SITPRO's Advisory Groups

e-Business Group Meeting - 30 March 2010

Thu, 01 Apr 2010 11:30:00 GMT

The e-business group considered an outline independent review on the 10 recommendations proposed for SITPRO in respect of its continued engagement in paper and e-documents. In particular, the meeting was concerned to ensure that SITPRO clarified its strategy in line with its resources and skills and that the EBG should itself be involved to ensure it supported that strategy. On the basis of the comments received the independent report would be finalised. It was reported that the joint project to create e-documents for the air environment between IATA and SITPRO was complete. The CEFACT Core Components Library had been used as a basis alongside their XML naming and design rules. The results of the project were now undergoing internal review within IATA. It was suggested that IATA be invited to attend a future meeting to provide an update on its cost benefit analysis and lessons learned from the implementation. The meeting heard a brief presentation on the gap analyses being undertaken within CEFACT in respect of the UNeDocs project. There was some concern that the recommendation produced by CEFACT didn’t follow the commentary. Moreover in discussion of the future structure of CEFACT it was considered prudent by some that the technical work should in future be carried out by ISO. SITPRO's CEO debriefed the EBG on the outcome of the Pre Budget Report exercise that had taken up so much of SITPRO's resources during 2009. He noted in particular the establishment of the International Trade Facilitation Committee and the possibility it, and SITPRO's Secretariat role, gave to the EBG to bring issues of importance to the attention of government at a high level. Finally the EBG received a brief report on the current work being undertaken on the implementing provisions for the Modernised Customs Code with specific reference to the intention of the Code to adopt electronic solutions. Positive feedback from UK business had already been received on the initial outputs from SITPRO.

e-Invoicing Group Meeting - 7 July 2009

Thu, 01 Apr 2010 11:30:00 GMT

This was the first meeting in 2010 of the E-invoicing sub group. The Council of Ministers decided in favour of a Proposal for a Council Directive amending the VAT Directive 2006/112/EC as regards the rules on invoicing on 16 March 2010. The document is now with the European Parliament for second reading. In principle the amendment should make the possibility of using e-invoices easier putting them on equal footing legally with paper invoices. However, concerns were expressed that there was a new requirement to obtain agreement from trading partners prior to issuing e-invoices (which wasn't in the 2006 Directive) and about the process of transposition. The meeting considered the European Commission's consultation on the EU Expert Group on E-Invoicing's Final Report. The closing date for responses had been the 26 February 2010. It was understood that there had been 86 replies. These were not yet public however and it was reported that the Commission intended to use the E-Invoicing Conference in Madrid at the end of April to deliver its response. The Group had previously discussed the creation of an UK Advocacy Group for e-invoicing and there was support for SITPRO to provide the lead. As a starting point SITPRO had drafted a benefits paper for consideration by the Group. Comments were requested with a view to making it as robust as possible. In advance of the next meeting SITPRO would consider a work programme for the Advocacy Group and an influencing map/strategy. In the same context the meeting took note of an E-Invoicing Guide for SMEs published by the European E-Business Lab. This was considered useful but possibly too lengthy to grab the attention of most SMEs. While there was interest in SITPRO doing something similar for UK SMEs it was thought best to get the Advocacy Group off the ground first. Finally there was discussion of the E-Invoicing Conference in Madrid. SITPRO had applied to attend and has been wait-listed. It was determined who from around the table would be going with the request that they reported to the next meeting in September.

e-Business Group Meeting - 7 July 2009

Thu, 30 Jul 2009 16:00:00 GMT

SITPRO updated members of the significant progress made in consulting business on trade regulatory burdens under the Pre Budget Report review led by BIS and HMRC. The aim is for the Government to have its draft Action Plan ready by the end of September, to be published alongside PBR 2009. A presentation was given detailing a new definition of, and a new approach to implementing, an International trade Single Window in the UK. This is one of the current work groups of the PBR exercise and was felt by members to have considerable merit. SITPRO has withdrawn the offer to host the 16th UN/CEFACT Forum in the UK in Spring 2010. At UN/CEFACT the revision of Recommendation 6 – Aligned Invoice Layout Key, to include an Annex to accommodate e-Invoicing, and the development of Recommendation 35 – Establishing a Legal Framework for International Trade Single Window have been completed. The Publication Drafts will be submitted to the UN/CEFACT management for endorsement and then to the UN ECE Secretariat for translation into the official languages of the United Nations. The documents will be presented to the 15th UN/CEFACT Plenary session in November 2009 for approval and formal publication. The UNCITRAL Convention on the Carriage of Goods by Sea will be opened for signature in September 2009 in Rotterdam and will be known as the 'Rotterdam Rules'. Members were not encouraging early adoption of this Convention by the UK.

