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United Nations
Greek Trade Facilitation Roadmap Implementation Project
Economic Commission
for Europe
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21 March 2014
Original: English
Greek Trade Facilitation Roadmap
Implementation Project
UNECE Summary Project Report 2013
Greek Trade Facilitation Roadmap Implementation Project
1. Project Background
In 2012 UNECE supported the Greek Government to launch a holistic trade facilitation reform
programme (“Roadmap1”). The reform aims to reduce time to export by 50% and costs by 20% by
2015, thus leading to a 10% increase in the value of exports, a 1.7% increase in GDP and creation
of 80,000 new jobs.
The Roadmap has become part of the lending agreement between Greece and the international
donors. Its delivery is seen as a crucial milestone to establish trust in the Greek economy and to
return to sustainable economic growth.
The Roadmap contains 25 strategic reform activities such as Customs reform and automation,
assessment of trade obstacles through process analysis, reform of agriculture trade and
implementation of modern electronic business instruments. It is one of the more ambitious national
trade facilitation programmes that UNECE is aware of.
2. UNECE technical cooperation project to support
the implementation of the Roadmap
To provide continued support to the trade facilitation reform in Greece the European Commission,
through its Task Force for Greece (TFGR) asked UNECE to establish a technical cooperation
project.
The project was negotiated in 2012 and in January 2013, the commission, the Government of
Greece and UNECE signed the project agreement on the “Support of the Implementation for the
Greek Trade Facilitation Strategy (2013-2014)”.
The total project funding budget provided by the Commission is 1.100.000 EUR and UNECE
agreed to provide pro-bono expert staff contributions of 168.500 EUR. The project implementation
is from January 2013 to January 2015.
The activities planned under the UNECE technical cooperation project were designed to
complement and be a forerunner to a broader trade facilitation project that would provide the
funding to Greek Government administration to carry out the actual implementation activities. The
broader overarching implementation project was estimated at 13.4 Million Euro.
1
http://www.mindev.gov.gr/wpcontent/uploads/2012/06/Greece_Trade_Facilitation_Strategy_Roadmap_Oct-2012.pdf
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Greek Trade Facilitation Roadmap Implementation Project
The main purpose of the UNECE trade facilitation support project is to
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assist Greek authorities in steering and managing the overall Roadmap
provide managerial support for the implementation of different topics of the Roadmap
provide specialist expertise in implementing the customs reform activities of the Roadmap
The main support activities to be provided by UNECE fall into three components:
A. Implementation support through UNECE regular budget staff based
in Geneva to:
1. Advise and support to the Greek Project management and the European commission for strategy
planning and review and assessment of progress;
2. Assist in the overall steering, monitoring and implementation of the Roadmap. This includes
providing advice to the Greek project management, contribution to key documents, advice on
implementation strategy, priorities of actions and design of terms of reference for projects on
the request of the Greek government or as suggested by the TFGR;
3. Provide specialised technical advice to the implementation of selected areas of the Roadmap.
It was envisaged that UNECE regular budget experts would provide the advisory services. The
contract also provides budget for a 50% post of a regular budget staff member to handle project
administration, contracts and to provide support to the project management in Athens.
B. Implementation support through a resident trade facilitation advisor:
The project foresaw placement of a resident trade facilitation advisor in Athens to ensure coherence
of activities and to drive the reform process. The main activity of the advisor is to:
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Assist the Greek project management in delivering the reforms;
Contribute to the work and provides support in technical areas;
Coordinate input for consultants and workshops;
Report to the Greek Authorities and the TFGR on the overall progress of the
implementation, including on risks and obstacles identified and makes suggestions for
improvement;
Ensure jointly with the Customs trade facilitation advisor the coordination between the
trade and the Customs centric activities under the Roadmap.
Greek Trade Facilitation Roadmap Implementation Project
C. Specialised support to the Customs reform
Reform of procedures for export in Greek Customs is crucial for the success of the Roadmap. The
project document foresees specialised technical assistance to the Greek Customs organization
through a 3 phase approach:
Phase 1: Conduct a structured diagnostic of the current Customs export process management
and identify major gaps.
Phase 2: Engage a senior resident Customs expert to support the implementation of the
Customs related Roadmap activities.
Phase 3: Evaluate progress made through implementation of Customs reform.
