The Expert Meeting on Design and Implementation of Transit Transport Arrangements, convened in accordance with the decision taken by the Commission on Enterprise, Business Facilitation and Development at its eighth session, will be held from 24 to 26 November 2004. The Meeting will open at the Palais des Nations, Geneva, at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, 24 November 2004.

Background and purpose of the Meeting

Countries that depend on transit trade, notably the landlocked countries, are confronted with a variety of practical constraints that increase the logistics costs of their international trade. For example, it is estimated that landlocked developing countries have to bear, on average, 50 per cent higher international transport costs than their neighbouring transit/coastal countries. The specific constraints are related to Customs and border procedures and also to the fact that cargo and transport services have to adapt to different sets of administrative, legal, commercial and other conditions when passing through a third country. Transit arrangements that aim at diminishing these constraints need to take new developments into account, notably concerning trade facilitation, new technologies, multimodal transport, and transport security. In order to develop and implement specific transit arrangements, the public and private sectors of the transit country and of the landlocked country need to cooperate within each country and between the two countries through appropriate national and regional coordination mechanisms. In many cases, corridor-specific arrangements can be found that lead to win-win situations, where both countries can benefit from synergies and economies of scale in investments and transport operations. During the three-day meeting, experts and resource persons will analyse the present situation and discuss ways and means to best design and implement transit transport arrangements and to overcome the existing constraints of transit trade.

Participation

Member States of UNCTAD are requested to nominate experts at an early date and not later than 10 November 2004. Experts, who will participate in the Meeting in their personal capacities, are expected to have proven expertise in the subject, and may be selected from governmental and non-governmental organizations, private entities or academia. The Meeting may be of particular interest to government officials and representatives of the private sector dealing with trade and transport issues, privatization of transport services, trade and transport law, and trade facilitation and security matters.

Specialized agencies and intergovernmental bodies wishing to participate in the Meeting, as well as non-governmental organizations in the General Category and those in the Special Category wishing to participate as observers, are requested to inform the UNCTAD secretariat of the names of their representatives by 10 November 2004.

Financial assistance

Funds will be made available to finance the participation of a limited number of officially nominated experts from developing countries and countries with economies in transition. Governments requiring funding are therefore invited to explicitly request financing in their letters of nomination. The decision as to which experts should receive financing will be based on the principle of equitable geographical representation, needs of beneficiaries, in particular LDCs, and the expertise of the experts concerned, as well as the type and availability of funding in the Trust Fund for Financing the Participation of Experts at the time. Changes in nominated experts will be considered as new nominations. Please note that currently the trust fund only contains resources earmarked to finance the participation of experts from LDCs. Should other funding become available, the secretariat will inform member States accordingly.

Nominations with requests for financing should be received no later than 13 October 2004, and should be accompanied by the following information about the nominee:

• Curriculum vitae;
• Mailing address;
• Telephone and fax number;
• E-mail address; and
• Name of a contact person in the Permanent Mission in Geneva.

It should be noted in this connection that once the list of experts to be financed has been finalized, all travel arrangements will be made in accordance with United Nations rules and regulations, although use of the least costly fare will be authorized.

These experts are expected to prepare brief papers on issues they consider particularly important. The papers will be made available at the Meeting in the form and language in which they are received.

Background documents and contributed papers

The provisional agenda for the Meeting, together with the secretariat´s annotations thereto, is being circulated as document TD/B/COM.3/EM.22/1. In order to facilitate discussion, the secretariat is preparing a background note, which will be circulated as TD/B/COM.3/EM.22/2. The documents will be available on the UNCTAD website www.unctad.org under the heading "Meetings".

Experts are encouraged to submit written contributions related to their country´s experience on the subject under discussion. These papers will be made available to the Meeting in the form and language in which they are received.

Logistics

The meeting will take place at the United Nations Office at Geneva, Palais des Nations. Simultaneous interpretation will be provided in the six official languages of the United Nations.

Upon arrival, participants are requested, before entering the Palais des Nations, to collect their badge at the UN Security Service, Villa Les Feuillantines, 13 Avenue de la Paix (close to the main entrance to the Palais on the Place des Nations, on the opposite side of the road). The Security Service is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (non-stop). Because of the security measures in force, participants are strongly advised to arrive before 8.30 a.m. in order to complete procedures and reach the Meeting in good time. Walking from Villa Les Feuillantines to the E-Building (Bâtiment E) of the Palais takes about 10 minutes. Participants are requested to carry a passport or similar national identity card with them. Taxis are not allowed to enter the grounds of the Palais des Nations, and visitors will therefore be dropped off at the requested entrance gates. Furthermore, luggage may not be brought into the buildings unless the Security Service gives special clearance.

Further information and contact details

Links to information and details can be accessed at .

Nominations and related communications concerning representation at the Meeting should be sent to the UNCTAD secretariat, Intergovernmental Affairs and Outreach Service, Palais des Nations, CH-1211 Geneva 10; fax: + 41(0) 22 917 0056; e-mail: correspondence@unctad.org .

Enquiries concerning substantive issues should be addressed to Mr. Jan Hoffmann, coordinator of the Expert Meeting in the substantive division (Division for Services Infrastructure for Development and Trade Efficiency); office E.7043, Palais des Nations, CH-1211 Geneva 10; tel: +41 (0) 22 917 2032, fax: +41 (0) 22 917 0050, e-mail: jan.hoffmann@unctad.org.

(signed)
Carlos Fortin
Officer-in-Charge of UNCTAD
20 September 2004