The establishment of a single window is a crucial step in the move towards paperless trade, generating significant savings in time and money for companies as well as the different public bodies involved in foreign trade. Under the Trade Facilitation Agreement of the World Trade Organization, which entered into force in 2017, all the Organization’s members committed to maintaining or establishing a single window. Asia is home to some of the world’s largest trading economies and to several of the most advanced single windows. This report analyses and compares the main functionalities of four: th…
28 Ene 2020, 00:00 - 14 Oct 2025, 05:21
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Publicación
The economies of the Caribbean face several challenges, such as a lack of economies of scale in production of goods and services exacerbated by small populations, narrow internal markets and scarce capital, which limit the economic gains from self-sufficiency. For this reason, more emphasis should be placed on building export capacity and facilitating trade. If we examine the characteristics of firms in the subregion, the majority can be categorized as small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Moreover, only about 13 per cent of these SMEs export. This suggests that on average the subregion i…
2 Ene 2023, 00:00 - 14 Oct 2025, 05:18
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Publicación
The economies of the subregion were hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly those dependent on tourism. As a result, the Caribbean has seen a reversal of the hard-won gains achieved in growing their economies and reducing unemployment and inequality. The inflation stemming from pandemic supply chain disruption, which has been exacerbated by the war in Ukraine, has made the sustained uptick in economic performance beyond pre-pandemic levels unlikely, notwithstanding strong growth estimates for 2021 and 2022. The last two years have taught the region that continued ‘business as usual’ is…
This paper investigates Latin America and Caribbean (LAC)’s nationally determined contributions (NDCs) and their potential implications for the region’s balance of payments. The first section summarizes prevailing trade dynamics, finding that in LAC, exports of raw materials help to cover the cost of importing capital goods. The second section turns to the region’s NDCs to identify policies affecting import expenditure. The third section employs a similar methodology on the export side, tallying policies affecting output and global cost competitiveness in key sectors (crops, livestock, timber,…
1 Ago 2003, 00:00 - 14 Oct 2025, 05:18
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Publicación
The term rules of origin is an economic expression referring to a set of substantive rules for identifying the source of imported goods. As with any set of rules, certain formalities must be followed which entail public and private transaction costs. The public sector has to enforce the rules of origin and implement proper controls with a view to monitoring external trade in goods, minimizing budgetary expenditures and maximizing the collection of tax revenues, while at the same time facilitating international trade. Likewise, private agents involved in external trade in goods are requir…
30 Ene 2001, 00:00 - 14 Oct 2025, 05:18
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Publicación
The need to devise an appropriate mechanism for the meaningful participation of smaller economies in the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA); has been recognized since the beginning of the process of integration in the Americas and was articulated in the Plan of Action and Declaration of the Summit of the Americas, held in Miami in December 1995 (1); . Since then, the San Jose Declaration (2); reiterated the commitment of the countries of the hemisphere to ensure the full participation of the smaller economies in the FTAA and increase their level of development.
The declaration states that …
Abstract Both in Asia Pacific and Latin America, considerable confusion and ambiguity surround the notion of 'open Regionalism' that question its relevance for practical purposes. Chapter I will examine various interpretations and applications of the concept and study under what circumstances the two elements 'open' and 'regionalism' come into contradiction. The chapter first put to provide some precision on the relationship that may exist between Open Regionalism and regional integration, and then it inquires of under what conditions regionalism can be a 'st…
1 Oct 2007, 00:00 - 14 Oct 2025, 05:18
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Publicación
Since its initiation on January 1, 1994, the agriculture section of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has been controversial, which has led to several trade disputes, suggestions for modification and strengthening, and even Presidential initiatives such as the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP). While NAFTA has done much to spur economic growth and development, it has not realized its potential in integrating agrifood markets. Several illustrations are summarized in this report on progress in overcoming sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) barriers to trade un…
This study provides an analysis of links between trade liberalisation, trade performance and competitiveness in the Caribbean. The study takes an eclectic approach, borrowing from different strands of theory and empirical findings, where necessary. Nevertheless from a broad conceptual frame of reference, an effort is made to analyse the structural, institutional and market (demand and supply); factors that impinge on trade performance and competitiveness outcomes in the region. This approach, it is believed, provides the most relevance for analysing the real world situation in the Caribbean,…
20 Feb 2025, 00:00 - 14 Oct 2025, 05:22
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Publicación
The Sustainable Inland Transport Connectivity Indicators (SITCIN) evaluate the efficiency of transport systems and the alignment of legal frameworks with international legal instruments for transport and border-crossing facilitation. SITCIN enables countries to track their progress in areas such as the implementation of regional or international conventions on transport, harmonization of national rules with UN legal instruments, achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the Vienna Programme of Action. This tool was developed as part of the United Nations Development Account (UND…
La Secretaria Ejecutiva de la Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), Alicia Bárcena, destacó en París, Francia, que la iniciativa propuesta por China sobre la Franja y la Ruta (conocida como BRI por sus siglas en inglés, de Belt and Road Initiative) podría ser una importante oportunidad para impulsar inversiones inclusivas y sostenibles.
