Non-Tariff Measures in World Trade, UNCTAD and ICPE Workshop, 8-9 October 2014

The ability to gain and to benefit from market access depends increasingly on compliance with trade regulatory measures such as sanitary requirements and goods standards. These Non-Tariff Measures (NTMs) represent a challenge for exporters, importers and policy makers. Many NTMs have primarily non-trade objectives like the protection of public health or the environment while affecting trade de facto through procedural requirements. NTMs can unintentionally be discriminatory against smaller exporters and certain countries. Regardless of the legitimacy and intention, NTMs are thought to have important restrictive and distortionary effects on international trade - higher than tariffs. For example, the overall trade restrictiveness that includes both tariffs and non-tariff measures is equivalent to almost 30 per cent on agricultural products. The restrictiveness of tariffs only is less than 10 per cent. Tariffs have been reduced unilaterally and in regional and multilateral negotiations in recent decades. Thus, for market access and effective market entry NTMs play a pivotal role.

Appropriate trade regulatory measures that are efficient, provide protection for consumers and support economic and social development is also important for the import side. Furthermore, addressing NTMs adequately in regional agreements is crucial for regional economic integration. Dealing with NTMs however is very complex.

Understanding the uses and implications of these trade policy instruments is essential for the formulation and implementation of effective growth and development strategies.

Non-tariff measures (NTMs) are being applied to traded goods to an ever increasing extent, and represent a growing challenge for exporters, importers and policy makers. This workshop provides the opportunity to raise awareness and inform a larger audience of government officials and exporter associations that need to understand how NTMs may shape up policies in the future in countries that are actively involved in international and regional trade. Each session is followed by an interactive discussion.

Registration for the workshop is available here. There is no participation fee for this event.

Draft Program:

Participants will receive an application form for the hotel reservation (Hotel Park***, budget hotel) and an information package upon their registration. 

For more information about the workshop, please contact: Mr. Nenad Stanković, M.Sc. - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or Ms. Tina Valič - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Round Table on Trends and Developments in IT Supported Systems of Civil Status Registration, 18 September 2014

The International Center for Promotion of Enterprises (ICPE) in partnership with GENIS, Interact4c, (International Association Connecting Technologies for Citizens ) and renowned IT providers are pleased to invite you to the round table on trends and developments of software solutions supporting centralized civil status registration to be held on 18th September 2014 at ICPE (Dunajska 104), Ljubljana, Slovenia.

The round table will present practical solutions which have been developed in ICPE Member state Slovenia and shall contribute to conclusions what models might be used for the development of systems of Civil Status Registration in developing countries, as well as what concrete practical experience might serve as a model for consideration of development of national instruments on civil registration. The panelists from governments, software developers and international organizations will present the practical experience as well as progress in this field. Please find the Background paper here.

Please find the summary report HERE.

PROGRAM

8:30-9:00: Registration

9:00-9:20: Introduction to the round table

Welcome address: Mr. Janez Podobnik, ICPE Acting Director General: The conclusions of the 3rd Africa Day international conference and its follow up in the round table

Mr. Bogdan Benko, State Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Slovenia

Mr. Boštjan Šefic, State Secretary, Ministry of the Interior, Republic of Slovenia: The breeder documents as precondition for reliable IDs in context of global security

The objective of introductory part is to provide an overview of all three panels during which the views of different actors operating in the domain of civil status and identity documents from public as well as the private sector will be presented. The key speakers will share the mission and main points of the entity that they present, systems of civil status registration (CSR) aiming at a better service offered by States to their citizens, as well as its relevance for obtaining reliable information on the identity of the holders related to identity documents as a specific imperative of good governance.

9:20-11:00: Panel I: From paper files towards the best technical solutions in software development

Moderator: Ms. Alenka Prvinšek Persoglio, Vice President, Interact4C

9:20-9:35: Ms. Alenka Prvinšek Persoglio, Vice President, Interact4C: A historical overview of civil status registration in the continental legal system

9:35-9:45: Mr. Ivan Bizjak, former EU Director General for Justice and Home Affairs and Ombudsman: Civil Status Registration: Human Rights Aspects

9:45-10:00: Ms. Salima Alaoui, MORPHO:The way forward to the digital identity, full access to the services from anywhere in the world

10:00-10:20: Mr. Stane Stefančič, GENIS: The importance of e-civil status registration for the overall e-Government

10:20-10:30: Mr. Stane Stefančič, GENIS: Data protection and e-civil status registration - legal and technical safeguards

10:30-10:45: Mr. Boris Lipovšek, CETIS: The main elements of capacity for reliable document security- CETIS experience

10:45-11:00: Questions & Answers, Discussion

The objective of Panel I is to present the process of transition from hard copies and a partly IT-supported system of the register of population to the full e-Governance in this domain in Slovenia as well as in some other parts of the world. The panelists shall tackle the aspects of good co-operation between government and software development experts in designing the IT applications which shall optimize the procedures in the field of civil status. Furthermore, it will provide the evolution of data privacy safeguards from the 1990s onward including the high legal and technical standards which support the use of information on civil status in line with the agreed standards on data privacy.

