CHAIR'S REPORT


15th Transportation Working Group Meeting
Santiago, April 19-23, 1999

 Agenda Item 11
TPT/15/PLEN/11

REPORT FROM THE CHAIR OF THE FIFTEENTH MEETING OF THE APEC
TRANSPORTATION WORKING GROUP
SANTIAGO, CHILE

April 19-23, 1999

I. OPENING STATEMENT AND WELCOME

  1. Chile hosted the Fifteenth Meeting of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Transportation Working Group (TPT-WG) in Santiago, Chile, April 19-23, 1999. The Meeting’s program included two days of Expert and Sub-Group meetings, a one-day seminar on Electronic Commerce as well as the meetings of the three Steering Committees. The Plenary session, which was chaired by the Lead Shepherd, was held on Thursday, April 22, 1999.
  1. At the TPT-WG-15 meeting, some 200 participants from 21 economies (Australia; Brunei Darussalam; Canada; Chile; the People’s Republic of China; Hong Kong, China; Indonesia; Japan; the Republic of Korea; Malaysia; Mexico; New Zealand; Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Republic of the Philippines; Singapore; Russia, Chinese Taipei; Thailand; the United States of America, and Viet Nam) were in attendance. In addition, the Electronic Commerce Seminar drew a large number of participants.
  1. Opening remarks at the Plenary were made on behalf of the Host Economy by Mr. Carlos Garate S醤chez, Acting Under-Secretary of Transport (TPT/15/PLEN/1). In welcoming delegates to Santiago, Mr. Garate stressed Chile’s pleasure at having the opportunity to contribute to the development of relations among the economies of the Asia Pacific Region. He stated that APEC fora, such as the TPT-WG, provide the opportunity for the discussion of ideas from a technical perspective and using a common economic language, thereby facilitating innovative and creative work to find better solutions to common issues.

    2.  

    II. CONSIDERATION AND ADOPTION OF AGENDA

  2. The Agenda (TPT/15/PLEN/2) was adopted with the following amendment:
  • Item 3, "Shepherd’s Report" was deleted, and subsequent item numbers were altered accordingly.

  1. Also, Australia offered to provide a demonstration of the recently established Virtual Centre for Transportation Research, Development and Education on the margins of the meeting.

III. TPT MANAGEMENT MATTERS

Report from Shepherds/HODs/SCCs Meetings of April 19 and 21, 1999

  1. The Lead Shepherd provided the meeting with an account of the salient points of the meeting of the Shepherds/HODs/SCCs. His report touched on the following areas:

Evaluation and Reporting System for APEC Projects:

  1. It was noted that TPT-WG project progress reports are now to be filed only once a year in time for the July BMC meeting. Project evaluation reports are to be submitted as and when projects are completed and have been reviewed in accordance with the TPT-WG review process.
  1. Progress reports will be generated by Project Leaders and submitted, through their respective economies TPT-WG contact points, to the appropriate Steering Committee Coordinator for review and onward transmission to the Lead Shepherd for subsequent transmission to the APEC Secretariat.
  1. Evaluation reports for completed projects will be reviewed by a small committee comprised of the Deputy Lead Shepherd and the three Steering Committee Coordinators ( or their nominees ) and forwarded to the Lead Shepherd for transmission to the APEC Secretariat.

Involvement of Business/Private Sector

  1. Economies were encouraged to increase the involvement of the business/private sector at TPT meetings as they bring their own perspective to the table. In order to achieve this, economies could keep their business/private sector representatives apprised of the Working Group’s activities by sending them such things as copies of the Chair’s report and informing them of forthcoming meetings.
  1. The Lead Shepherd would endeavor to identify a point of contact within ABAC and PECC and seek the view of both those bodies on the relevancy of the TPT-WG Action Program to their interests and concerns with respect to transportation in the Region. The Lead Shepherd will routinely invite ABAC and PECC representation at TPT-WG meetings.

