UNCTAD

[|United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)] was first convened in 1964. Since then, UNCTAD has become one of the United Nations Secretariat bodies and is based in Geneva. UNCTAD's mandate is to promote international trade and the economic development of developing countries. It conducts three types of work: The scope and content of UNCTAD's work covers topics such as commodities, shipping and transport, technology, competition law, trade in goods and services, and Foreign Direct Investment. UNCTAD is most widely know for the Trade Development Report that is published annually, the World Investment Report and other publications. =**UNCTAD's work related to trade facilitation**= UNCTAD contributes to research and technical cooperation in the field of trade facilitation. It manages the ASYCUDA programme that assists UNCTAD member states in reforming Customs clearance processes, including the implementation of the so-called Automated System for Customs Data (ASYCUDA), which is a computerized Customs management system. The ASYCUDA programme has operated since 1981 and is active in more than 90 countries across the globe. UNCTAD's Trade Facilitation Section of the Transport and Trade Logistics Branch provides technical assistance for developing countries to support implementation of trade facilitation reforms. It is one of the five so-called Annex D organizations that are observers to the WTO negotiations on trade facilitation. As an Annex D organization, UNCTAD has provided workshops and research to improve developing countries’ participation in the negotiations. =UNCTAD instruments covered in this wiki=
 * analytical research and elaboration of policy proposals;
 * negotiations and consensus building through a multilateral conference held every two years, the Trade Development Board and other technical bodies; and
 * technical cooperation to assist developing countries.
 * ASYCUDA Glossary of Customs terms ||
 * UNCTAD Technical Notes on trade facilitation ||