In preparing the project document it was envisaged that UNECE would engage the World Customs
Organization to provide the expertise and actions for this work item.
3. UNECE support provided in 2013 to the Greek trade facilitation reform
3.1
Support the development of Greek Business Process Analysis
The Analysis of Business Process for export of Greek Feta Cheese and Kiwi fruit were the first
Roadmap deliverables undertaken by the Operational Steering Committee (OSC) that was
responsible for the delivery of the reform. As pathfinder projects they had to establish
credibility and authority of the OSC management, serve as a pilot for information exchange and
collaboration between ministries and deliver a detailed analysis on the situation on the ground to
validate the approach of the roadmap.
As Greece had no experience in conducting formal BPA projects UNECE provided substantial
and on-going support to the OSC in Q4 2012 and Q1 2013. In particular UNECE organised 1st
workshop to inform about BPA and agree with stakeholders on Terms of Reference (ToR). This
was followed by a 2nd Workshop to train Greek Analysis in using BPA. The training was based
on a specific BPA training programme (UNNEXT Business Process Analysis Method) that has
been developed by UNECE and ESCAP.
The Greek BPA started in early 2013. Throughout the first quarter 2013 UNECE worked
intensively with the Greek team of business process analysis to support delivery of the studies.
Support was provided through conference calls, Virtual conferences (WebEx) and missions. In
May 2013 the two BPAs were successfully completed.
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Greek Trade Facilitation Roadmap Implementation Project
Recommendation: Business Process Analysis is a standard trade facilitation instrument. Greek
Administrations should ensure that trained staff and competence to conduct BPA is available
within the administration on an on-going basis. This does not exclude recourse to
complementary external resources to complement in-house resources when conducting BPAs.
Recommendation: Documentation of Business Processes provides transparency and serves as a
motor for improvement in the agencies. BPA reports should be formally approved by the OSC
and submitted to the agencies for internal circulation.
3.2
Support the establishment of the Operational Steering Committee and Working
Groups
In early 2013 the organizational structures to deliver the reform needed to be established.
There was no previous experience in Greece to establish a cross-ministerial collaborative
platform including private sector participation for dialogue and action. Greek experts were
also struggling to get commitments for resources and funding amidst the austerity measures
that came with financial crisis. The Greek project managers requested UNECE to support
the local team in developing the organizational structures and working methods required.
In Q1 & Q2 2013 UNECE focussed on supporting the Operational Steering Committee to
establish a secretariat using its experience in setting up working groups and collaborative
mechanisms. In particular UNECE drafted the terms of reference for the different groups
and working parties advised the project managers on the organizational structure and on
roles and responsibilities. The formal establishment of Groups and their first meeting were
completed in the second quarter of 2013.
UNECE also set up a number of Internet based tools to support transparent work procedures
and efficient communication among the working groups and the OSC. UNECE has set up a
dedicated Confluence Web site for the project. Confluence is a tool widely used by UNECE
working groups to share and publish information, including documents on the Internet. By
using user accounts different levels of access and confidentiality can be implemented. The
Confluence site for the project was set up and has been fully configured. Staff in Athens has
been trained in using and managing the system.
Recommendation: A structured, Internet based instrument should be used to for document
management and information dissemination between the stakeholders of the trade
facilitation reform. It is suggested that the OSC uses the Confluence server and the mailing
lists provided through the project for document management and communication.
3.3
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Support the development of project plans for the Roadmap activities
Greek Trade Facilitation Roadmap Implementation Project
After working groups had been established, UNECE worked with the OSC on assigning
responsibility of Roadmap actions to working groups. While doing so it became apparent
that working groups had significant difficulties in transforming the Roadmap activates into a
project plans and a sequence of actions. The OSC management asked UNECE to assist the
project groups in the establishing of a set of coherent project plans for the roadmap
implementation.
UNECE engaged a consultant with specialised expertise in trade facilitation and Customs
project management. A structured project plan template and reporting approach was
developed jointly with the OSC management. In the course of second and third quarter 2013
we conducted a series of mission and meetings with meetings with the leaders of the
working groups to jointly draft and refine the work plans and implementation strategies. The
final and complete set of project plans was presented to the OSC and approved in Q4 2013.
