United Nations Greek Trade Facilitation Roadmapp Implementation Project Economic for Europe Commission Distr.: Restricted 0O 04 December 2014 Original: English Greek Trade Facilitat tion Roadmap Implementation Project UNECE Summary Project Report August October 2014
Table of Contents 1. Introduction... 3 2. UNECE General Observations and Recommendations for the Greek Trade Facilitation process... 3 A. Current state of the roadmap implementation... 3 B. General observations and recommendations on the current state of the Greek Trade Facilitation Reform... 7 3. UNECE support provided to the Greek trade facilitation reform... 7 A. UNECE resident trade facilitation advisor in Athens... 7 B. Specific activities to support the OSC... 7 C. Support to the agriculture trade facilitation... 8 D. Support to the Customs reform... 8 E. Support for data harmonization in Greece... 8 a. Consultancy on data harmonisation... 9 b. First workshop on data harmonisation9 c. Next steps on data harmonisation 11 F. Support to legal reforms... 12 4. Activities planned for the remainder of 2014 and January 2015... 13 Annex 1. Missions and workshops delivered... 14 2
1. Introduction This document presents the activities undertaken in the framework of the Greek Trade Facilitation Roadmap Implementation Project for the period of August to October 2014 and complements the already submitted reports covering the period of February 2013 to July 2014. 2. UNECE General Observations and Recommendations for the Greek Trade Facilitation process A. Current state of the roadmap implementation In the third quarter of 2014, the Greek administrations continued the implementation of the activities of the Roadmap. The UNECE Trade Facilitation Advisor compiled an overview of the current state of implementation of Roadmap activities with state of October 2014. 25 ACTIONS OF THE ROADMAP FOR TRADE FACILITATION Establishment of Operational Steering Committee (OSC) for Trade Facilitation 1. Communication to all stakeholderscapacity building 2. Monitoring and reporting mechanisms from all stakeholders 3. Necessary resources (human/financial) 4. Governance structure - steering committee with first meeting to include: action plan, funding, reporting COMPETENT AUTHORITIES/ WORKING GROUPS All competent Ministries (ΠΥΣ.2/25.01.2013/ΦΕΚ19Α/20 13) Communication WG - IT/SW WG OSC, STRATEGIC PLANNING WG -Depending the timeline of deliverables and the beginning of the project plan actions. FINANCE WG - MinDev, MoF, MITN, TFGR OSC and Prime Minister's cabinet STATUS DONE ON GOING - (last newsletter dated July 2014) ON GOING. UNECE's repository is used for all the deliverables of the project plans. Approved financing for the OSC opex = Euro 677.000. Supporting team of 1 officer to the OSC appointed. (More than 90% of the funding is still unused) To be revised following the capacity building needs of the revised project plans. 3
5. Conduct BPAs to top 10 product categories/areas of export and implement improved procedures 6. Matured and/or urgent adjustments of existing legislation 7. Simplify national legislation where necessary and possible 8. Enable electronic submission of application for certificates, licenses, authorisations and encourage exporters to use electronic procedure. 9. Review the issuing of core commercial trade Export Documents and simplify, electronify when possible 10. Enable electronic submission of supporting documents to Customs 11. Review the Customs risk assessment system for exports with recommendations for improvement and aligned with best practices in EU Member States 12. Customs postaudit procedures ΒΡΑ WG - MinDev, MoF, MRDA & Industry LEGAL WG LEGAL WG PRECUSTOMS & AGRO WG and CUSTOMS WG LEGAL WG CUSTOMS WG- D19 CUSTOMS WG (Risk Analysis) OSC, CUSTOMS WG, Other Competent Ministries ON GOING. Seven BPAs concluded. - Pending the implementation of improved procedures. In addition, five more BPAs will be done during Q1 2015. ON GOING ON GOING (a)isisnet in Customs 12/2013 and (b) MENO in MRDF (e-application for Conformity Certificates is Mandatory for the Authorised Traders) - ON GOING. (i.e. Bill of Lading, Certificate of Origin, etc) DONE Done - Physical checks are drastically reduced as observed by the WCO report. New circular in June 2014 Αρ.Πρωτ.: Δ19Α5013811ΕΞ2014 http://www.taxheaven.gr/laws/circular/vi ew/id/18973/hl/%ce%9419%ce%91 ON GOING due to lower prioritization compared to ICISnet rollout, the Risk Analysis Implementation is depending on the overall administrative reorganisation of the customs offices. 4