Bárcena realizó este viernes 7 de diciembre una presentación en el cuarto Foro de la Ruta de la Seda (Silk Road Forum), realizado en la capital francesa por el Centro Chino para el Conocimiento Internacional sobre el Desarrollo (CIKD, por …
8 Ene 2015, 00:00 - 14 Oct 2025, 05:21
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Comunicado de prensa
(8 de enero, 2015) Las reformas económicas en curso en China representan una oportunidad histórica para que la región dé un salto cualitativo y cuantitativo en su relación económica y comercial con la potencia asiática y así abordar sus desafíos de infraestructura, innovación y recursos humanos, elevar sus niveles de productividad y competitividad y diversificar sus exportaciones, según un nuevo informe de la Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL).
El documento Primer Foro de la Comunidad de Estados Latinoamericanos y Caribeños (CELAC) y China: Explorando espacios de cooper…
23 Jun 2016, 05:00 - 14:00
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Evento (Reuniones y seminarios técnicos)
La reunión servirá como un foro para compartir experiencias entre funcionarios gubernamentales de países sudamericanos que han participado en el establecimiento y funcionamiento de los Comités de Facilitación del Comercio tal como dispone el Acuerdo de Facilitación del Comercio de la OMC. El objeto de este dialogo es de identificar buenas prácticas, factores de éxito, problemas encontrados y cómo estos están siendo enfrentados por los distintos países. …
Over the last two decades, the concept of the single window for foreign trade has become an increasingly important item on the global trade facilitation agenda. Asia is home to some of the world’s most advanced single windows, and the Republic of Korea is among the pioneers in the transition towards a paperless trade environment. This document presents the history and main features of its dual system, composed of two interconnected single windows: UNIPASS and uTradeHub. The experience in the Republic of Korea may be useful for policymakers in Latin America and the Caribbean, where single windo…
22 Oct 2021, 00:00 - 14 Oct 2025, 05:22
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Publicación
This report presents the results for Latin America and the Caribbean of the fourth Global Survey on Digital and Sustainable Trade Facilitation, conducted in the first half of 2021 against the backdrop of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and with the participation of 135 countries (14 from the region). The survey results indicate that Latin America and the Caribbean has made considerable progress since the previous edition in 2019. For the first time, it is the best performing developing region ahead of East and Southeast Asia, with an average implementation rate of 80%. The region’s…
1 Feb 2005, 00:00 - 14 Oct 2025, 05:21
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Publicación
The present level of intra-regional trade of Latin America and the Caribbean in relation to their total exports is still low when compared to the peak of 21.1% registered in 1997, despite its rebound in 2003 and continued recovery into 2004. While this trade holds a high potential for future growth, there are a series of problems to be addressed in order for regional integration to continue on the paths of recovery and deep integration. The countries in the region should keep working on the constraints that its regional integration process continues to suffer from the persistence of non-tariff…
29 Nov 2019, 00:00 - 14 Oct 2025, 05:22
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Publicación
The Latin American and Caribbean region faces considerable challenges in terms of reducing the non-tariff costs and the time associated with foreign trade operations. The Global Survey on Digital and Sustainable Trade Facilitation 2019, a joint initiative of the five United Nations regional commissions, seeks to gauge how far countries have advanced with regard to the baseline provided by the previous versions of the Survey in 2015 and 2017. This report summarizes the results of the Global Survey 2019 for the 18 participating countries from Latin America and the Caribbean, which account for 93…
Seeking to deepen the understanding about the relationship between non-tariff measures (NTMs) and international trade, this work estimates bilateral volume effects of imposing NTMs on international trade, focusing on two of the most observed measures: technical barriers to trade (TBT) and sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures. Estimates were carried out for more than 5,000 products at the 6-digit level of the Harmonized System using a panel for 2001-2015 with NTM data notified by more than 150 member countries of the World Trade Organization (WTO).…
Abstract
This paper attempts to estimate the effect of trade liberalization on the industrial structure and pattern of pollution emissions in Brazil. An input-output approach is used to estimate the value of production and potential pollution intensity estimates are undertaken using the industrial pollution projection system. We find that the aggregate intensity of pollutant emission has decreased for the whole industrial sector, but for the export sector, the pollution intensity has been increasing after trade liberalization.…