COVID-19 Trade Facilitation Repository

Covid-19 related news items via TMEA

A brief on agency priorities with respect to air cargo. It details ICAO actions to address COVID-19 through guidance for air cargo safety, security, and efficiency, as well as provides States and the broader stakeholder community recommendations to maintain and improve supply chain connectivity.

As a result of COVID-19, disruptions in cross-border trade have led to a “new world” of trade costs. These include new protocols, additional border controls, and new documentation requirements for shippers and traders. At the same time, trade facilitation measures taken at the border have made it possible for supply chains to continue to deliver. Further streamlining of border procedures can be key for helping economies with the next phases of the COVID-19 pandemic including the global production and distribution of a vaccine.

This policy note discusses trade and trade policy considerations underpinning access to the final and intermediate goods needed to effectively produce, deliver and administer COVID-19 vaccines. It focuses on the international aspects of the vaccine supply chain, discussing the sourcing, production, distribution and need to expedite international border crossing and transportation (including in the context of the cold supply chain).

Cross-border trade in parcels has played a critical role in helping people and firms deal with issues stemming from physical distancing and confinement measures implemented during COVID-19. This policy note discusses that role and the policies that can help ensure parcel trade can continue to be leveraged to help promote an inclusive economic recovery from COVID-19.

This brief explores the role of digital trade in helping to mitigate some of the consequences of COVID-19. It also highlights how digital technologies can be leveraged to enable more efficient movement of goods, including parcels, across borders. Digital technologies can ensure that border processes are transparent and accessible to traders; that formalities can be expedited; and that processes at the border require less physical contact.

Trade facilitation has been playing a critical role in ensuring the swift movement of essential medical, food and IT goods during the COVID-19 pandemic. Trade facilitation is particularly important for the MSMEs hit hardest by the crisis.

As part of their regional strategies for COVID-19 response and aviation recovery, ICAO’s two Regional Offices for the Americas (SAM and NACC) have contributed to the development and emergence of  the Latin American Civil Aviation Commission (LACAC)’s new multilateral agreement to liberalize air cargo services in the region.