The Policy Hackathon on Model Provisions for Trade in

Times of Crises and Pandemic in Regional and other Trade

Agreements (8 June – 24 July 2020)

Introductory Briefing for Participants to

Number of participants to the Policy Hackathon: 134 individual experts, 45 teams, from 62 countries

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Individual Experts Teams

Initiative Background

• COVID-19 Pandemic has triggered a series of ad-hoc

unprecedented trade-related measures taken by countries, causing

major disruptions and hampering actions to mitigate the impact of

the virus on people and the economy

• How and why did this occur? Are trade rules in Regional Trade

Agreements (RTAs) lacking norms and provisions needed to ensure

that trade is disrupted the least possible in case of emergencies?

• There is room for a further development of provisions in trade

agreements that can ensure the flow of essential goods and

supplies in case of emergency, and facilitate recovery from crises

• The Initiative aims at “building back better” after COVID-19, and to

develop model provisions in RTAs and other agreements to

promote better trade cooperation and coordination in times of

crisis and pandemic

“Building back

Better”

Initiative on Model Provisions for Trade in Times of Crises

and Pandemic in Regional and other Trade Agreements

Who is involved in the

Initiative on Model Provisions for Trade in Times of Crises and

Pandemic in Regional and other Trade Agreements

Core Expert Group

• Anabel González, Nonresident Senior Fellow,

Peterson Institute for International Economics

• Bipul Chatterjee, Executive Director, CUTS

International, India

• Deborah Elms, Executive Director, Asian Trade

Centre and Vice Chair, Asia Business Trade

Association

• Henry Gao, Associate Professor, Singapore

Management University School of Law

• Lei Zhang, Dean, School of Trade Negotiations,

Shanghai Center for Global Economic and Trade

Governance, Shanghai University of International

Business and Economics

• Mark Wu, Professor, Harvard School of Law,

Harvard University

• Mostafa Abid Khan, Member, Bangladesh

Trade and Tariff Commission, Government of

Bangladesh

• Paul Baker, Chief Executive, International

Economics Consulting Ltd., Mauritius

• Peter Draper, Executive Director, Institute for

International Trade, University of Adelaide

• Simon J. Evenett, Professor of International

Trade and Economic Development, University

of St. Gallen

• Stephen Olson, Research Fellow, Hinrich

Foundation

• Wale Ogunkola, Professor, International

Economics, University of Ibadan, Nigeria

Initiative on Model Provisions for Trade in Times of Crises

and Pandemic in Regional and other Trade Agreements

Initiative Timeline

Expert consultations to design the Initiative & establish

partnerships with other

organizations

Policy Hackathon

to gather inputs and ideas from a

wide range of stakeholders

Development of

Handbook on Model Provisions

for Trade in Times of

Crisis

Discussions in intergovernmental

meetings and

Capacity building

of trade negotiators / policy

makers

April-May 2020 June-July 2020 Aug-Sep 2020 Oct 2020 - …

Initiative on Model Provisions for Trade in Times of Crises

and Pandemic in Regional and other Trade Agreements

Policy Hackathon on Model Provisions for Trade in Times of Crises and Pandemic in Regional and other Trade Agreements

Innovation and originality

Evidence based

PracticalityRelevant outputs

• Main goal Develop innovative solutions to

improve trade provisions in order to ensure that

the collective benefits of trade arrangements are

least compromised in a situation of crisis and

pandemic

• Primary focus how trade agreements / rules

can keep essential supply chains open and trade

lanes open during a crisis; and facilitate recovery

from a crisis

In line with the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development

Goals, the Hackathon aims to promote solutions for a more inclusive,

resilient and sustainable trade for all.

Policy Hackathon 45 days. Participants are expected tosubmit an abstract (150 words) no later than 15 June.Participants who want to receive feedback by the Expertsare expected to send draft paper before 3 July.

24 July Deadline for submission of the final outputs.Secretariat will collect the outputs and submit them to theCore Expert Group. The Experts will evaluate the outputsand if relevant they will be included in the OnlineRepository.

Final Product Online Repository. All the relevant outputswill be gathered in an online collection and made publiclyavailable. Top 10 best contributions will be awarded with anExcellent Contribution Certificate by the Expert Group.

Timeline/Outline of the Policy Hackathon

Reviews of best practices and initiatives undertaken by countries during COVID-19. Potentialuse of them in future trade agreements.

Reviews of challenges/difficulties faced by countries related to trade during COVID-19 orother crises; recommendation of measures and provisions to be considered in future tradeagreements as a result

Reviews of existing RTA or other trade related agreements provisions and how they addressor not trade in times of crisis and pandemic; formulation of recommendations and/or actual modelprovisions

Expected contributions

Example of best practice such as the Singapore-New Zealand ‘Declaration on Trade in Essential Goods for

Combating the COVID-19 Pandemic’.

