The Permanent Secretariat of the Latin American and Caribbean Economic System (SELA), the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit and the Tax Administration Service of Mexico are pleased to announce that the “V Latin American and Caribbean Regional Meeting on International Trade Single Windows: Measuring the impact of Single Windows on countries’ economies and adoption of international recommendations – A needed debate” will take place in Mexico, D.F. on 30 and 31 October and 01 November 2013.

This Fifth Regional Meeting on International Trade Single Windows is being conducted in compliance with the mandate agreed to by the 28 Member States of SELA at the XXXVIII Regular Meeting of the Latin American Council (Caracas, 17 to 19 October 2012) and envisaged in the Work Programme of the Permanent Secretariat for 2013 (SP/CL/XXXVIII.O/DT Nº 4-1). Mexico offered to provide the venue for this meeting during the “IV Latin American and Caribbean Regional Meeting on International Trade Single Windows: Public policies and intersectorality for a globalized, logistic and sustainable foreign trade”, held in La Antigua, Guatemala, on 30 and 31 October 2012.

In their recommendations during the meetings, the delegates have reiterated that SELA, in inter-institutional synergy with other relevant organizations, should continue with its analyses and regional coordination efforts, started since the first regional Latin American and Caribbean meeting on International Trade Single Windows, up to the fourth meeting.

As a follow-up to this recommendation and in compliance with the mandate of the XXXV Regular Meeting of the Latin American Council of SELA as well as the Work Programme for 2010 (SP/CL/XXXV.O/DT N° 4-09/Rev.1), the Permanent Secretariat of SELA and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Tourism of Colombia, with the support of the International Finance Corporation – an agency attached to the World Bank Group – held the “First Latin American and Caribbean Regional Meeting on International Trade Single Windows” in Bogotá, on 25 and 26 March 2010. That same year, along with the National Customs Service of Chile, the Permanent Secretariat organized the “II Latin American and Caribbean Regional Meeting on International Trade Single Windows: Advances and pending challenges”, which took place in Valparaiso, Chile, on 1 and 2 December 2010. Similarly, upon the mandate issued by the Member States during the XXXVI Regular Meeting of the Latin American Council and the Work Programme for 2011 (SP/CL/XXXVI.O/DT N° 4-10), the “III Latin American and Caribbean Regional Meeting on International Trade Single Windows: Paperless Trading and Risk Management in Trading Operations” was organized together with the Ministry of Foreign Trade, Industry and Tourism of Peru, with the sponsorship of the USAID Trade Facilitation Project and CAF-development bank of Latin America. It was held in Lima on 29 and 30 November 2011. Finally, the aforementioned Fourth Regional Meeting was held in La Antigua, Guatemala, on 30 and 31 October 2012. It was organized jointly with the Association of Exporters of Guatemala, in compliance with the mandate issued by the Member States of SELA at the XXXVII Regular Meeting of the Latin American Council (Caracas, 19 to 21 October 2011).

These high-level regional meetings on International Trade Single Windows, promoted by the Permanent Secretariat of SELA along with the relevant authorities of its Member States, have been organized under the principle of building on regional dialogue and favouring the coordination processes to contribute to regional integration, thus creating scenarios for analysis for the following purposes:

1. Discuss about emerging and critical issues with relevant impact on trade facilitation and the development of national economies.

2. Take steps to incorporate Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) into the exchanges of information flows within and between organizations, in the context of e-government and digital economy.

3. Gain knowledge about the achievements and development of ongoing Single Window projects in Latin America and the Caribbean, with a view to achieving a competitive and sustainable insertion into global trade.

4. Discuss about pending challenges and convergence issues, with particular emphasis on topics such as interoperability, harmonization, promotion of international standards and common and complementary procedures for simplification and greater effectiveness.

5. Promote digital integration, thus contributing to achieve regional integration in Latin America and the Caribbean.

6. Contribute to consolidate a regional agenda on technical cooperation.

The “V Latin American and Caribbean Regional Meeting on International Trade Single Windows: Measuring the impact of Single Windows on countries’ economies and adoption of international recommendations – A needed debate” highlights three thematic areas. The first one is to measure the impact of Single Windows on the countries’ economies so as to gather qualitative and quantitative data to identify, on an empirical basis, the following critical aspects of their implementation and consolidation, as well as their benefits:

1. The economy, productivity and competitiveness of national economies, based on the following parameter: Swift, simplified, transparent and secure foreign trade procedures.

2. Increase in trade in goods and services.

3. Increase in trade in goods and services.

4. Impact on transparency in public administration.

The second thematic area is the adoption of international recommendations in the area of Single Windows, with emphasis on Recommendation 36 of UN/CEFACT on interoperability, in a regional dimension.

Finally, the third thematic area is to promote debates and dissemination of the achievements made by Latin American and Caribbean Single Windows and the institutional challenges for their consolidation, including: inter-institutional relations with customs, dialogue between the public and private sectors, comprehensive improvement of procedures, management of information flows involved in supply chains, and attention to the requirements of logistics stakeholders, importers and exporters involved in foreign trade – all of this from a regional integration perspective.