13. Enable automatic release following low risk assessment CUSTOMS WORKING GROUP ( Timer Based Automated Release) DONE - This action is rolled out across all customs offices since June 2014 - D33D51312CON 14. Exploring possibility of using risk assessment techniques for exports for other Ministries (other than Customs) 15. Establish a Pilot Customs program & roll out of new custom processes in all custom offices 16.Adjust, reduce or eliminate fees of government agencies related to exports 17. Introducing electronic payments for all government agencies related to export 18. Increase the number of companies authorised for Simplified Procedures and local clearance 19. Increase the number of Authorized Economic Operators (ΑΕΟ) 20. Establish Authorised Traders for fresh fruits and vegetables 21. Implement a trade repository/export facilitation info portal and related services PRECUSTOMS & AGRO WG (Risk analysis) CUSTOMS WG ON GOING - Risk Analysis has been rolled out by MRDF (for Fresh fruits and vegetables). Recommendation to expand to other Ministries still pending. DONE LEGAL WG ONGOING. First Draft by May 2014 with the Associations input. Reviewed by Expert and to be finalised in W1 Dec 2014. OSC - CUSTOMS WG ONGOING e-payment in cooperation with DIAS SA - Extended functionality of e-paravolo towards government agencies. (e-payments: tested successfully "end-to-end" with the banks. To be rolled out in Jan 2015) CUSTOMS WORKING GROUP ON GOING - 19 companies by Q4 2013-23 companies by Q3 2014.The concept will be promoted along with AEO CUSTOMS WORKING GROUP ON GOING - 69 companies by Nov 2014 - New promotional campaign PRECUSTOMS & AGRO WORKING GROUP IT/SW WORKING GROUP DONE - Target of 20 Authorized Traders by Q4 2013 has been achieved. ON GOING: A Trade Facilitation site, hosted in Enterprise Greece has been established. http://www.investingreece.gov.gr/defaul t.asp?pid=229andla=2 5
22. Coordinated controls procedure for export between Customs and selected other government agencies (OGAs) 23. Establish the components necessary to create a National Single Window 24. Develop master plan for integrated processes for a key sea/airport community system 25.Regular review of implementation of Action Plan and assessment of trade facilitation situation in Greece OSC, competent Ministries IT/SW WORKING GROUP IT/SW WORKING GROUP OSC ONGOING: Establishment of coordinated procedure starting with MRDF by end of 2014 PENDING. A high level SW Strategy has been drafted. PENDING ONGOING 6
B. General observations and recommendations on o the current state of the Greek Trade Facilitation Reform In the third quarter of 2014, the Greek administrations continued the implementation of the activities of the roadmap, as shown in the recapitulative table t createdd by UNECE s Trade Facilitation Advisor (see page 3). Overall, the speed of reform slowed down during the month of August due to the break of activities in summer and activities were timidly re-launched in October.. UNECE did not pursue earlier plans to organise a high level conference to reconnect with politicians and include trade t facilitation highh in the political p agenda due to lack of engagement by the Greek government t for this kind of activities. UNECE observed a general withdraww of secretariat resources and attention for the support of the Greek Trade Facilitation Management Team which provides the secretariat resources r to the Operational Steering Committee and its Working Groups. Thus, UNECE focused on technical work, wheree activities are welcomed and encouraged, in order to make the best out of the months ahead in the project. Highlights of thiss period are activities in the field of agriculture trade facilitation as well as data harmonisation. 3. UNECE support provided to the Greek trade facilitation reform A. UNECE resident trade facilitation advisor in Athens Within the scope of the Terms of Reference, the UNECE Resident R Advisor (RA) supported the Greek Administration as follows: As stated in the previouss quarterly report, project management activities consumed a substantial part of the RA capacity. For instance, the monthly m reporting undertaken by UNECE s RA is used by the t Greek administration as the only o regularr progress reporting on the Trade Facilitation activities. It is addressed to UNECEE Headquarters, TFGR as well as OSC. RA has provided strategic support to the Greek administration and TFGR. In particularly, the RA has helped TFGR in the conception of new activities in the field of trade facilitation beyond January 2015. UNECE resident advisor supported s the Greek administrati ons in the implementation of the specific activities, workshops and missions as described in the following sections. B. Specific activities to support the OSC