For example several countries have struggled with the supply of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and

other medical supplies caused by export restrictions imposed by certain countries (major producers).

Review of existing emergency clauses in the most recent trade agreements such as the EU ones, with an

analyses on what has and what has not worked with their emergency provisions in the COVID-19 pandemic.

Review of the existing WTO rules specific to trade responses in times of crisis.

Guidance for Participants

Expected types of contributions

Policy briefHighlights (max 500 words)

2000 - 4000 words

Research paperExecutive summary (max 1000 words)

4000 – 10000 words

Team reports

Executive summary (max 2000 words)

6000+ words (no more than 6000 words/team member)

Preferred format for the contribution

• Include a cover page with the name(s) of the author(s), institutional affiliation and fulltitle of the contribution

• Use 12pt Times New Roman

• Apply single line spacing

• Set the margins of the document to 2.5 cm on all sides. Indent every new paragraph1cm or leave a line in between paragraphs

• Use footnotes. Every secondary source mentioned in the paper needs to be properlyreferenced in the footnotes; Plagiarism will not be tolerated

Footnote format: (1) J. Smith, ‘The Art of Proper Referencing’. (PalgravePublications, 2020), p. 17.

• Include a reference list with all the sources that are cited in the text, at the end of thedocument.

• Submit the output in Microsoft Word

• In English language

Framework for structured research towards model

provisions for trade in times of crisis

Is your contribution focusing only on the COVID-19 Pandemic or on other types of emergencies and crisis situations?

Is your contribution focusing on addressing issues during a Pandemic or on economic recovery after a Pandemic?

Is your contribution focusing on a particular group of countries (e.g. LDCs) or region?

Are you planning to focus on specific sector(s)?

Medical supplies, Food, SMEs, Tourism, ICT, Transport and Logistics, Other Sectors, All sectors/general focus

Which types of trade, trade measures and/or trade rules will you focus on? Exceptions, Transparency Provisions, Essential vs. Non-essential Goods, Export Restrictions, Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures & Technical Barriers

to Trade, Government Procurement, Subsidies), Intellectual Property, E-Commerce, Trade Facilitation (Paperless Trade, Contactless Trade), Trade in Services (Essential vs. Non-essential Services, Financial/Insurance/Payment Services), Movement of

People, Investment, Other Issues …

Compendium of resources on trade in times of crises and pandemic

Q&A(write you questions in the chat or

send by email)

Way Forward

• FAQ document to be put online based on questions received

• Title and abstract of expected contribution (150 words) to be submitted no later than 15 June to

tuntiwigit@un.org and copied to danijel.bajt@un.org

• You may send draft for reviews by experts before 3 July (best endeavour basis)

• A SLACK Channel will be set up for interested participants in order to share ideas, documents and

receive further guidance

• Deadline for submission of the final output is 24 July, to submit to tuntiwigit@un.org and copied

to danijel.bajt@un.org

• Best contributions will be referenced in the Handbook on Model Provisions for Trade in Times of

Crisis in Regional and Other Trade Agreements and may be published as working papers of

participating organisations upon agreement with the authors

Link to Hackathon: https://www.unescap.org/events/policy-hackathon-model-provisions-trade-times-crisis-and-pandemic-regional-and-other-trade#

Link to Initiative: https://www.unescap.org/resources/initiative-model-provisions-trade-times-crisis-and-pandemic-regional-and-other-trade#

THANK YOU!For any further information, please contact

danijel.bajt@un.org for substantive issues and

tuntiwigit@un.org for administrative and technical

issues.

Criteria for selecting the top 10 best contributions

• Most relevant and pertinent contributions to the overall scope and purpose of the Initiative

• Most innovative, original and forward-looking contributions

• Contributions that propose the most practical and ready to implement recommendations

• Contributions that propose the best guidelines or model provisions for times of crisis andpandemic and the best alternatives to the current provisions in trade related agreements

• Contributions that follow the format and style guidelines

• (All contributions are expected to be written in good English)

Focal points from collaborating UN and other international organizations

• ECA (Africa): Simon Mevel, African Trade Policy

Center

• ECLAC (Latin America): Jose Duran Lima, Chief,

Regional Integration Unit and Marcelo Dolabella

• ESCWA (West Asia): Mohamed Chemmingi,

Chief, Trade and Regional Integration Section

• UNCTAD: Miho Shirotori, Chief, Trade

Negotiations and Commercial Diplomacy Branch,

and Taisuke Ito

• UNECE (Europe): Lance Thompson, Head of

UN/CEFACT Secretariat

• WTO: Gabrielle Marceau, Senior Counsellor,

Research Division

Coordinator/Secretariat

• ESCAP: Yann Duval, Chief, Trade Policy and

Facilitation Section, Trade, Investment and

Innovation Division