The Newest UN Treaty to Facilitate Cross-Border Paperless Trade in Asia and the Pacific: An Insight Preview

Abstract

The Framework Agreement on Facilitation of Cross-border Paperless Trade in Asia and the Pacific (Framework Agreement) is a new United Nations (UN) treaty adopted at the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) in May 2016. It is now open for the signature of the ESCAP Member States till September 2017. As the most recent UN treaty on trade and development, the Framework Agreement will be an important development as well as a complement to the World Trade Organization Agreement on Trade Facilitation (WTO TFA), which is effective since February 2017. The Framework Agreement creates unprecedentedly the new multilateral legal framework for facilitation of crossborder paperless trade. While maintaining the balance between international trade efficiency, transparency, regulatory compliance and development stimulation, the Framework Agreement crafts the legal mechanisms to harmonize the Member States’ national paperless trade facilities through implementing a common set of the general principles and the relevant international standards and legal instruments. Most significantly, the Framework Agreement creatively enables cross-border mutual recognition of trade-related data and documents in electronic form through its institutional arrangement and supporting operational mechanisms. The Framework Agreement also provides a dedicated intergovernmental platform for capacity building and technical assistance to enable developing countries (including the least-developed countries and landlocked developing countries) to benefit from paperless trade facilitation. The Framework Agreement will open up the new possibilities for trade facilitation and is particularly important for the development of crossborder e-commerce and global digital economy. Its impact and influence will not only be felt in Asia-Pacific region but in the whole world. There has been very few substantive research on this newest treaty law. The Author who has been the primary legal advisor of UNESCAP for the initial research, drafting, negotiation and implementation of the Framework Agreement since 2011 is able to provide the insights on both the legal texts and the in-depth designs of the Agreement.