The UNECE Regional Advisor compiled an overview of the state of implementation of the Roadmap activities (see page 3) and provided it to the TFGR as part of the monthly reporting. In addition, there is a project plan update including comments for each Working Group. It highlights milestones as well as risks involved in future planned actions. All actions for each project plan are supported by the documentation proof. This monthly update has been institutionalised since November 2013 by the resident advisor. C. Support to the agriculture trade facilitation Following the support provided during the first and the second quarters of 2014, UNECE continued its cooperation with the Operational Steering Committee and the Greek Ministry of Agriculture. During the third quarter of 2014, efforts were dedicated to organise a workshop and study tour to Madrid and Valencia, Spain in November 2014. The objective of the workshop and study tour will be to show to Greek officials how inspections are carried out in a risk-analysis based environment and how inspectors and the private sector have been forced to adapt their working methods, their tools and their resources. More information on the outcomes of the study tour will be included in the final report of the project. D. Support to the Customs reform During the October 2014, efforts were dedicated to organise an expert visit on Custom Pilot Implementation to Thessaloniki, Piraeus Port and the International Airport Cargo area and that will take place on 6 and 7 November. The purpose of the visit is to deliver on the following project activities: 1) Specialists on Customs Pilot implementation, 2) Specialists on Risk Assessment Strategies, 3) Specialists for organization of change management in Greek customs administration as well as 4) provision of high level Customs expertise for Master plan on capacity building. More information on the outcomes of this workshop will be included in the final report of the project. E. Support for data harmonization in Greece Advisory services for Data Harmonization have been requested by the Operational Steering Committee (OSC) and the Customs administration. Customs has recently implemented ICISNet, a new Customs data management system for risk analysis and import and export control. The implementation of this system is a major achievement of Greek administrations in simplification and automation of trade. There are now two major drivers for ICT development in Greek administrations: There are preparations for a Greek regulatory Single Window under the lead of Customs and there are 8
major EU systems such as emaritime which will be implemented. To ensure future development of these systems it is important that clear interfaces between the different systems are available which will provide interoperability and at the same time allow independent and user driven development of the functionality of each system. An important step in this direction is the development of a Greek Data Model which provides the definitions of a data interface between the Customs system and systems of other organizations and ensures openness of the Greek administrative systems to communicate with other EU systems. UNECE developed a concept for a data harmonization approach in Greece that focuses on use of EU data standards and integration of data concepts for projects undertaken by DG MOVE and DG TAXUD. The concept was discussed and is supported by TFGR and the Greek Customs administration. a. Consultancy on data harmonisation UNECE prepared terms of reference and a contract for an expert on data harmonisation to support the Greek Government on these activities. The work of the consultant supports the following activities of the Roadmap: Electronic submission of trade documents (Action 8), Review and simplify core trade documents (Action 9), Coordinated controls between Customs and other Government agencies (Action 22) and in particular; Create components necessary to establish a Single Window for establishment of common standards/data model for inter-agency information exchange for Single Window (Action 23). The overall objective of the consultancy is to support Greek ministries in the adaptation of international electronic business standards used in strategic EU projects launched by the European Commission (DG TAXUD and DG MOVE) for sustainable development of a Greek Single Window Network The consultancy focuses on open, international standards for cross border trade used in the EU, i.e. UN/EDIFACT, UNTEDE, WCO Data Model, UNECE ebxml (ISO 17000), UNECE and WCO recommended code lists and UN Layout Key. The main deliverables of the consultancy are to provide technical training and support to inform Greek experts about current state of data harmonization initiatives and standards world-wide and in the EU, to set up a small team of experts in Greece to provide further technical training and to support these experts in developing a small set of electronic trade documents to be used in Greece. b. First workshop on data harmonisation The first workshop on data harmonisation was organised in Athens on 21-23 October 2014. 9
