UNECE, IATA strengthen cooperation for trade facilitation implementation

The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and the International Air Transport Association (IATA) signed on Tuesday a memorandum of understanding to strengthen their support to developing countries seeking to implement WTO's Trade Facilitation Agreement.

According to a press release published by UNECE, the agreement promises enormous potential for countries to reduce transport costs by up to 10 percent through more efficient facilitation, making them more competitive in the global economy.

Specifically for air cargo, countries implementing the agreement will need to build capacity to facilitate automated and smart border solutions and secure supply chain processes.

"The Air Cargo industry ships around 35 percent of global trade by value. For up to 90 percent of the 'transport' time the goods may actually be on the ground waiting to be processed," noted Tony Tyler, IATA's Director General and CEO, affirming the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement presents a great opportunity to reduce these delays and costs, particularly in developing countries.

"This is a win-win scenario for everyone -- the industry, the economy and the community," said Tyler.

UNECE and IATA also promised to help developing countries implement the relevant measures to realize the costs savings.

Christian Friis Bach, UNECE executive secretary, said: "This MoU with IATA will strengthen the implementation of our standards in developing and least developed countries, and as a consequence, help create growth and new jobs." Endit