e-Invoicing Group Meeting - 7 July 2009

Thu, 30 Jul 2009 16:00:00 GMT

Overall the meeting identified significant progress in the development of Electronic Invoicing and that there are many opportunities for UK business to be in the forefront in improving efficiencies in this area which would help them be in a stronger position to take advantage of the forthcoming economic recovery. The EU Expert Group (EEG) on e-Invoicing is preparing the Final Report of the Group for publication in December 2009. The structure of the Report would cover the work packages (legal and regulation, business requirements, and network and standards) in the EEG with the addition of sections for 'Next Steps' and communication. Members were invited to respond and the deadline for submission of feedback for the Final Report was the end of September 2009. The e-Invoicing working group within CEN (Comité Européen de Normalisation - European Committee for Standardisation) has completed its current two year work programme. The group published a range of documents in June 2009 on its progress and these are open for public review and comment by the end of August, in time for an open meeting in September 2009 in Barcelona, Spain. Within UN/CEFACT the Core Component Library (CCL) 09A Directory has successfully passed the audit process and is expected to be ready for publication very soon. However, the production of XML schema for the dependent messages is still underway. After schema production has been completed the next step will be to identify the various uses of the CII and ensure harmonisation. A link to the draft legislation proposed by Finland on electronic signatures will be posted on the e-invoicing sub group section of the eBG web pages. Members and other subscribers are invited to send feedback and comments to SITPRO by the end of August.

e-Business Group Meeting - 21 January 2009

Mon, 09 Jan 2009 14:00:00 GMT

The group heard progress reports on the following items from the previous meeting:

the business case for benefits and cost savings from e-invoicing in the airfreight industry had been received from the International Airfreight Transport Association (IATA), http://www.iata.org/stbsupportportal/efreight/about.htm and also a link which provided a comprehensive guide to IATA e-freight. http://www.iata.org/stbsupportportal/efreight/materials/handbook.htm
the resolution from TBG6 about cross-Group working procedures within the UN/CEFACT had been forwarded to the Forum Management Group. A joint meeting of all Permanent Groups was held during the 13 th UN/CEFACT Forum and resolved most of the issues and forged a better relationship, providing an environment for improved collaboration;
the UNCITRAL Convention on the Carriage of Goods by Sea was still awaiting ratification by the required number of Contracting Parties to enter into force. If ratification was achieved SITPRO would issue a notice advising the UK business community of the need to ensure they identified the governing rules for the contract of carriage that applied to the contracts they entered into;
the UN/CEFACT Project on the International Trade Facilitation Model was seen as a potential way of developing a process map to identify standards and produce a roadmap of standards.
the response to the SITPRO Document Review had been very poor (only 5 replies) and could not be used as a representative sample. SITPRO was hoping to generate more constructive input on document usage through the Pre Budget Report (PBR) project.

The members received a presentation on the Chancellor’s Pre Budget Report (PBR) statement made in November 2008. This had generated the so-called PBR project. The background was the World Bank Doing Business report which ranked the UK as 28 th in the world for trading across borders. SITPRO had been invited by the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) and Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to (in particular) play a leading role in the consultative phase of the project to identify compliance costs for international trade focussing exclusively on the cross border movement of goods in and out of the UK. The consultation has to be completed by the end of May 2009 and the project concluded by September 2009 to feed ideas for a work plan into the November 2009 PBR statement. The production of the Trade Facilitation Implementation Guide continued to progress satisfactorily. Two preliminary Workshops had been held in Uganda exploring national trade facilitation implementation and in Malaysia examining regional trade facilitation issues. Subsequent improvements and enhancements to the package of, Guide, Workshop Facilitators Manual and the CD-ROM would be incorporated into a revised package and delivered by the end of March 2009 in time for an announcement on publication at the UN/CEFACT 14 th Forum in Rome in April 2009. It was explained that the draft BUY-SHIP-PAY including UNeDocs project had been escalated to the UN/CEFACT Bureau for further consideration, after agreement had not been reached by the FMG. A Team had been formed to undertake a review of the proposed Business Standard. The review would cover marketing, technical specifications, procedural issues and the precise deliverables. The Team had to report to the Bureau by the end of January 2009 so the Bureau in co-operation with the FMG, could decide the way forward for the proposed Business Standard. A report on venues and the viability of delivering the UN/CEFACT Forum in the UK in spring 2010 would be presented to the next SITPRO Board Meeting. SITPRO had launched a sponsorship drive to attract financial support for the event and was considering the best way to organise and promote a parallel event for the UK business community and encourage wide participation. The UNeDocsUK Executive Board had been established with the support of the Chair of the Document Working Taskforce. The Executive Board were currently preparing a document identifying the scope and suggested deliverables for the next version of SITPRO standards which is to be presented at the next Taskforce meeting. The first phase of Project Gazelle had been completed with the enhancement of the Senegalese Single Window. A Memorandum of Understanding for the second phase (piloting UNeDocs) was signed by the Partners involved (Malaysia, Senegal and the UK), who were now awaiting funding approval from the Investment Climate Fund in order to commence in March 2009. Successful outcomes from the 4th ASEAL Summit in Taipei, Taiwan were reported with the appointments of an Asia and UK Co-ordinator, Trade-Van (Taiwan) and SITPRO respectively; membership was frozen at the current 4 Partners and 2 Ordinary Members, and Observer status extended outside the Asia and Europe Regions to accommodate developments in Africa and encourage the participation of other regions such as Latin America. As part of the UK co-ordination, a template would be designed for the dissemination of information on the Pilot Projects to greatly improve awareness and publicity of ASEAL and its work programme. The next meeting of the Group would be held summer 2009, date to be confirmed.