Strategic Direction Paper

  1. It was recognized that, while the Mandate Review paper provides an understanding of where the TPT-WG has come from and where it is at the moment, there is also a need to look at the way ahead. A first step in developing a Strategic Direction Paper could be a day-long "brainstorming" and "scoping" exercise that might take place at TPT WG-16 with the assistance of facilitators drawn possibly from APEC Study Centers, ABAC, PECC and regional institutions.
  1. It was agreed that the Lead and Deputy Lead Shepherds would develop this approach further for subsequent approval by HODs intersessionally.

Program of Future TPT-WG Meetings

  1. In an effort to achieve better coordination and to provide a better understanding of the overall context of the TPT-WG’s work, it was agreed that future TPT-WG meetings will commence with a short Plenary session on Day One. The APEC Secretariat Program Director will make a report on major developments since the last meeting of the Working Group. As well, the Lead Shepherd, Deputy Lead Shepherd and Steering Committee Coordinators will bring up cross-cutting issues to be considered by all expert groups during their respective meetings.

    Management of TPT-WG web site

  1. The Chair invited Australia to speak to the Plenary on the APEC TPT-WG web site and the Electronic Commerce Seminar.
  1. Australia thanked Chile for using the Web site for registration and submission of papers for this meeting and all delegations that used the web site. Usage of the Web site has risen from 3000 hits in December 1998, to 9000 in January and February 1999, rising to about 20,000 in March. The most active users of the Web site were Australia, United States, Germany, Canada, Mexico, Japan and Thailand.
  1. A survey conducted early in 1999 highlighted three problems with the web site: currency of information, technical issues, and inability to access information. The technical issues have been resolved with the service provider. The currency and access issues can only be solved by the provision of information for inclusion in the web site and for updating of existing information. A number of the project and expert group sites are still empty.
  1. A series of recommendations for improving the usefulness of the web site, and its presentation of the work of the TPT-WG, are included in the report of the Steering Committee on Competitive Transportation. These recommendations were endorsed by the Plenary for attention by all economies and by all Chairs of Project and Expert Groups.

Electronic Commerce Seminar

  1. An Electronic Commerce Seminar was held on Tuesday 20 April in conjunction with TPT-WG 15. Australia thanked Chile for its excellent administrative arrangements for the Seminar and also all speakers for their excellent contributions. The Seminar was broad ranging and included information on electronic commerce in several APEC forums, and on the use of electronic commerce in air freight, ports, rail industry, customs administration, and shipping operations. The Seminar also included presentations on electronic commerce developments in China and Chile.
  1. Australia noted that the TPT-WG has included in its Action Plan, an electronic commerce initiative which has, as its medium term outcome, the development of a plan or program to facilitate or assist all APEC economies to use electronic commerce in the transport sector in the region and to work towards the removal of requirements for paper documents. There is a great deal of work being done in APEC economies, APEC Working Groups and other international fora to achieve this outcome.
  1. In TPT-WG the primary work has been development of a matrix of legal and institutional requirements for paper documents in APEC economies and development of a Collective Action Plan. Australia noted that these documents are complete - but that there is no action being taken by economies to progress the work in the TPT-WG. What is required now is action by economies to develop plans for the removal of requirements for paper documents and to lead the actions in the Collective Action Plan.
  1. The TPT-WG has a continuing obligation to contribute to the APEC electronic commerce agenda. Future successful work in the TPT-WG depends on commitment by economies to participate: by bringing expert delegates to the meeting who can make decisions and contribute to the work program, by encouraging the participation of business in our work, and by Governments becoming model users of electronic commerce.
  1. The Working Group noted the report (TPT/15/PLEN/3) from the Shepherds/HODs/SCCs meetings of April 19 and 21.

IV. REPORT FROM THE STEERING COMMITTEE ON MORE COMPETITIVE TRANSPORTATION INDUSTRY (INCLUDING INFRASTRUCTURE)

  1. Korea, the Coordinator of the Steering Committee on More Competitive Transportation Industry (Including Infrastructure) (SCCT), submitted a written report (TPTWG/15/PLEN/4) to the Plenary Session.
  1. The Coordinator highlighted the key activities of the Steering Committee and put forward a number of recommendations for acceptance by TPT-WG.
  1. The following recommendations were made concerning ongoing projects:

Intermodal Task Force

  1. that the TPT-WG submit to SOM the funding request for the Intermodal Transportation Conference, and
  1. endorse the development, dissemination, and analysis of the Intermodal Passenger Survey to identify common barriers to efficient movement, and identify potential solutions.

