The World Trade Organization (WTO) in collaboration with the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) organized a virtual event for launching the “Cross-border Paperless Trade Toolkit” on 30 June 2022.The launch was followed by a panel discussion with speakers from Mongolia, Mexico and the Philippines on how to effectively remove the impediments to cross border paperless trade by the virtue of legal and technical readiness checklist developed by the ESCAP and the toolkit.The event brought together around 130 participants to discuss the growing role of the cross border paperless trade in addressing trade hurdles and practical instruments that are responsive to needs for trade digitalization.In her remarks at the launch of the toolkit, Deputy Director-General Anabel González highlighted that “Paperless trade can be a very powerful tool to reduce trade costs, which is key to making economies more efficient, global trade more inclusive, and supply chains more resilient”.Mongolia ratified the Framework Agreement on Facilitation of Cross-border Paperless Trade in Asia and Pacific on April 27, 2022. Mongolia’s accession to this Framework Agreement is crucial to reduce trade costs by digitalizing export and import documents, simplifying trade procedures.
