WITH the growing volume of trade and its position as the hub of the Pacific, Fiji stands to benefit immensely from the Cross Border paperless trade.
Fiji Revenue and Customs Authority chief executive officer Visvanath Das said Fiji had ratified the World Trade Organisation Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) and as key components of the Fiji economy the authority would implement the TFA.
Mr Das made the comments at a one-day workshop on cross border paperless trade which included participants from Fiji’s border security agencies and other stakeholders.
He said cross border paperless trade would increase efficiency, compliance and risk management in the future.
A statement from FRCA said cross border paperless trade was trade taking place on the basis of electronic communications, including exchange of trade related data and documents in electronic form across borders.
“I am glad that we are hosting this consultation here today and that Fiji and the region is making significant progress towards a framework agreement,” said Mr Das.
“The electronic trade treaty will focus on implementing digital trade facilitation measures to specifically achieve paperless trade across our borders and that it will also support the WTO TFA.
“Furthermore, it is also expected to harmonise the growing number of bilateral and sub-regional paperless trade initiatives in the region,” he said.
According to Mr Das this was an opportunity for trade partners to work together and achieve digitisation in trade dealings.
“The key benefit here is that we can grow our exports and reduce the transaction time and cost of trade,” he said.
“We look forward to contribute to this new framework under the UN ESCAP as it ties in well with our plans for the future sustainability of FRCA and certainly for Fiji’s trade competitiveness and economic growth,” he said.
“Not to mention the benefits to our private sector in terms of improved levels of compliance to regulatory requirements in international trade. There will surely be technical and legal barriers to cross-border paperless trade for both public and private stakeholders and perhaps the key is to keep in mind the benefits that can be reaped once there is full cohesion achieved,” he said.
United Nations ESCAP representative from Thailand, Yann Duval from the Trade Facilitation Unit, Trade Investment and Innovation Division office conducted the workshop in collaboration with Fiji Revenue and Customs Authority (FRCA).
