Call for Cases: APTFF Trade Facilitation Innovation Awards 2022

Why submit a case?

Submitting a case will help you to highlight the achievements of your country/government/agency/institution/office in trade facilitation, and to share with experts, practitioners, government officials and other stakeholders from the Asia-Pacific region and beyond.

All cases received and deemed relevant will be published on the APTFF website – cases promoting specific commercial products or services will not be considered. Successful submissions could also have opportunities to be published as UNNExT Briefs and shared in the UNNExT network.

In addition, the authors of the “best three” cases on trade facilitation innovations will be invited to participate and present their case study during the APTFF 2022 in Singapore. The selected “best three” national or subregional innovations will receive an award and certificate.[1]

What to submit?

Has your country/organization implemented innovative solutions that have increased the efficiency of import/export/transit processes? Has your country/organization implemented unique systems to make it easier for SMEs, Women or those living in rural areas to engage in cross-border trade? Do you think your country/organization’s implementation of a particular WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) provision is outstanding and should be promoted as best practice? These are a few examples of potential trade facilitation innovation submissions.

You are invited to submit a brief case of the trade facilitation innovation, which should include the following details:

• Description of the measure/project, including:
  • The trade facilitation issue/area it has addressed;
  • Implementation timeline/process;
  • Key beneficiaries and stakeholders;
  • Current status of the project/innovation;
  • Cost-effectiveness of the measure/project.

• Why it is particularly innovative and effective.

• Which Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) it contributes to, and how? (Note: SDG 17 identifies Trade as a Means of Implementation of other SDGs, but the measure or innovation proposed may also be relevant to other SDGs).[2]
• Which WTO TFA provision it relates to, if relevant.
• Examples and evidence of recognition and praise for the measure/project (you may provide testimonials from users, links and media clippings if available).  

Entries can be submitted under (but not limited to) the following categories:

• Digital trade facilitation - Frontier technology applications / Cross-Border Paperless Trade initiatives /…
• Sustainable and inclusive trade facilitation: SMEs / Women / Transit …
• Trade finance and payment facilitation;
• Innovative trade facilitation measures for agricultural trade and traceability;
• Cost-effective trade facilitation measures;
• Institutional innovations for trade facilitation;
• Innovations in trade facilitation monitoring and data collection;
• WTO TFA implementation best practice
• Trade facilitation measures in times of COVID-19 crisis

Entries must be submitted electronically in Microsoft PowerPoint as well as PDF formats.

• Annotated PowerPoint presentation with details, as described above, of the case (no more than 20 slides); Video-recorded PowerPoint presentation is also acceptable (no more than 14 minutes).
• Please provide links and references for more information about the innovation.

Videos and other multimedia formats may be submitted as alternative and/or as supporting material.

Deadline for Submission: 29 July 2022

Kindly send your submissions to: [email protected] with copy to [email protected], [email protected]

Selection Criteria:

The trade facilitation innovation will be evaluated according the following criteria:

• Relevance of the measure/project to the simplification and streamlining of international trade processes (broadly defined here as covering commercial, transport, regulatory and payment procedures);
• Use of digital means and channels for effective and efficient trade facilitation measures;
• Relevance and applicability to other countries;
• Potential in reducing trade costs;
• Potential in increasing SME engagement in trade;
• The creativity and effectiveness in how the innovation serves the key beneficiaries;
• Involvement of the key stakeholders in the design and the implementation of the innovation;
• Possibilities to scale and expand the innovation to serve more stakeholders;
• Linkage with the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda (social and environmental pillars in particular).

Eligibility:

• The trade facilitation innovation must have originated from/ be implemented in one of the ESCAP and ADB members (see list)[3].
• At least one of the co-author(s) submitting the case study must be from the national organization(s) responsible for implementing the trade facilitation innovation and/or involved in the implementation of the related measure/project described. The candidate should seek adequate clearance to submit and present this innovation.
• The submitted innovation must be already launched and functional. Projects in the testing/pilot phase may also be submitted. However, projects and innovations in the design phase are not eligible for submission.

General Rules and Regulations

• By submitting the case study, the candidate grants the APTFF Secretariat permission to publish and disseminate the case study;
• The APTFF Secretariat is not responsible for any loss of intellectual property rights that may result from submitting the case study;
• The APTFF Secretariat will verify the case studies and is not responsible for any incorrect or inaccurate information contained in the submitted case studies;
• The APTFF Secretariat does not provide any remuneration or compensation for submission of the case studies;
• The selected case study/innovation must be submitted to the APTFF Secretariat by the deadline.