e-Invoicing Group Meeting - 21 January 2009

Mon, 09 Jan 2009 14:00:00 GMT

At a well attended meeting in January 2009 an Action Plan document, created after the last meeting, was reviewed with positive progress and outcomes being reported including a successful meeting between SITPRO and the Commission (EC - Directorate General Enterprise and Industry) to review the current position on e-invoicing within the EC. The Group remain keen to continue to identify reports and research that evaluate potential savings from adoption of e-invoicing. It was reported that the Commission are aware of a number of independent studies that have identified very substantial savings to business (figures of over 200 billion euros have been quoted) from widespread adoption of e-invoicing. With possible amendment to the VAT regime and harmonisation between paper and electronic invoices for tax purposes with the consolidation of rules and administrative procedures potentially providing preliminary savings of 113bn Euros. The Commission do not currently have firm numbers of exact benefits but do accept there would be benefits and are keen on harmonisation proposals that would help the small and medium sized enterprise (SME) sector participate more widely in e-invoicing. SITPRO will be continuing to consolidate the data from the various reports as indicated to help understand more of the potential savings to be gained from e-invoicing. The Group members spoke of the EU Expert Group (EEG), brief status report document that was issued in June 2008 and of the mid term report due in early February 2009, with the content and recommendations reflecting the three working groups; legal and regulation, business requirements, and network and standard. In the legal section the Report would cover VAT compliance and a review of EU legislation to promote modification of the VAT Directive to allow equality of treatment for paper and electronic invoices supported by a Code of Practice. The section covering business requirements would identify basic business needs particularly in the SME sector where the adoption of e-invoicing is currently very low and would recommend that any Commission proposals should meet 'a SME test'. In the section on network and standards the Report would endorse the UN/CEFACT Cross Industry Invoice version 2. Also this section would record the concern about service providers that 'handle' e-invoicing based on the triangular business model (payee - service provider - payor) and propose an extension to a four corner approach (payee - service provider 1 - service provider 2 - payor). This model would have to address the questions of trust between the service providers and interoperability of systems. SITPRO are hoping to get early site of the mid term report so that we may make the views of UK trade known. The Group received a brief report on the background and history of the EEG. Consisting of 31 Members, the EEG is chaired by Finland; with light UK representation. Also the Group was informed about a reference guide, E-invoicing 2008, sponsored by Directorates General Enterprise/Industry and Internal Market that provided a simple and useful introduction to the topic. http://www.abe-eba.eu/E-Invoicing-N=0a60cc46-e50c-4d01-9aec-b2e8f69620be-L=EN.aspx The guest speaker at the meeting was Mr N Pope of Thales e-Security, who gave an interesting presentation (posted on the website) on e-Invoicing projects and security products. Highlights of the presentation included the description of Good Practice Guidelines for e-Invoice developed through the EU FISCALIS programme in conjunction with the CEN/ISSS e-Invoicing Workshop. The Guidelines would provide a coherent framework of business practices to meet commercial and regulatory requirements covering six areas; auditability, continuity, accuracy, authenticity, integrity and meeting legal obligations through compliance criteria. The Guidelines comprise of a basic Guide and a comprehensive spreadsheet that could be used as a menu of options for the selection of appropriate good practice. http://www.e-invoice-gateway.net/knowledgebase/eInvoiceBestPractice/ It was explained to the group that the Trade Business Group 1 - Supply Chain, of UN/CEFACT, was creating version 2 of the Cross Industry Invoice. Currently the prototype was in Open Development Process (ODP) Step 4, internal review and was being used to verify the new concept of the 3 Library Framework for delivering business standards. Members would have an opportunity to comment on the draft standard when the project moved to ODP Step 5, Public Review. It was reported that the publication of revised UN/CEFACT Recommendation 6 - Aligned Invoice Layout Key had been postponed for re-drafting. Members felt this could provide the opportunity to include the signposting of the tools and standards for implementation of e-invoicing within the Annex, as previously requested. The Group asked for this important message to be relay to TBG15 for careful consideration. Finally the group were informed of the Ports Report consultation document recently posted on the SITPRO website and encouraged contributions from members and for the link to be distributed to all that may be interested. http://www.sitpro.org.uk/questionnaires/ports09.html. The next meeting is planned for summer 2009, date to be confirmed.