It was attended by 32 participants from the Ministry of Agriculture and Customs. The experts participated in the practical exercises and discussed possible future implementation of EU data harmonisation standards in Greece. During the course, standards for international trade were presented. The focus was on the WCO Data Model and especially on the customization of the WCO Data Model. As the main interest was to bring Government agencies to work together for Single Windows, the data structures and customization methods were illustrated in detail by using the CITES e- permitting standard (from the website cites.org) and by re-engineering a number of field mappings. One or two participants from the Customs side have had previous contacts and experience with the WCO data model and the used technical tools through contacts with Dutch Customs and WCO directly. However, for most participants the information provided by the training was completely new. The final discussion showed that participants appreciated the information provided as a good way to find out more about the tools and the future strategies of the EU (DG TAXUD) with respect to the forthcoming UCC and the TAXUD EU Single Window project. The presentation of concepts and their implementations by other EU member countries were considered highly relevant. The following conclusions and recommendations of the Workshop on Data Harmonization and electronic trade documents for Greek Single Window were adopted at the end of the event: The Greek Single Window for Cross Border Trade will be based on a network of Inter-Organisation Systems that are linked with the Information System managed by Customs (Single Window as a Network). It should be discussed how to connect those agencies that do not have a single window of their own. For the development of the Greek Single Window it is important that the data exchange between the different systems is based on a common standard. This standard should contain a common data model that describes the semantic and the structure of the data which provide the basis for the technical data interchange (electronic messages). The Greek Data Model should be based on open, international standards currently adopted by the European Union. Compatibility with and support of the EU data harmonization initiatives is a prime objective of the Greek Data Harmonization process. During the workshop, the WCO Data Model was presented and perceived as a valuable tool for supporting the Greek Data Harmonisation efforts. To develop and implement a Greek data model Greek administration has to apply the international standard in line with the specific Greek business and legal requirements and to develop electronic equivalents of paper documents in electronic format. Government agencies will also require support and training to adapt to the Greek data exchange standards and develop the Single Window components. 10
To progress the development of a Greek Data Model needs further internal discussion but the following steps could already be taken into consideration by the Operational Steering Committee of the Greek Trade Facilitation: o Consider the adoption of an international Data Model as a basis for the Greek Data Model. o Establish an inter-ministerial expert group that manages the development of a Greek Data Model. The establishment of such a group will require mandate, commitment of participation of experts for the ministries and approval of a work programme. Giving the crucial role of Customs in managing the regulatory aspects of cross border trade the Greek Customs organization should be requested to take the lead in managing the development of the data model. o Nominate a small group of data model experts (i.e. process, business and IT experts) that will carry out the technical work of developing a Greek data model. The establishment of such a group will require dedicated data model experts, budget for training and tools and a network of focal points in the ministries for their support. o Start with the development of Single Window projects in Greece that will be based on the use of this standard and provide awareness rising to communicate benefits and opportunities for Greek private sector companies to develop value added solutions based on the published standard, accompanied with training and incentives for such an investment. c. Next steps on data harmonisation On 23 October, there was a meeting with management level Customs officers (process owners), Developers (Development Ministry) and from the Ministry for Agriculture and Rural development. This was about the review of the preceding training and potential ways forward. In order to get positive, presentable und implementable results on a fast track, it was agreed to stay below the level of a formal project. Consequently, it was agreed that a training course should take place about the usage of international standards for the dematerialization of Greek certificates. The training exercise example would be the Greek fresh food certificate of conformity. The underlying base standard would be the WCO Data Model. The result should be a bilingual draft. The Greek side decided to set up an informal group of experts for training on data harmonization and agreed to record the minutes. After the internal discussions the Greek side informed about the formation and the members of the training group, thus allowing the start of the work without dealing with any hierarchical management issues, and the different roles of the participants. Minutes were delivered before the end of the following week. Technical matters have been settled as well. The owner of the process triggered by the training exercise (Greek fresh food certificate of conformity) is the Ministry of Agriculture (MRDF). Consequently, MRDF will take the lead, and will get editing rights (r/w) for the data of the training exercise. Customs as one of the potential consumers of the digitalized certificate will get read only rights (r/o). Hence, 11
