/17 |
Building Trade Partnerships in the CIS Section |
- A representative from the Economic Analysis Division of the secretariat, introduced an extract from the Economic Survey of Europe 2005 (ECE/TRADE/NONE/2005/2) and presented five main issues that were discussed in the document these being:
- The need to address global imbalances;
- The need for economic diversification in the CIS economies
- The importance of structural reforms
- The increased financial vulnerability of the region
- The upcoming challenges of globalization.
- A representative from the Division on Trade Development and Timber then presented document TRADE/2005/17 on “Building trade partnerships in the UNECE region”. She emphasized the need for integration in the field of trade among the countries of the CIS, and reviewed the achievements reached under existing bilateral and plurilateral arrangements in the region.
- Decisions taken
Decision 05-26: The Committee noted the chapter presented from the Economic Survey for Europe 2005 (ECE/TRADE/NONE/2005/2).
Decision 05-27: The Committee also noted the report on “Building trade partnerships in the CIS region” (TRADE/2005/17) and requested that the Bureau define related follow up activities.
Item 9 - Policy Segment: Trade Facilitation in the WTO Context
Documentation referred to in the decisions below:
| TRADE/2005/18 |
UNECE Instruments to address Trade Facilitation in the WTO Doha Work Programme: Review of Articles V, VIII and X of the GATT 1994 |
- A summary of the discussions under the Policy Segment can be found in document ECE/TRADE/360/Add.2
- Decisions taken
Decision 05-28: The Committee noted the background document to the policy segment (TRADE/2005/18), and requested that the Committee Bureau, in cooperation with the UN/CEFACT bureau, should define follow-up activities.
Item 10 - Any other business
Documentation:
| TRADE/2005/21 |
Committee for Trade, Industry and Enterprise Development (CTIED) – Proposal for the CTIED 2006 Forum and suggested topic for the CTIED 2007 Forum |
| TRADE/2005/22 |
Evaluation of the UNECE International Trade Facilitation Forums – “Trade Facilitation: Simpler Procedures for World Trade Growth and Development” (2002) – “Sharing the Gains of Globalization in the New Security Environment” (2003) |
- The Committee discussed the dates of its next session. The Secretariat reported on the evaluation of the UNECE Trade Facilitation Forums held in 2002 and 2003 and presented a proposal for the theme of the 2007 CTIED Forum as well as an outline of the programme for the 2006 Forum.
- Decisions taken
Decision 05-23: The Committee will hold its tenth session from 19 to 23 June 2006 as proposed.
Decision 05-24: The Committee approved the proposal for the 2006 Forum on “Regulatory cooperation”, as well as the proposal for a 2007 Forum, on “The impact of the results from WTO Doha Development Round Negotiations on the Committee’s work and, particularly, on Trade Facilitation”, as contained in document TRADE/2005/21.
Decision 05-25: The Committee noted document TRADE/2005/22, “Evaluation of the UNECE International Trade Facilitation Forums”.