In June, SITPRO was delighted to welcome its new Chief Executive, Malcolm McKinnon. Prior to joining SITPRO, Malcolm worked for the DTI for thirty-two years, where his career was spent mainly in the trade field, initially involved in export promotion. He was latterly Head of the DTI's Trade in Services Unit and acted as the UK's chief negotiator for the WTO services negotiations for ten years from 1994-2005.
Below, Malcolm outlines his objectives in his new role for the readers of SITPRO News:
Malcolm McKinnon
I am delighted to have been appointed as SITPRO's new Chief Executive. Following last year's DTI review, SITPRO can look forward with renewed confidence and an ambitious work programme geared towards making international trade easier and simpler. SITPRO’s new Business Plan (pdf 743KB 
), which is available on our website, has a sharp focus on our past achievements and future plans.
Central to this are the continuing negotiations in the WTO on a trade facilitation agreement. As the world's premier trade facilitation agency we have keenly promoted this because we believe that an enforceable agreement modernising and streamlining border controls can pay economic dividends for UK businesses as well as for developing countries.
However, SITPRO needs to be very active in promoting the reforms of trade procedures that matter most to UK businesses. Domestically, we will work hard to influence Government Departments with a role in border management. The issue of trade and security measures is, of course, a key part of this. Within Europe, we will focus on supporting and influencing the Commission's plans for customs modernisation and a paperless trade and customs environment within the EU.
SITPRO's foundations and historic reputation were in the development of simplified forms to facilitate the movement of goods. We will continue to bring our expertise to the development of international standards for paper and electronic documentation and transactions. Our main aim is universal adoption of the standards we have been helping to develop.
Finally, we are looking for a permanent international home for the pioneering work we have done on benchmarking the cost of border regulation for business.
For SITPRO to be fully effective, I want to meet with as many stakeholders as possible to understand your problems and where we can make a difference and invite you to call me or e-mail malcolm.mckinnon@sitpro.org.uk with your views.
I strongly believe that SITPRO can and must play a leading role in the national and international trade facilitation arena and I look forward to working with you over the coming years to achieve this goal.
Return to SITPRO News: Issue 53, Summer 2005