Customs will be able to follow the ecertificate development process but the editing and development work will be solely done by the process owner. Hence, it can be clear from the beginning which administration owns which data and processes, and potential confusion between the involved administrations can be avoided. It became obvious that this was an important aspect for all the involved parties. By using this approach the involved parties can figure out step by step whether the in-built customization methodology of the WCO Data Model can be applied in Greece. F. Support to legal reforms Following prior agreements, UNECE prepared and issued the contract for the legal consultant chosen by the TFGR in July 2014. The work of the consultant and the duly submissions of the deliverables included in the Terms of Reference of this contract are supervised and managed by TFGR. Mr Panagiotis Chatzianagnostou submitted on 25 August and 12 September respectively the following deliverables under Action 1: 1. Relevant Greek legislation: a) Summary assessment of the Greek legislation in place, its deficits and bottlenecks and the subsequent potential for simplification; b) Analysis accompanied by the general and specific legal framework on export procedures for each of the 10 priority products. 2. Comparative presentation of EU28 best practice a) Explanatory Memorandum comprising a rationale per article of Draft Bill proposed; b) Overview table of articles amended; c) Analysis of the reforms (analysis/rationale per simplification proposed): Reference to EU28 best practice or to relevant specific objective as identified in analysis. 3. Analysis and proposals for Greek legislation: a) Minimum Draft Bill comprising several articles which brings together the proposed changes in a form ready to be circulated for inter-service discussion between the relevant Greek ministries; b) Information per product/product category and analysis/rationale of the reforms proposed and incorporated in the articles of the Minimum Draft Bill. By mail of 30 September 2014, OSC legal Working group (project manager Vassilis Karamitsanis) endorsed these deliverables as in compliance with the technical requirements and quality criteria according to the contract. Consequently, on 16 October 2014, TFGR confirmed that they consider Action 1 as delivered in full compliance with the contract. Subsequently, UNECE released the first payment (USD 10.000) to the contractor. 12
4. Activities planned for the remainder of 2014 and January 2015 The following activities are planned for: Support to the agriculture trade facilitation: planned Study Tour to Valencia (Spain) with the participation of DAOK inspectors in November 2014. o Possible support of UNECE to organise an expert (suggested by the TFGR) from an EU member state to Greece to review business concepts and processes for Olive oil export as well as use of chemical laboratories on olive oil export. o Scope of the activity to be defined by TFGR. An official request from Greece would be necessary. Support to the Customs reform: o Progress evaluation visit in November 2014, in Thessaloniki, Greece o Second study visit in December 2014 in Paris, France. Support to the implementation of a Single Window: follow up in training on data harmonisation (in order to improve interoperability between ICISnet and MENO) Final payment of consultants, including consultancy on legal reforms upon approval of TFGR. Wrap up of milestones and continuous and final reporting (including mission to Athens in January 2014) Debriefing and wrap-up meeting with WCO and TFGR in Athens, 22 January 2015 Work with WCO on the closure of the WCO Grant agreement with UNECE including final reporting and accounting for UNECE and EU administrations. 13
Annex 1 Missions and workshops delivered MISSIONS 20-24 October 2014 Athens, Greece Markus Pikart Arantzazu Sanchez Michael Dill (Consultant) Objectives and Outputs (a) Organizing a training session on data harmonisation and relevant international standards for developing a single window and paperless trade environment in Greece, (b) Preparation of the next steps on data harmonisation, (c) Preparation on next activities and reporting obligations towards the TFGR. 14