e-Business Group Meeting - 3 September 2008

Fri, 26 Sep 2008 14:15:00 GMT

The September eBG saw Ms A Graf-Gruber, IATA (International Air Transport Association), present the latest position on the IATA eFreight Project. This included the development, with the assistance of SITPRO, of the IATA Data Model version 1.0 based on UN CEFACT standards for an initial 13 trade documents including the Invoice, Packing List and Certificate of Origin. Pilot schemes for specific trade lanes using identified carriers and freight forwarders were now testing the exchange of data transactions. For more details see www.iata.org/stbsupportportal/efreight. E-Business MSc Students from the Lancaster University Management School presented the results of their project on international trade transactions within specified supply chains. The research quantified the appraisal, prevention and business failure costs of documentary systems within the supply chain. Case studies then identified the time and cost savings that could be achieved with 'Straight Through Processing (STP)'. In conclusion the presentation classified the barriers to adoption of STP and offered recommendations on the way these hurdles could be eliminated or surmounted. SITPRO will be publishing the final report in due course. Members were updated with the latest developments within UN CEFACT. The Public Draft comment periods for the revision of CEFACT Recommendation 6 – Aligned Invoice Layout Key (Annex to accommodate e-Invoicing) and the development of Recommendation 34 – Data Simplification and Standardisation had been concluded. These comments would be discussed at the TBG15-ITPWG meeting on 18 and 19 September 2008. Both Recommendations were still on track for UN CEFACT Plenary inter-sessional approval and publication. The Trade Facilitation Implementation Guide was progressing satisfactorily, delivering on schedule a fully formatted version of the Guide and the Trainers' Workshop Manual. A Face-to-Face meeting was scheduled to review comments from the TBG15-ITPWG Project Content Management Team and confirm the date and location of the Pilot Workshop to bench test the Guide. Completion date for the project was still scheduled for January 2009. The UNeDocs Data Model as part of the Buy-Ship-Pay International Trade Data Set had been published on the UN CEFACT website as a Trade Business Group deliverable. Views from the group on UN CEFACT activities, priorities and objectives were requested for input into the new CEFACT eBusiness for Government and Trade (eBGT) initiative. The group will manage, with the Forum Management Group, funding received in to CEFACT and identify the most appropriate projects to benefit from this support. SITPRO will collate responses for Prof. Davies the UK representative on eBGT. A UNeDocsUK Executive Board had been created including representatives from SITPRO, TNL the supplier and TRADEDOCS representing the end-user community. The board would be empowered to take decisions on administrative and operational issues. This approach would ensure UNeDocsUK work programme was effectively managed and approved outcomes were delivered to agreed timelines. The deadline of 31st October 2008 for responses to the SITPRO Document Review is fast approaching. To have your say visit www.sitpro.org.uk/questionnaires/documents.html. A report prepared by SITPRO on UN Commission on International Trade Law Convention on the Carriage of Goods by Sea was presented. The recent 41st Session of the Commission approved the Convention for submission to the General Assembly at its 63rd Session later this year for adoption. If adopted the Convention would enter into force 12 months after 20 States have registered ratification. As before the Group was unimpressed with a Convention that would add costs and increase the burdens on business. However if ratification is confirmed it will be important to publicise this new Convention to ensure traders do not adopt it by default. The HERMES Report had now been published http://www.sitpro.org.uk/reports/hermes.pdf SITPRO was actively engaged with the grocery sector to progress with the conclusions and develop pilot projects. Work on developing the legal base for the Excise Movement Control System (EMCS) continued, albeit at a slow pace and resulting in a further delay to the introduction of EMCS until 1 April 2010. Despite the delay HMRC were still developing the functional and operational application of EMCS at the national level. The Automatic Licence Verification project, within the International Trade Single Window, was in the final phase of testing but was likely to experience a delay due to the CAP (Common Agriculture Policy) Licence transaction currently being on hold. There remained concern regarding the future funding levels for this Single window project. The pilot between Malaysia and the UK to exchange trade related data had been successful. SITPRO had also been invited to join a project to seek funding from the Investment Climate Facility for Africa (ICF www.icfafrica.org). The partners (Malaysia, Senegal and UK) were at the scoping stage and preparing a business plan for the project (Gazelle). This fund would enable a more in-depth project which started with the enhancement of the Senegalese Single Window. Phase two would identify traders to participate in a paperless exchange of data between the partners and the movement of goods. A presentation was requested for the next meeting. Next meeting would be 21 January 2009 commencing at 12.30pm at Kingsgate House.