Road Transport Harmonization Project

  1. that the TPT-WG note the final report of the consultant and the APEC Evaluation Report for RTHP Phase IV (TPT 02/98);
  1. note the progress report of the consultant and the APEC Progress Report of 15 February 1999 for RTHP, Phase V, Stage 1 (TPT 02/99);
  1. endorse the New Project Proposal RTHP, Phase V, Stage 2 (TPT/WG/15/CTI/SC/3.3b);
  1. agree that the RTHP Group brief the EVSL Automotive Dialogue at its meeting in Indonesia 26 and 27 July 1999.

Port Experts Group

  1. that the Lead Shepherd consult with the BMC to make APEC funding for the Port Database available as soon as possible, in order to ensure the smooth updating and relocation of the Port Database; and
  1. make more effort to input data into the Port Database, as well as discussion papers on the five other themes being considered by the Port Experts Group.

Electronic Commerce Initiatives

  1. that the TPT-WG encourage all economies to consider the action to be taken to remove legal and institutional requirements for paper documents and provide progress reports for each economy to the next meeting of the Working Group;
  1. ask all economies to consider if they can lead any of the collective actions included in the Collective Action Plan;
  1. note that Australia will put forward recommendations for continuation or cessation of the electronic commerce work in the TPT-WG at the next meeting of the Working Group;
  1. note that, in the absence of increased participation in the electronic commerce work of the Working Group, it will not be possible to make any more progress on the paperless trading initiative or the collective action plan; and
  1. ask all member economies to nominate electronic commerce experts to participate in intersessional work on electronic commerce and participate in electronic commerce work at meetings of the Working Group.

TPT-WG web site

  1. that the TPT-WG encourage economies to submit to the web site administrator electronic copies of all hard copy documents produced for TPT-WG meetings and for all intersessional activity;
  1. encourage economies to submit web site addresses for transportation ministries in each economy to enable hot links to be established;
  1. encourage economies to provide executive summaries for all documents which are more than 50 pages;
  1. encourage the Chairs of all expert and project groups to submit to the web site administrator an electronic copy of the record of the meetings held in Santiago, including a summary of resolutions from the meetings, details of participants in the meetings, and details of all current projects being managed by the expert and project group; and
  1. encourage the Chairs of each of the Steering Committees to provide electronic copies of Steering Committee reports for meetings held in Santiago to the web site administrator.

Phase 1 of the program to assist implementation of electronic commerce for commercial messages

  1. noting a progress report on the project, that the TPT-WG encourage other member economies to consider participating in the project.

Maritime Initiative (MI)

  1. that the TPT-WG note the MI’s work on the Transparency Exercise Questionnaire (TEQ);
  1. agree that a report should be made to the Ministers on the work of the MI, including the Mission Statement, TEQ, and the proposed Facilitation of International Shipping project, and that the Ministers be requested to provide their comments and suggestions to be used as reference for future work; and
  1. approve the Facilitation of International Shipping project.

_ _ _ _ _ _

Air Services

  1. In keeping with the decision reached at TPT-WG 13, the Steering Committee received voluntary progress reports on the implementation of the Air Services Group (ASG) recommendations from Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Chile, Chinese Taipei, New Zealand, Peru, and the U.S.A.. Canada indicated that it would provide a report during TPT-WG 16.
  1. The above recommendations were approved by the Plenary.

