Business news

MINSK, 15 August (BelTA) – The Belarusian Universal Commodity Exchange (BUCE) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) plan to develop cooperation in paperless trade, BelTA learned from BUCE spokesman Roman Yaniv.

“The prospects for the participation of the Belarusian Universal Commodity Exchange in the development of the National Paperless Trading System in Belarus were discussed on 14 August during the visit of the delegation of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe to the BUCE central office,” he said. In particular, the possibility is considered to use BUCE’s experience in implementing electronic data interchange (EDI) technologies and electronic document management technologies in similar projects of other state organizations.

According to leading UNECE expert on e-government Eamonn Sheehy, the digital infrastructure developed by BUCE can be integrated with the National Paperless Trading System to provide for an operative and secure exchange of information with stakeholders: the State Committee for Standardization, the State Customs Committee, the Ministry of Taxes and Duties, the Finance Ministry and other agencies.

According to him, at the initial stage the development of the National Paperless Trading System will require a comprehensive analysis of the information systems in the country and assessment of their compliance with international standards. “Keeping in mind the results, we will be able to develop a detailed program of measures for introducing a one-stop shop mechanism in Belarus with a view to simplifying trade procedures and transfering them into electronic format. In our recommendations, of course, we will take into account BUCE’s experience in the digitization of key business processes,” the UNECE representative added.

Deputy Chairperson of the BUCE Board Irina Narkevich emphasized BUCE’s readiness to cooperate with UNECE in all the issues related to the development of the National Paperless Trade System in Belarus, including sharing its achievements.

Irina Narkevich said that exchange auctions have been made almost automated. All transactions are conducted online with the help of an electronic digital signature. As part of the efforts to expand the use of electronic document management, BUCE has introduced a full-fledged EDI-system based on UN/EDIFACT standards taking into account international and Belarusian classifiers of goods and services. “This year we have also finalized the software module for the metal products section, and now the trading system automatically blocks applications for the purchase or sale of goods from the Register of Dangerous Goods banned for import and circulation in Belarus by the State Committee for Standardization. We plan to establish similar cooperation with other ministries and departments,” said Irina Narkevich.