e-Invoicing Group Meeting - 3 September 2008

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 13:15:00 GMT

A well attended meeting of the e-invoicing subgroup was held on 3rd Sept, where we heard, among other things, about e-invoicing examples in operation in the UK and with their overseas partners. Highlights from the meeting can be found below; UN/CEFACT Recommendation 6, Aligned Invoice Layout Key with an Annex to accommodate e-Invoicing, had just concluded a public comment period. The SITPRO group had welcomed the improved structure of the document and had requested that the Recommendation should signpost the reader and potential end-user to the various standards and tools that were available for the implementation of e-invoicing systems. The Recommendation will have a final review on 18-19 September 2008 before its submission for approval and publication. A positive note on the work of the EU Expert Group on e-Invoicing referring to the Legal Group which had progressed with recommendations on 'authenticity of origin', 'integrity of content' and a proposal for a 'Model Agreement' was received. In further developments, the European Commission (EC) declared that it was only an 'Observer' to the Expert Group, which some have interpreted as a stratagem to reject the Group's conclusions should there be conflict with Commission policy. It was felt that the EC would be pre-disposed to any recommendation to revise the current VAT Directive, which is still being discussed to find the way forward, providing the Group with the opportunity to produce radical proposals. Including reviewing the current VAT System with the potential to streamline the European tax regime and combat VAT fraud. The UK will need strong representation to ensure the national view is adequately represented, which SITPRO are investigating. It was quoted in the meeting that Finland was 'well-ahead' in implementing e-invoicing A presentation from guest speaker, Ms K Wynn from Microgen, on e-business best practice in her company was well received. Microgen is an outsourced billing organisation providing a service for the Biller that wanted to maintain control of its billing process. Current major issues were environmental impact, compliance and value added services to improve the billing process and retain customer loyalty. In an open discussion on UK requirements for e-invoicing, it was said that 'digital signature' was a very complex issue for implementation, with different approval systems across Europe also adding to the complexity. However, importance was given to providing a secure e-invoicing process with an effective audit trail using log-in systems to allow controlled access, secure transmission routes between commercial partners and tamper proof archiving. Members felt this demonstrated the requirement for business needs to be fully considered in the development of legal and administrative framework for the e-invoicing environment. The next meeting will be held on 21 January 2009 starting at 10.30 in the Thorneycroft Suite at the SITPRO offices.