V. REPORT FROM THE STEERING COMMITTEE ON SAFE AND ENVIRONMENT-FRIENDLY TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS (INCLUDING NEW TECHNOLOGIES)

  1. The United States, the Coordinator of the Steering Committee on Safe and Environment-Friendly Transportation Systems (including New Technologies) (SCSE) submitted a written report of its April 21st meeting to the Plenary Session (TPTWG/15/PLEN/5).
  1. The Coordinator highlighted the key activities of the Steering Committee and put forward a number of recommendations for acceptance by TPT-WG.

a. Ongoing projects

  1. The following recommendations were made concerning ongoing projects:

Intelligent Transportation Systems

  1. the TPT-WG note Australia’s resignation as Chair of the ITS SIG following a two-year term, and the indication that Canada will take on the role of Chair;
  1. that, following the receipt of any further responses to the Report from Transport Ministers by June 30, 1999, the ITS SIG begin operating in line with the recommendations contained in the report, including meeting as the "APEC ITS Group" at future meetings;
  1. that the ITS SIG agree with the publication strategy proposed for the Report; and
  1. that the proposed work program be noted.

Maritime Safety

Regional Cooperation on Oil Spills Preparedness and Response Arrangements

  1. that economies continue to provide updated information to the existing report on Regional Oil Spills Preparedness and Response Arrangements while consideration is given to further work that might be needed.

Consultative Forum of Classification Societies and Maritime Administrations (Indonesia)

  1. that this project be removed from the Committee’s agenda until the conclusion of Phase 1 of the Safer Shipping project, or until such time as further information and/or a new proposal is submitted to the EGMS or the Steering Committee.

Road Transportation Safety

  1. that as much analysis as possible relating to this project be done prior to TPT-WG 16 based on economies’ responses to the second road safety questionnaire, and that next steps in improving road safety in the region be proposed.
  1. The Steering Committee also supports the Road Safety Experts Group recommendation, subject to further consultations by TPT-WG economies, that World Bank and Asian Development Bank officials be invited to make presentations to the group at the 16th TPT WG meeting regarding their road safety activities, particularly the Global Road Safety Partnership.

Urban Transport Forum

  1. that the completion date for the Urban Transport best practices manual be extended for one year (until March 2000) and that the contractor take into account the suggestions made by the Steering Committee to narrow the approach to the manual.

SN&C Advisory Committee

Forum on Intermodalism and Satellite-Based Transportation Systems

  1. that all economies attend the Forum.

Spectrum Band Issue/Ministerial Statement

  1. that the Plenary agree to the process as outlined in paragraphs 23 and 24 of the Steering Committee Report for the final endorsement by Ministers of the said statement.

Aviation Safety

  1. that all economies update the questionnaire, including new member economies; and
  1. that an Aviation Safety Seminar be held at TPT-WG 16 in Hong Kong, China.
  1. New Project Proposals:
  1. The Steering Committee recommended that the following two project proposals be approved:
  • International Symposium on Safer Shipping in the APEC Region
  • To identify optimum maritime administrative structure and legal framework in the APEC region.
  1. The latter of these two projects was deemed to have higher priority by the Steering Committee.
  1. In closing, the Steering Committee Coordinator noted with satisfaction that its recommendations pertaining to management issues had been incorporated into the Shepherds/HODs/SCCs Report for appropriate action.
  1. The above recommendations were approved by the Plenary.

VI. REPORT FROM THE STEERING COMMITTEE ON HUMAN RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT (INCLUDING TRAINING, RESEARCH, EDUCATION)

  1. Australia, the Coordinator of the Steering Committee on Human Resources Development (Including, Training, Research, Education), submitted a report to the Plenary Session (Attached: TPTWG/14/PLEN/6), mentioning that 12 economies participated in the meeting.
  1. The Coordinator highlighted the key activities of the Steering Committee and put forward a number of recommendations for acceptance by TPT-WG.

