MOSCOW, June 22. /TASS/. The State Duma, the lower house of the Russian legislative assembly, voted for ratification of the Framework Agreement on Facilitation of Cross-border Paperless Trade in Asia and the Pacific (CPTA).

The final version of the framework agreement was approved at the 72nd session of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) on May 15-19, 2016.

The framework agreement is aimed at promoting the cross-border paperless trade through creation of conditions for the mutual recognition of trading documents and data in the electronic form and their exchange via borders, and the increase of the operational compatibility of one-stop-shop national and sub-regional systems for greater efficiency and transparency of foreign trade deals, the explanatory note reads.

The agreement rests on principles of functional equivalence, non-discrimination of electronic messages use, technological neutrality, higher efficiency from simplifying trade procedures, cooperation between public and private sectors, and improvement of the cross-border confidence environment. The key provision is the cross-border mutual recognition of trading documents and data in the electronic format during trade.

The framework agreement came into force on February 20, 2021. Its parties are Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, China, Iran, Mongolia, the Philippines, the Republic of Korea, Tajikistan, East Timor, Turkmenistan and Tuvalu. It is open for other UNESCAP member-states for joining.