e-Business Group Meeting - 11 June 2008

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 15:00:00 GMT

Malcolm McKinnon summarised the completed SITPRO Five Year Strategy (2008 – 2013) and drew members' attention to the main objectives that SITPRO had set on E Business over the next five years. He asked members to keep these targets in mind over future meetings and continually consider how SITPRO was performing and to identify areas where performance could be improved. UN/CEFACT – written reports were received on key aspects of UN/CEFACT work and particularly outcomes from the recent Forum in Mexico City. A number of updated documents have recently been issued on the UN/CEFACT website at http://www.unece.org/cefact including Annex to Recommendation 6 (accommodating E invoicing)and Recommendation 34 Data Simplification and Standardisation for International Trade Members were advised that the Annex to Recommendation 6 (accommodating e-invoicing) and Recommendation 34 (Data Simplification and Standardisation for International Trade) were now out for public review and comments were required by the end of August 2008 and end July, respectfully, at the latest. These responses could be coordinated via the SITPRO offices. Recommendation 11 (Documentary Aspects of the Transport of Dangerous Goods) has been progressed for final version and publication pending approval at the Plenary in September. Philip Goodband from Constellation Europe gave an interesting presentation on a project involving the international wine and spirits industry. This outlined the SSCC/UCR pilot which is a high level proof of concept demonstrating the use of the GS1 Serial Shipping Container Code (SSCC) as the WCO Unique Consignment Reference (UCR) in the wine and spirits supply chain between the UK and Australia. More details on the pilot can be found at http://www.gs1.org/sectors/transportlogistics/sscc_ucr/. The overall objective of the first pilot was to demonstrate the use of the SSCC for audit, consignment tracking, information consolidation and reconciliation purposes. Members were advised that a further project involving the Global Shipment Identification Number (GSIN) would be undertaken in 2009 to prove the concept in additional scenarios. It was agreed that the project team will keep the SITPRO e-Business Group updated on progress. Malcolm McKinnon advised that UN/CEFACT had accepted the SITPRO proposal to host the Forum in Spring 2010. This was recognised as an honour and an opportunity to showcase the UK as a leader in E-Business but would require appropriate sponsorship to optimise the benefits. Any members interested in acquiring a sponsorship package were asked to contact Malcolm McKinnon initially. Graham Bartlett advised that SITPRO Document Review had made good progress with useful meetings with a number of licensees. The feedback was being consolidated and after completing a further round of discussions proposals for members to consider would be circulated within the next two months. An updated report on UNCITRAL was received and there was considerable concern that this draft convention on the carriage of goods wholly or partly by sea was over complex and was likely to bring minimal benefit (and probably additional cost and complexity) to UK traders. Although it is unlikely that substantive changes to the convention can be made there will be an opportunity for final comments to Malcolm Blake-Lawson at Department of Transport in the next few months prior to likely final ratification by the UN General assembly late 2008. A short presentation was given by 3 MSc students from Lancaster University School of Management who are currently undertaking an MSC in E-Business and Innovation. They will be carrying out a summer project with SITPRO looking at actual trade transaction costs in a chosen sector, identifying benefits from STP (Straight-through processing) and barriers to implementation. They aim to conclude with an action plan to help overcome the barriers identified. They will be reporting back to the EBG in September 2008. Sue Probert apologised that the Roadmap to Standards had again been delayed (due to considerable work on the UNeDocs data model) but it was now anticipated to be ready for discussion at the September 2008 meeting. John Harrison updated members on the development of the ECMS by the European Commission. The news was disappointing in that the Commission had belatedly realised the complexities involved and had now deferred introduction until at least 2010 much to the disappointment of the trade concerned. Malcolm McKinnon updated members on the progress of the Hermes research. Following meetings with DEFRA and Institute of Grocery Distribution a presentation was made to the members of the Efficient Consumer Response Group in April 2008. This had been very well received and had lead to three detailed discussions having been confirmed with three leading grocery multiples in July 2008. The Hermes report will be published in July and will be made available on the SITPRO website, contact SITPRO if you wish to receive a hard copy. Graham Bartlett advised that the latest meeting with the UK Single Window team had given quite disturbing news. Funding for the next stage was now very tight and appeared to concentrate on short term "transformational" government objectives rather than developing actual live transactions. This was regarded as extremely concerning by members and members were advised these developments would be discussed further at the forthcoming SITPRO Board/Advisory Council meetings on 26 June 2008. Andrea Graf-Gruber from IATA has agreed to give a presentation at the next EBG meeting on the development of the IATA e-freight initiative. Date of next meeting 3 September 2008 commencing at 12.30 for lunch, newcomers welcomed (sue.bravery@sitpro.org.uk).

Communications Strategy Group Meeting - 14 March 2008

Mon, 17 Mar 2008 18:45:00 GMT

The Communications Strategy Group discussed the branding of SITPRO and whether the Simplifying International Trade strapline sufficiently described SITPRO's activities and whether an alternative strapline might better engage people. It was agreed that this would not be changed at this time, but that alternatives would continue to be considered and that a further discussion would take place in the Autumn based on the suggestions that had been made. The group heard reports on SITPRO's main work areas and potential projects that might become the subject of future communications activities. Reports on recent communications efforts, including the latest newsletter, press releases and the publication of the security report were also considered. Targeting of the SITPRO website was discussed and the group was asked to consider key search terms related to SITPRO for the purposes of optimising the site for search engines. The draft Five Year Strategy for SITPRO was presented for comments and confirmation of the message prior to its final approval in April A communications strategy paper, outlining an approach to greater co-ordination of SITPRO's communications activities and increased pro-active promotion of the organisation was considered and referred for comments to the Advisory Council and Board, prior to approval at their April Meetings.