These project plans now form the baseline for all activities conducted since November 2013
in the project.
Recommendation: Project plans, in particular those on high priority deliverables of the
Roadmap should be carefully monitored and followed up by the OSC. Project baselines and
updates should be logged to have a traceable project history and to decide on future actions.
3.4
Support to the Customs reform
From the outset, UNECE recommended to the TFGR that the WCO should be main agency
to provide the specialised expertise and advisory services to the Greek Government – using
the so called Columbus Programme approach. UNECE and the TFGR held several meetings
with the WCO in 2012 to determine if the above programme could be adopted to address the
needs of Greece and this was confirmed. Subsequently in 2012, the WCO undertook several
needs assessment and fact finding missions to Athens which contributed to the development
of the Roadmap. In the first quarter of 2013, WCO undertook a targeted diagnostic and
support mission to Athens. The WCO Diagnostic Report which was submitted to the
Government summarizes the findings of this mission and provides recommendations for the
implementation and roll-out of Pilot Customs offices in Greece.
Following this report the Greek Government requested in August 2013 the WCO to provide
a customs advisor and technical expertise. It requested UNECE to provide the necessary
funds using the trust fund. In response to this request, UNECE negotiated, in collaboration
with the TFGR, a Grant agreement with the WCO. In November 2013 this agreement was
approved by UNECE and WCO executives.
Under this agreement the WCO is responsible for following actions supporting the Customs
related activities of the Roadmap:
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Greek Trade Facilitation Roadmap Implementation Project
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
Hiring Customs Advisor to the Greek Customs Administration
Organization of Workshops
Organizing Expert Mission
Hiring Consultants
Organizing Study Tours
The total indicative Budget for this activity is 183.000 USD for implementation until
December 2013.
After signing of the Grant agreement WCO started in December 2013 with the first
implementation actions. These included preparation for recruitment of a Customs advisor
and preparation of a follow up mission to review of the implementation of Pilot Offices in
Greece.
3.5
UNECE resident trade facilitation advisor in Athens
A cornerstone of UNECE support to the roadmap implementation was the provision of a
resident trade facilitation advisor in Athens. The role of this advisor is to drive the roadmap
implementation, to identify possible obstacles and advise on solutions and to give
specialised technical assisters on selected trade facilitation issues.
UNECE started first steps towards recruitment as early as January 2013. However, this
recruitment process met a number obstacles related to the very specific profile that the post
required (Greek language) and the very cumbersome UN recruitment procedures for regular
staff based in a field office.
It took until November 2013 before we were finally able to identify and recruit a candidate
that was supported by all project stakeholders and that met the contractual requirements of
the UN. In November 2013, Mrs Athina Chatzipetrou took office in Athens. She focussed
her initial activates on three main areas: follow up with the working groups on current state
of project implementation, facilitate the transition from the outgoing to the incoming project
management during December 2013 and liaison with the Ministry of Agriculture on
providing external expertise for the implementation of a competitive regulatory system.
3.6
Support to the Agriculture trade facilitation
The Ministry of Agriculture (MRDF) is responsible for the implementation of two major
Roadmap activities: Implementation of an automated risk assessment system for agriculture
exports and implementation of an Authorized Exporter Scheme. In addition the activities to be
undertaken by this Ministry support a number of other deliverables of the Roadmap, such as
implementation of a Single Window, document simplification and electronic data exchange and
electronic payment of fees. Thus MRDF is a key ministry for delivery of the Roadmap.
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Greek Trade Facilitation Roadmap Implementation Project
The ministry started in third quarter of 2013 with the implementation process. As agriculture
trade facilitation is inter-disciplinary and highly dependent on modern technologies and
approaches UNECE believes that the MRDF projects would greatly benefit from international
advice and feedback. This would help to ensure that the projects stay on track, meet objectives
and incorporate current state of know how.
In Q4 2013 UNECE spent significant time and effort to convince the MRDF representatives to
use international expertise for the on-going project work and to propose collaboration and
workshops. Although some progress has been achieved in January we are still cautious on the
level of support and collaboration we can expect in the future for this approach. Working on this
will be a key focus for Q1 2014
Recommendation: The trade facilitation projects in MRDF are crucial of the delivery of the
roadmap. The also constitute a sue case for future collaboration between ministries for delivery
of trade facilitation ad competitive agriculture export procedures require coordination of
actions between ministries, public-private sector dialogue and use of information technologies
and electronic business. UNECE recommends making extensive use of international experts and
on-site training/advisory services to achieve a solution that meets the requirements of modern
trade.