11:00-11:30: Coffee break

11:30-13:00: Panel II: State and multilateral approach in the development of models of best practice

Moderator: Ms. Alenka Prvinšek Persoglio, Vice President, Interact4C

11:30-11:45: Ms. Nino Sanikidze, Officer for Research and Development, Secretariat of the State Commission for Migration Issues of Georgia: The challenges in the development of a modern system of civil status registration in Georgia

11:45-12:00: Mr. Trpe Stojanovski, PhD, Director of MARRI Centre Skopje: The multilateral cooperation of the Western Balkans States for the development of the standards for the establishment of identity and border police cooperation

12:00-12:05: Ms. Salima Alaoui, MORPHO: India experience (short movie presentation)

12:05-12:25: Ms. Nina Gregori, Deputy Director General, Internal Administrative Affairs, Migration and Naturalization Directorate, Ministry of the Interior, Republic of Slovenia: The Slovenian model of civil status registration and its relevance for the register of population as basis for the issuance of identity documents

12:25-12:45: Mr. Tadej Gabrijel, Ministry of the Interior, Republic of Slovenia: E-Social, 2013 UN awarded model of the best practice in access to social rights

12:45-13:00: Questions & Answers, Discussion

The objective of the Panel II is to provide the models of best practice as a response to the needs of the States to provide safe, reliable and effective services to their citizens; the panelists will present the challenges that the States faced when introducing the concept of modern, IT supported systems of registration and management of civil status. The state practice of Georgia, articulating the needs and gaps in the domain of the development of the CSR on one hand, and the experience of Slovenian peers on another, will present the solutions which have been developed by using the know-how of national experts. Furthermore, the regional cooperation in identifying the gaps and needs with the objective to develop common solutions for the development of a modern system of civil status data management in the Western Balkans may serve as a model that might be used also elsewhere.

13:00-14:20: Buffet lunch hosted by CETIS

14:20-15:00: Panel III: Concluding remarks

Moderator: Mr. Tomaž Rogelj, Executive Manager, ICPE

Mr. Stane Stefančič, GENIS,

Mr. Boris Lipovšek, CETIS

Ms. Salima Alaoui, MORPHO

Mr. Andrej Šter, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Slovenia

Ms. Alenka Prvinšek Persoglio, Interact4C

The objective of this last panel is to wrap up the main points of the presentations and discussions and identify possible models of cooperation platforms. In addition, the conclusions should also reveal the overall efforts of international actors to enable citizens’ fundamental rights in particular children’s rights in the areas where the systems of CSR is not in place (lack of birth registration), as well as to develop a solid basis for recording reliable vital and demographic statistics from the origin: the personal data on the civil status of the population of a given territory.

For any matters concerning logistical issues or the program please contact Mr. Tomaž Rogelj, ICPE Executive Manager at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it." target="_blank">This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

BUFFET LUNCH SPONSOR

Cetis, Graphic and Documentation Services, d.d. is the leading company in the field of printing security and commercial printed matter. Among 283 employees, around 200 are working in the production of security printed matter, cards, flexible packaging and labels, variable and forms printing, lottery games and in perso-centre. Together with companies in Croatia, Serbia, Macedonia and Hungary, Cetis is considered a medium-sized company.
Confidence, secure data management and integrated solutions represent foundations, on which we build product and service development. This is reflected in the development of four strategic sales pillars: packaging, business communication systems, lottery games and documents. Strategic alliances with partner companies and sharing of knowledge are also one of the strategic objectives of Cetis.
Quality is based on the employees' knowledge, the use of high technology, successfully satisfying customers' requirements, care for social and natural environment and future-focused view. Our objective is to have satisfied customers, whose expectations are fulfilled by quality and reliable products and services and their secure production. This is the only way to justify their confidence. Quality is created by the satisfied employees using state-of-the-art technology and with high environmental consciousness. Business and technical standardisation are at the high level as well. All this represents foundation to achieve an important goal, this is increasing the value of the company.

            SPONSOR