e-Business Group Meeting - 21 February 2008

Mon, 10 Mar 2008 14:30:00 GMT

SITPRO e-Business 5 Year Plan - The draft eBusiness 5 Year Strategy discussed by the SITPRO Board and Advisory Council was presented. This detailed the Strategic Objectives, summarised the barriers and impediments to the wider implementation of electronic solutions, and suggesting a Roadmap for achieving the 2012 Vision for eBusiness. SITPRO is now seeking the opinion of its stakeholders to ensure the strategy reflects the needs of eBusiness development and implementation. UN/CEFACT - Recently issued documents: Core Component Library (CCL) Directory 07B; Corrigendum to Core Component Technical Specification (CCTS) v2.01; EDIFACT Directory 07B; and Revision 5 of UN CEFACT Recommendation 23 – Freight Cost Codes. All are available on the UN/CEFACT website. http://www.unece.org/cefact/ The UN/CEFACT Task Team on Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) policy has presented its report to the Bureau and the Forum Management Group (FMG), confident that all issues will be fully resolved by the end of March 2008. The improved policy and enhanced procedures should overcome the concerns of the World Customs Organisation (WCO) sharing intellectual property with UN/CEFACT. The banking and finance group were working on harmonising and converging current CEFACT standards with existing standards, especially International Standards Organisation ISO 20022. International Trade Procedures Group - are working on UN/CEFACT Recommendations covering the transport of Dangerous Goods (Recommendation 11), electronic invoicing (Annex to Recommendation 6) and two Recommendations supporting the operation of Single Window; data standardisation in trade (Recommendation 34) and the legal framework (Recommendation 35). All four Recommendations are at critical stages of the Open Development Process (ODP) and the aim is to complete the work for presentation to the Forum in Mexico City in April 2008 and then submission for inter-sessional approval by the Plenary. Digital Paper - The UNeDocs (United Nations electronic Documents) project is currently at Open Development Process (ODP) step 6 (implementation verification) and on target to move to ODP step 7 (publication) in September 2008. Sue Bravery (SITPRO) has recently been elected to the post of Vice Chair of the Digital Paper Group. Customs - Mark Ellis, HMRC, advised development work was continuing on the Unique Consignment Reference (UCR) number within WCO with several different projects and pilot schemes but all related to the implementation of a common standard. Do you have practical examples of the use of the UCR and want to have your say? Join the discussions at the next eBG meeting on 30 April. Architecture, Construction and Engineering – a full report, from Kevin Smith representing CITE, is available on the website and is a regular topic on the eBG agenda. Finally on UN/CEFACT issues, Malcolm McKinnon (SITPRO CEO) reported that following Board approval a formal offer from SITPRO to host the Spring 2010 Forum had been sent to the CEFACT Bureau and Forum Management Group. A SITPRO document review has started, based on previous work completed by Jean McInerney and Richard Dale, and is including visits to Licensees. The aim is to prepare a consultation document for circulation to the eBG and the wider stakeholder audience by 31 March 2008. A discussion on the UNCITRAL (UN Commission on International Trade Law) draft Convention on the Carriage of Goods by Sea, including Bills of Lading will be on the agenda for the next meeting on 30 April. Some Members expressed the view that ratification of the Convention would need more than the proposed 20 Contracting Parties (member nations) and the process may well be protracted. ASEAL (Asia Europe Alliance for Paperless Trade) - the 4th Conference is to be held in Taiwan in Summer 2008 with Trade-Van hosting. The Chair (France) aims to broaden the European base of the organisation by encouraging the participation by all 27 Member States of the European Union. A publicity ‘trifold’ brochure is being produced and will be available in late March. Excise Movement Control System (EMCS) - a presentation was given by John Harrison, Imperial Tobacco, updating on the development of the ECMS by the European Commission. He explained that the Commission had issued the Technical Specifications to Member States last year based on the legal framework of Directive 92/12 EEC with the aim of introducing an electronic version of the Accompanying Administrative Document (AAD). Join the discussions at our next meeting 30 April (sue.bravery@sitpro.org.uk). SITPRO Annual Stakeholder event will take place on 30 April between 6 and 8 pm at Lancaster House. Conference on Security and AEO, jointly organised by SITPRO and European partner organisations, is to be held on 5 and 6 November 2008 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Date of Next Meeting of the Group - 30 April 2008 commencing at 12.30 for lunch, newcomers welcomed (contact sue.bravery@sitpro.org.uk).