3.7
UNECE Support to TFGR for the reform process in Greece
The Greek trade facilitation reform is implemented on the background of a major political and
economic crisis in Greece. The Roadmap is a commitment in the lending agreements and the
progress of the reform is closely monitored by the TFGR. In 2013 UNECE undertook significant
efforts to ensure on-going communication with TFGR and other international organizations that
provide support in Athens. There was continuous exchange of information through emails,
telephone and conference calls and during missions. UNECE also undertook special missions to
Brussels to brief the Commission on the project status, in particular in April 2013 on the occasion of
the High Level Coordination meeting and the technical meeting with International Organizations
and in October 2013 on the EC Inter-service meeting on Greek Trade Facilitation roadmap. On the
request of the Greek partners and the TFGR, UNECE also organised weekly project conference
calls in 2013. Due to lack of participation these conference calls were discontinued in December
2013.
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Greek Trade Facilitation Roadmap Implementation Project
4. UNECE General Observations and Recommendations for the Greek
Trade Facilitation process
In the initial stages of the project, trade facilitation in Greece was perceived as a process that
was initiated and requested by the Troika. Administrations looked at Trade Facilitation as an
obligation rather than an opportunity for improvement and development.
As a result, administrations provided very limited staff and resources exclusively dedicated
to projects for the Roadmap implementation. Most staff in the ministries that work on the
trade facilitation projects is engaged on a part time basis. This means that this staff continues
working on their regular assignments and in addition delivers the trade facilitated project.
Given the ambitious objectives of the roadmap, the staffing that the ministries provided in
2013 was clearly not sufficient. The lack of dedicated project staff in Greek ministries has
been the most important limitation for UNECE support in 2013.
Towards the end of 2013, the overall attitude to trade facilitation had improved and it is
hoped that this will encourage Ministries to dedicate the required resources to the project in
2014. This is a fundamental prerequisite for the future success of the project.
Recommendation: Ministries need to consider trade facilitation projects as a key
deliverable of their mandate and work.
Recommendation: Ministries need to assign full time staff for the delivery of high impact
roadmap activities (Customs, MRDF, and Single Window). Staff that has acquired relevant
competence and technical expertise needs to be retained for the project.
Improving and defending Greek trade facilitation competitiveness is a continuous
undertaking that will require requires sustained effort over the next 10 to 20 years. Greek
trade facilitation support is currently limited to a small group of evangelists in the ministries
and the OSC. The reform still takes its momentum from the pressure caused by the current
financial crisis. Without anchoring the reform in the hearts and minds of the Government
administrations there is a high risk that the reform process can loses momentum or is
abandoned altogether if the environment conditions change.
Recommendation: To embed the reform process in Greece, the engagement of the middle
level management of Greek Administrations is highly important. UNECE suggests rolling
out a trade facilitation capacity building programme on trade facilitation instruments,
lessons learned and benefits. This outreach programme could be delivered for example
through Greek Universities. UNECE has a standard trade facilitation training tool2 that
could be used for the training.
2
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UNECE trade Facilitation Implementation Guide (TFIG) , www.tfig.org
Greek Trade Facilitation Roadmap Implementation Project
Recommendation: UNECE further recommends the enablement of a stakeholder
engagement programme to further motivate and empower the key change makers in the
project, both with government and in the external partners. The programme should also
have a strong change management component. We suggest the engagement of international
experts to work with Greek counterparts in the project to design, develop and deliver this
programme in early 2014.
The current Greek Trade Facilitation Roadmap provides a mandate and set of activities for
2013/2014. Given the rather formalistic work method of Greek administrations there is a
high risk that many of the trade facilitation reforms will evaporate after the Roadmap
mandate expires. As previously pointed out, the current project was only intended to be a
bridge to the larger trade facilitation implementation project. This needs to be launched as
soon as possible and an action plan on trade facilitation for 2015-2020 established.
