Let me begin on behalf of all of us here at SITPRO by wishing all our stakeholders and customers a very happy and prosperous New Year. We start 2006 with a new and enthusiastic Board of Directors appointed by DTI Ministers. As you will see from the enclosed sheet (pdf 553KB 
), the new Board comprises both old and new faces. Their appointment completes the governance transition that has been hanging over us throughout 2005. This will again be a busy year for us - aren’t they all - but one in which we will continue to help to reduce red tape at the border and hope to make a real difference for businesses. DTI’s top priority for us remains the WTO and with agreement at Hong Kong on a drafting mandate the pressure is on to achieve a new agreement by the end of this year. In Europe, key milestones will be reached on the European Commission’s customs modernisation programme. At home, work has taken off on the construction of the UK’s International Trade Single Window, following confirmation of financial commitment by key government departments. This comes on top of our regular work such as developing e-business standards at home and internationally and the trade and security debate.
To ensure we can respond most effectively, we will be consulting on changes to our stakeholder consultation groups. I want to make sure that they are more dynamic, less duplicating, more focused on delivery and more tightly linked to our Business Plan objectives. We are holding a stakeholder evening on 16 February. At the evening you will be able to meet the new Board, hear about our new consultation group proposals, and meet Ian Pearson, the Minister of State for Trade, who has kindly agreed to address us. I look forward to welcoming you on the 16th.
Return to SITPRO News: Issue 55, Winter 2005/2006
