Welcome to the National Board of Trade and ECIPE Conference in Brussels, June 25th 2008.

This conference will present a new comprehensive study on security initiatives by the National Board of Trade in Sweden, bring together world experts to scrutinize evidence concerning costs and benefits of security-chain initiatives, and offer practical and realistic advice on the way forward. The floor will be open to all present to discuss the delicate balance between security and facilitation.

After 9/11 2001, a series of transport security initiatives were adopted, often in haste. Since then, they have multiplied in Europe and the US and spread worldwide in different forms ranging from compulsory public regulations to voluntary private certifications. Very little research has been conducted on the impacts of such schemes on trade and commerce, but economists and businesses can no longer ignore what is likely to remain a priority for a long time: security in supply chains. Are security initiatives impeding trade; or strengthening supply chains?

Apart from increasing public security, these initiatives provide several benefits to private businesses, such as improving supply chain control, mitigating uncertainty, lowering insurance premiums, and standardising customs procedures. However, if done without consideration of business reality, they can substantially increase transaction costs, notably through longer transport times and cumbersome paperwork, and distort trade. Hence, the perspective of trade facilitation should be properly integrated in the design of security initiatives.

Date: 2008-06-25
Time: 13:30 to 17:30
Venue: Hotel Silken, Berlaymont, Blvd Charlemagne 11-19, Brussels
Register: Until June 22nd to ECIPE:

Download the programme  

 
From the programme:

• Presentation of the Report Supply Chain Security Initiatives: A Trade Facilitation Perspective
  Speaker: Johan Pontén, Analyst, National Board of Trade, Sweden
  
  Download the report
  


• Business perspectives on security initiatives: do they make sense?
  Speakers: Malcolm McKinnon (CEO, SITPRO), Adrian van den Hoven (Business Europe)
  


• Are security initiatives entry barriers? A developing-country perspective.
  Speakers: Mike Edbury (Director, BERR), Daniel Mirza (Lecturer, University of Rennes, Research Fellow, CEPII)
  


• How should we design policies to improve supply-chain security without impeding trade and commerce?
  Speakers: Joe Kelly (Deputy Director, Capacity Building Directorate, WCO), Miroslaw Zielinski (Director, Customs Policy, DG Taxud)

View the presentations at ECIPE's webpage here