Recommendation: Develop a medium term trade facilitation Roadmap for Greece. This
roadmap should build on the concept and achievements of the 2013-14 Roadmap. It should
provide vision, activities and funding mechanism for trade facilitation activities in 2015 to
2020. Work on this Roadmap should start as early as June 2014 to ensure final Government
approval until November 2014.
Trade Facilitation is a multi-stakeholder process. It can only succeed if different ministries
and private sector actors develop a joint vision and understanding about the projects to be
undertaken. To come to this joint vision the early stages of the trade facilitation process, in
particular the project scoping and vision phases are of high importance3. In the case of
Greece we observed that many important trade facilitation projects, (for example maritime
SW, agriculture Risk Assessment, Customs selectivity) are initiated by the Commission and
mandated through EU legislation. The understanding for the need and benefit of these
reforms and the competence to deliver the projects is located in Brussels. The early project
phases are not mirrored in Athens. When working with the ministries we clearly felt the lack
of developing joint vision, stakeholder management and pilot project preparation of the
trade facilitation projects. Trade facilitation project s in Greece tends to start directly with
the implementation phase which is not recommended practice and is likely to fail.
Recommendation: In the area of trade facilitation the interplay between the Commission
and the Greek administrations in the preparation of trade facilitation projects should to be
improved. Greek administrations need to conduct active project interception phases
(scoping, stakeholder platform, project vision, pilot project implementation). For projects
that are delivered in a trans-European context (maritime SW, electronic document and
information exchange) a regular and formal peer-to peer process should be established by
default.
3
For a discussion of trade facilitation project implementation in a policy driven environments see
UNECE /ESCAP Guide on Single Window Project Planning
http://www.unescap.org/tid/unnext/tools/implement-guide.pdf The Guide is based on a standard
Enterprise Architecture Model used for large projects in Government agencies.
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Greek Trade Facilitation Roadmap Implementation Project
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Greek Trade Facilitation Roadmap Implementation Project
Annex 1 Missions workshops and contracts delivered in 2013
MISSIONS
19-28 March, 2013
Athens
5 – 8 March 2013
23 April 2013
3-7 June 2013
24-27 June 2013
16-19 July 2013
WCO diagnostic missions in
support of the Greek Trade
Facilitation Roadmap
WCO experts:
Jani Sarvikivi
Veijo Alatalo
Dikky Gerrit Jan
Bruno Hamon
Matthew Bannon
Mats Larsson
The WCO findings resort with
recommendations submitted to
the Government.
Romp
UNECE Staff:
Tom Butterly
Advisory mission to Athens to Markus Pikart
provide support to OSC, and
finalize the process analysis
with Greek BPA Team
Mission in Brussels
Virginia Cram-Martos
Markus Pikart
Mission to Athens to support
Greek TF Project
Mission to Athens to support
the Greek trade Facilitation
Steering Committee
Mission to Athens to introduce
Dietmar Jost and work on
Project plans
Organized 1st workshop to
inform about BPA and agree
with stakeholders on TORs
High Level Coordination
Meeting of the Task Force for
Greece
Markus Pikart
Tom Butterly
Markus Pikart
Dietmar Jost, Consultant
Work with Customs project
Manager to establish project
plans
Work with MRDF on project
plans and support
29 July – 2 August
Meetings with the project
Dietmar Jost
managers
27 August – 3 September Meetings with the OCS and the
2013
project teams
Markus Pikart
Diermar Jost
21-22 October 2013
Mission to Brussels to support
the Greek TF project
2-4 December 2013
Coordination Mission to
Tom Butterly
Athens
Markus Pikart
CONSULTANTS
1 July – December 31
Individual contractor, 50%
Kamola Khusnutdinova
2013
project support
1 July – 19 August 2013 Consultant with specialized
Dietmar Jost
expertise in TF and Customs
project management to support
the Greek administration in
launching activities of the OSC
1 November – 31
UNECE Resident TF Advisor, Athina Chatzipetrou
December 2013
Consultant
3rd mission of Dietmar Jost
Supporting TF Steering
Committee
Meeting with the European
Commission
Project implementation support
The final and complete set of
project plans presented to the
OSC and approved in Q4 2013.
Follow up with the working
groups on the current states on
project implementation and
facilitate the transition from the
outgoing to the incoming
project management.
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Greek Trade Facilitation Roadmap Implementation Project
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