CHAPTER X
INTERNATIONAL TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT20Framework Agreement on Facilitation of Cross-border Paperless Trade in Asia and the PacificBangkok, 19 May 201620 February 2021, in accordance with article 19(1) which reads as follows: "The present Framework Agreement shall enter into force ninety (90) days after the date on which the Governments of at least five (5) ESCAP member States have deposited their instruments of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession to the present Framework Agreement pursuant to article 18, paragraphs 2 and 3".20 February 2021, No. 56556Signatories5Parties13CN.597.2016.TREATIES-X.20 of 23 August 2016 (Opening for signature) and CN.598.2016.TREATIES-X.20 of 23 August 2016 (Issuance of Certified True Copies); C.N.143.2022.TREATIES-X.20 (Amendments to the Framework Agreement).The above Agreement was adopted on 19 May 2016 by resolution <a href="/doc/source/docs/ESCAP_RES_72_4-E.pdf" target="_blank">72/4</a> during the seventy-second session of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific. In accordance with its article 18, the Agreement shall be open for signature by States that are members of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific at the United Nations Headquarters in New York from 1 October 2016 to 30 September 2017.
ParticipantSignatureRatification, Acceptance(A), Approval(AA), Accession(a)Armenia22 Sep 2017 Azerbaijan 2 Mar 2018 aBangladesh29 Aug 2017 13 Oct 2020 Cambodia29 Aug 2017 China29 Aug 2017 22 Nov 2020 AAIran (Islamic Republic of)29 Sep 2017 29 May 2020 Kyrgyzstan20 Dec 2023 aMongolia27 Jul 2022 aPhilippines23 Dec 2019 aRepublic of Korea28 Nov 2022 aRussian Federation18 Aug 2023 aTajikistan 8 Dec 2022 aTimor-Leste 5 Apr 2022 aTurkmenistan 4 May 2022 aTuvalu 8 Dec 2022 a
AzerbaijanReservation:“In accordance with paragraph 7 of Article 17 of the Framework Agreement on Facilitation of Cross-border Paperless Trade in Asia and the Pacific, the Republic of Azerbaijan states that it does not consider itself bound by the provisions of the Article 17 relating to conciliation.”Declaration:“The Republic of Azerbaijan declares that the provisions of the Framework Agreement on Facilitation of Cross-border Paperless Trade in Asia and the Pacific shall not be applied by the Republic of Azerbaijan in respect of the Republic of Armenia.”ChinaDeclaration:In accordance with the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China and the Basic Law of the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China, the Government of the People’s Republic of China decides that the Agreement applies to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China.Russian FederationDeclarations:1) In respect of paragraph 1 of Article 8 of the Framework Agreement the Russian Federation declares that, in accordance with its national legislation, it considers the notion of “substantially equivalent level of reliability” as stipulating, inter alia, legal liability for a failure to comply with obligations arising in connection with the cross-border exchange of trade-related data and documents in electronic form;2) The Russian Federation declares that it proceeds from the understanding of paragraph 2 of Article 12 of the Framework Agreement that “a self-assessment of their readiness” implies a self-assessment of own national legislation, and therefore the implementation schedule developed as a part of the action plan that is based on such an assessment cannot contradict national legislation.