Ports and Borders Group Meeting - 22 January 2008

Wed, 13 Feb 2008 11:35:00 GMT

After 10 years representing AOCCUK on the PBG Bob Alldred is retiring at the end of February and the group welcomed his successor, Brian Green. National Transit Procedures - SITPRO's letter and paper urging the retention of those simplifications crucial to UK business had been acknowledged by Miroslaw Zielinski, Director Customs Policy, DG TAXUD. It was agreed that SITPRO should follow this up directly with Zielinski on the next visit to Brussels to keep up the pressure. The group also agreed that in the event that the simplifications were not retained under the MCC, national transit procedures should at all costs be kept out of the scope of NCTS and temporary storage procedures for inward movements could be considered as a viable alternative. National Clearance Hub (NCH) – Following pressure from the trade a new JCCC sub-group had been set up. PBG members had a number of issues relating to residual activities in the ports and performance levels at the NCH. PBG representatives on the sub-group group would take these back on behalf of the members so that trader concerns would feature in the PIR on EPU Modernisation due out in June 2008. EU Customs Modernisation – Dave Morgan of HMRC provided an update on ICS and ECS. One of the key activities over the next few months would be identifying how to integrate the requisite systems with existing business. The group were keen to record their thanks to Dave and his team for their perseverance. Dave Morgan in turn echoed his thanks to the trade whose participation in JCCC sub-groups had enabled him to take the combined trade and HMRC view to Brussels. UK Border Agency– the group heard details of this new agency due to become fully operational with about 25,000 staff on 01/04/08. Concerns were raised that of these only 4,000 would be from HMRC and that this might impact on the ability of HMRC to retain the ethos of selective control in the face of the Home Office preference for blanket cover. It was agreed that there was scope for SITPRO to take an active role in pushing for national service standards for freight, as opposed to locally agreed ones, in any future consultation where this issue would be discussed. International Trade Single Window (ITSW) - The news that Defra were withdrawing funding from Phase 3 of the project raised serious concerns within the PBG. The PBG has campaigned for many years for a 'joined-up' approach between key government agencies operating in the port environment, in particular between HMRC and Defra. It was agreed that the proper forum to discuss Defra related issues such as ALVS and TRACES and the planned PHSI/ PEACH/CHIEF link should be DICE. DICE (Defra Import/Export Consultation Exchange) – This group had not met for over two years despite urgent requests by SITPRO to reconvene it. SITPRO's next step would be to write to Andrew Burchell, Chief Operating Officer, Defra. US Food Safety Legislation – Julian Ogden of United Biscuits alerted the group to the US Dingell Bill which is of great concern to the UK food industry. This would for example impose a user fee on food companies to fund FDA inspections at the border as well as limit the number of ports of entry for food items. SITPRO agreed to investigate whether the EU Commission or the WCO could act on traders' concerns. New Ports Report – The group heard that this project was now underway. Work was being done on the scope of the project and some initial research had also been undertaken. A visit had been made to Phil Gadd at Portsmouth and meetings had been scheduled with John Powell at the Port of Dover and Tim Reardon at the Chamber of Shipping. The meeting was followed by a presentation by Steve Crindle, Landside Operations Manager at SCT and then a tour of the US scanning operation that is currently being trialled at Southampton.

Advisory Council Meeting - 11 December 2007

Wed, 19 Dec 2007 11:30:00 GMT

Jon Averns (Port of London Authority) and Stuart Brady (CBI) were welcomed as new Advisory Council members. Colin Beaumont (BIFA) was retiring and being succeeded by Peter Quantrill. The Council reviewed the trial at Southampton Container Terminal of 100% scanning of containers bound for the US. On the wider issue of 100% scanning, the Council concluded that SITPRO should take a co-ordinating role for private sector views. The message needed to be amplified that 100% scanning was the wrong concept for border management and that risk assessment and co-operation with the supply chain were important. It was noted that SITPRO and a Dutch organisation, EVO, were in the early stages of planning a supply chain security conference in Leiden in late May. A new SITPRO report on security was expected to be published early in the new year. The Council were updated on the creation of the UK Border Agency, which would control both people and freight movements and report to the Home Office. Front line HMRC operations ("Detection") was moving from HMRC to the UKBA. Given that Immigration controls are 100% applied, the Council took the view that SITPRO should actively ensure that the UKBA took account of the need to facilitate trade. The Council took note that funding for the International Trade Single Window project would be difficult in 2008. It expressed concern that the UK risked being left behind other countries including those in Europe. There was also a concern that Defra was becoming disengaged with the trade - the Council concluded that SITPRO needed to encourage and push Defra to be more trader responsive. SITPRO was meeting with the Institute of Grocery Distribution to progress the roll out of its 'Hermes' report on paperless trading. The Council endorsed the proposal for SITPRO to bid to host a UN/CEFACT Forum in 2010, the year of SITPRO's 40th Anniversary. The Council began consideration of potential research projects that could be offered to UK Universities for student projects in 2008.