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International Seminar on Trade and Transport Facilitation: EU electronic freight transport information regulation and UN/CEFACT semantic standards and multimodal transport reference data model

International Seminar on Trade and Transport Facilitation: EU electronic freight transport information regulation and UN/CEFACT semantic standards and multimodal transport reference data model

22 December 2022 9:00 - 12:30
Webinar Odessa Ukraine
Agenda and Presentations     Concluding Recommendations     Recording of the meeting  

This webinar follows the tradition, since 2010, of UNECE’s Odessa seminars on trade facilitation, single window, and data sharing along digital trade corridors. Yet this webinar goes further to respond to the expressed need of the regulatory agencies and business community in Ukraine to deepen the process of European integration, associating themselves with the parallel advancement of the EU Regulations 2022/2399 establishing the European Union Single Window Environment for Customs and 2020/1056 on Electronic Freight Transport Information (eFTI) and the UN/CEFACT five Single Window Recommendations, semantic standards, and Multimodal Transport Reference Data Model (MMT RDM).

The objective of the seminar is to bring to the relevant stakeholders in Ukraine better knowledge of the substance of the eFTI initiative, and how the UN/CEFACT global standards and reference data models can help achieve its objectives. The eFTI Regulation was adopted in August 2020, with the perspective of implementing it fully by all EU member States in five years. It has the objective of making all information exchange on transport of commercial cargo inside the European Union multimodal and electronic. It offers a foundation for the transition from exchanging documents accompanying goods in international trade and transport to exchanging data and data sets.

The use of UN/CEFACT global standards and reference data models is discussed at the Digital Transport and Logistics Forum (DTLF): an expert group of the European Commission bringing together public and private stakeholders from various transport and logistics communities to support the European Commission in promoting digital transformation, notably for the development of corridor freight information systems based on interoperability of data.

As the eFTI Regulation covers the internal information exchange in the European Union, the work on its implementation is not well known in third countries, including countries aspiring accession to the EU. For this reason, Ukraine requested UNECE to organize this webinar to raise awareness among the regulatory agencies and the business community in the country about the development of the eFTI initiative, and how relevant UN/CEFACT tools can be used for its implementation.

UNECE is currently supporting a project for pilot testing of a data pipeline for the exports of grain from Ukraine, using UN/CEFACT standards. The initial results of this practical pilot project will also be presented.

In the process of preparing the webinar, stakeholders in Ukraine expressed interest in including relevant policymakers and experts from other Eastern Partnership countries in this initial training exercise.

As a result of the webinar, in case there is will among the partners in the beneficiary countries and the European Commission, there is the possibility of developing a project to help Ukraine and  other interested countries understand better and implement the key instruments discussed at the webinar.

Agenda and Presentations

10:00–10:20 (Ukraine) Opening of the Webinar

9:00–9:20 (Brussels, Geneva, CET)

Mr. Oleh Nikolaichuk, Deputy Chairman, State Customs Service of Ukraine

Ms. Elisabeth Türk, Director, Economic Cooperation and Trade Division, UNECE   PPT

10:20–12:00 (Ukraine)
9:20–11:00 CET

 

Session I: New challenges for international trade, how can the UN standards help

Moderator: Mr. Mario Apostolov, Regional Advisor, Economic Cooperation and Trade Division, UNECE  PPT
Keynote: the European Union’s electronic Freight Transport Information (eFTI) Regulation

  • Ms. Lia Potec, Policy Officer, European Commission, Directorate General for Transport (DG MOVE)   PPT
  • UN/CEFACT semantic standards and reference data models
  • Ms. Sue Probert, Chair, UN Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (UN/CEFACT)   PPT
  • EU’s Digital Transport and Logistics Forum (DTLF) and global (UN) standards
  • Mr. Rudy Hemeleers, 51Biz Luxembourg, partner in the FEDERATED consortium and the Digital Transport and Logistics Forum of the European Union
  • Implementation of the eFTI Regulation
  • Mr. Michael Dill, expert on digitalization of trade and transport data and document exchange   PPT
  • EU Single Window Environment for Customs: state of play and interconnection with eFTI environment   PPT-English     PPT-Russian
  • Mr. Zahouani Saadaoui, Head, Electronic Customs Sector, European Commission, Directorate General for Customs Union and Taxation (DG TAXUD)   PPT
  • Pilot project on building a data pipeline for exports of grain via the corridor Ukraine-Türkiye   PPT
  • Mr. Dmytro Iakymenkov, UNECE consultant

12:00–12:15 (Ukraine)
11:00–11:15(CET)

Coffee break

12:15–13:00 (Ukraine)
11:15–12:00 (CET)

Session II: Comments from the floor: Ukrainian regulatory agencies and business community; representatives of the Eastern Partnership countries

Moderator: Mr. Oleksandr Fedorov, CEO, PPL 33-35, Chair of UNECE Working Party 30
Discussion

  • Riho Vedler, Independent logistics expert, European Commission’s DTLF initiative   PPT

13:00–13:30 (Ukraine)
12:00–12:30(CET)

Concluding session / recommendations    English     Russian

Recording of the meeting