a. Ongoing projects

  1. The following recommendations were made concerning ongoing projects:

Seafarers Training Project

  1. that the Working Group request contact points of all TPT-WG members to urge their relevant institutions to complete the STP Survey Forms as soon as possible and provide the consultant with booklets of institutions’ information. Each economy is to be provided with a list of their institutions approached by the consultant to facilitate follow up.
  1. that the Working Group request that member economies who are parties to the STCW Convention provide the consultant with their government reports submitted to the IMO relating to the implementation of the revised STCW Convention.
  1. That the Working Group request that member economies be more active in contributing to the project.
  1. that the Working Group postpone, by about one month, the deadline for report submission as follows:
  • Draft Final Report to be provided by 5 August 1999
  • Feedback on Draft Final Report shall be received by the Steering Committee before 15 August 1999, and
  • Final Report to be provided by consultant mid-October 1999 for consideration at TPT-WG16.
  1. that the Working Group request that each member economy provide appropriate assistance if the consultant conducts a spot investigation in that economy for the purpose of collecting relevant information.
    2.
  1. In the field of project management, to prevent delay, Indonesia would like to request that the consultant submit reports simultaneously to the APEC Secretariat and project overseer.

The Virtual Centre for Transportation Research, Development and Education

  1. that the Working Group note the establishment of the Virtual Centre for Transportation Research, Development and Education;
  1. encourage economies to promote the web site to their relevant institutions/agencies and users, and encourage them to continue to provide information to the web site manager; and
  1. note that Australia will be looking to other economies to take over management and further development of the web site from the beginning of 2000.
  1. The Steering Committee also mentioned progress in the following ongoing project areas:
  • Database of Transportation Technology Research
  • STCW Seafarer Training
  • Increased Participation of Women in the Transportation Sector
  1. New Project Proposals:
  1. The Steering Committee recommended that the following three project proposals be approved:
  • Towards the Mutual Recognition of Transportation Professional Qualifications
  • Pilot Electronic Commerce Training in Maritime Transport
  • The Identification of Needed Intermodal Skills and Development of Required Training Programs
  1. The Coordinator mentioned that further consideration of the Straits Management project proposal would be deferred until TPT-WG 16.
  1. The Chair commended the Coordinator and Committee for an impressive array of activity and planned outcomes.
  1. The above recommendations were approved by the Plenary.

VII. FUNDING OF NEW PROJECTS

  1. The Working Group had a total of 8 new project funding proposals for consideration. It was agreed that 8 new projects would be submitted to the Budget and Management Committee for funding consideration.
  1. The 8 projects were ranked by HODs using the methodology in the TPT Project Approval Guidelines, in the following order:

From the APEC Operational Fund:

  1. Road Transport Harmonization Project (RTHP), Phase V, Stage 2
  1. Towards Mutual Recognition of Transport Professional Qualifications
  1. To Identify Optimum Maritime Administrative Structure and Legal Framework for Safer Shipping in the APEC Region
  1. International Symposium on Safer Shipping in the APEC Region
  1. Identification of Needed Intermodal Skills and Development of Required Training Program

From the APEC TILF Special Account:

  1. Pilot Electronic Commerce Training in Maritime Transport
  1. Facilitation of International Shipping
  1. Intermodal Transportation Conference
  1. The Working Group also approved the following self-funded project:

    2. 1. Survey of Intermodal Passenger Transportation

  2. The Lead Shepherd reminded lead economies that the project overseers should now prepare the formal submissions to the BMC, using the BMC face sheet, and that these submissions should be forwarded to the Steering Committee Coordinators for signature. In turn, the SCCs should send the submissions to the Lead Shepherd no later than 24 May 1999 to enable transmission to the Secretariat before the BMC deadline.

    VIII. TABLING OF REPORTS BY MEMBER ECONOMIES

  1. Reports were received from several member economies.

    IX. OTHER ISSUES

  1. The Working Group reviewed and approved (as revised) the TPT-WG Action Program.

    X. TPT-WG 16 MEETING AND VENUE/FUTURE MEETINGS

  1. It was confirmed that the TPT-WG 16 meeting will be held in Hong Kong, China, November 8-12, 1999.
  1. It was also confirmed that TPT-WG 17 will be held in Singapore, March 27-31, 2000.

    XI. APPROVAL OF CHAIR’S REPORT

  1. The Final Chair’s Report (TPT/15/PLEN/11) was approved by TPT-WG members.


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