UNCTAD Policy Brief No. 93, Emerging strategies for ports during the pandemic
The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has had a significant impact on humankind and on global commerce. Ports and port communities have experienced major changes to normal operating environments.
The strategies used by ports to remain open and continue to facilitate sustainable economic development throughout the pandemic may provide useful lessons for policymakers, particularly in relation to the protocols and innovative measures that have been employed to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on the movement of imports and exports as well as ships’ crew and essential port workers.
Key points:
- Ports are essential facilitators of world trade
- Public health advice is crucial in mitigating the impact of pandemics
- Government policy and regulation is required to support port operations during pandemics
Uzbekistan: Implementation of the interactive service «Enquiry Point for Trade Facilitation»
Article 1 of the TFA obliges WTO members (and therefore all interested parties) to promptly publish information related to international trade, so that WTO members (and, accordingly, all interested parties) can familiarize themselves with the rules to ensure a transparent and predictable environment for international trade. WTO Members are encouraged to provide access to trade-related information via Internet and establish or maintain enquiry points (EP).
Currently, in the Republic of Uzbekistan, work is underway to bring national legislation in line with the requirements of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA).
Technical Specification for Uniform Customs Information Page in Central Asia
This Standard describes the installation and set up procedures necessary to deploy a specified information page at the web-sites of the Customs authorities of the Central Asian countries. Such page would contain all relevant information on border checkpoints in a universal and easy-to-use form.
Both documents are prepared in Russian.
Настоящий Стандарт описывает процедуры установки и настройки, необходимые для развертывания и введения в эксплуатаци. специализированной информационной страницы на веб-сайтах таможенных органов центральноазиатских стран. Такая страница будет содержать соответствующую информацию о пунктах пересечения границы в универсальной и легкодоступной форме.
Оба документа подготовлены на русском языке.
Ports in the Fight against COVID-19
Port Responsiveness in the fight against the “invisible” threat: COVID-19
Review: Harmonization of border crossing procedures in SPECA Countries
The exponential growth of cross-border movements of goods often pushes States to develop more effective border management procedures implemented at border-crossing points (BCPs). Issues related to the facilitation of border-crossing procedures (time and documentary formalities) are of particular relevance to the countries participating in the United Nations Special Programme for the Economies of Central Asia (SPECA) (Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan), through which important transit corridors run between the global trading centres in East Asia and Europe.