PH accedes to UN treaty on paperless trade across Asia-Pacific

The Philippines was the first in Asean to approve a UN treaty facilitating paperless trade across the region, the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (Unescap) said on Thursday.

Thus far in Southeast Asia, only the Philippines had acceded to the United Nation’s Framework Agreement on Facilitation of Cross-border Paperless Trade in Asia and the Pacific, Unescap said on a social media post. Unescap said the Philippines acceded to the agreement on Monday, Dec. 23.

The framework agreement, which had been deposited with the UN secretary general in New York, was aimed at “accelerating the implementation of digital trade facilitation measures for trade and development,” Unescap said.

“Designed as an inclusive instrument accessible to countries at all levels of development to develop their capacity to engage in cross-border paperless trade, the final treaty text was adopted by the [Unescap] in May 2016,” it explained.

“Trade cost reductions expected from full implementation of cross-border paperless trade are estimated at 10-30 percent of existing transactions costs, depending on the current state of paperless trade development in the participating countries. Significant benefits in terms of trade compliance are also expected,” Unescap said. INQ