Background

The project of Strengthening Arab Economic Integration for Sustainable Development (AEISD), by UNDP, sets, as objective, provision of technical assistance to the League of Arab States (LAS), specifically to its Economic Sector  of LAS,  its relevant organs, and member states of Pan Arab Free Trade Agreement (PAFTA) in working towards a deepened economic integration, including preparations towards the Arab Customs Union (herein after ACU) through gradual upgrading of performance of PAFTA. These exercises are identified within the forward-looking strategy by Arab Leaders in establishing the Arab Common Market.

Built upon initial progress to support the Executive Program of PAFTA and technical review of concerned aspects of the ACU, undertaken in recent years, project activities focus on strengthening the capacity and capability of Arab policy makers at the regional level and facilitates more policy dialogues and cooperation among Arab countries in the pursuit of concrete benefits for Arab citizens and the region. The support includes specific interventions of modernization of trade policies, provision of technical advices to them as well as to support target countries in mainstreaming trade for development in achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The second project component relates to strengthen the Arab connectivity among regional economies with the expectation, these efforts would be translated into concrete results, like more employment opportunity and participation by the private sector at the service of economic integration for better livelihood. The third component focuses on the promotion of inclusiveness, good governance and transparency as part of the development agenda, particularly on the economic empowerment of women, for regional economic integration.

The AEISD will also focus on specific aspects of making trade an engine of inclusive and sustainable growth guided by the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda.  Along this line, the Project will further, focus on helping countries and the main sub-regional and regional integration entities to accelerate the pace of trade reforms and regional economic integration, to strengthen the employment effects of those reforms, with a particular focus on women and youth, and to mobilize additional resources for this purpose.

Based on the request of the Technical Committee on the Arab Customs Union and Economic Sector (through official communication, dated May 2019), UNDP might support the conduct of review of potential impacts to the public fiscality of ACU member countries to assist the analysis for trade policy making by Arab policy makers.

The expert will review pertinent experiences of re-compensation or re-adjustment of fiscal resources and/or management of programs of adjustments for countries exposed to challenges and suffering from decline in revenues in other Customs unions, or in trade blocks such as those of the Gulf Cooperation Council, EU, ECA, and COMESA.

These experiences could be further explored and adapted into circumstances of the ACU so corresponding formula could be developed and designed to enable to incorporate these into the framework of policy making related to the ACU through analytical assessment. The expert will coordinate with LAS Technical Secretariat who will liaise with Member States and facilitate visits, and provide statistical information and data required related to the study.

In principle, the project will also support conduct of analysis of complex trade policy matters to support concerned n the transition from an FTA- based framework towards making the Arab Customs Union. The following presents major areas of focus by AEISD:

1. Provide a structured and targeted technical support to LAS Secretariat and Arab negotiators on trade policy formulation and reform under PAFTA;
2. Provide assistance to the LAS Secretariat with a view of strengthening its organizational capacity in the pursuit of further facilitation of the regional economic integration agenda as well as promotion of trade liberalization;
3. Assist target Arab countries with collaboration with national policy makers in trade and economic fields in efforts of modernization and reform of trade policy in taking into consideration new developments;
4. Facilitation of transport and trade activities constitutes one of key areas to support national programs of enhancement of national competitiveness and better market access and more integration of the value chain;
5. Promotion of gender equality and women empowerment as well as generation of business and job opportunity for youth is also a key target of project activities. Moreover, good governance constitutes a pre-requisite in deepening Arab economic integration to a higher level of commitment with inclusiveness and sustainability;
6. Promotion of the contribution of trade, as one of pillars, to achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals at national and regional level;

Specifically, the project targets the following result-oriented activities:

1. Development of the technical framework and required instruments for the PAFTA Upgrading - a upgrade from the existing PAFTA, and for the Arab Customs Union (ACU) preparations, to deepen Arab economic integration.
2. Reinforcement of mechanisms of policy design, measures of implementation and of systems of documenting the progress of implementation to secure smooth acceleration of realization of regional commitments.
3. Building the technical capability and capacity of policy makers of Arab countries to support accelerated implementation of the PAFTA Upgrading and preparations for the ACU.
4. Introduction of institutional arrangements that are necessary for the LAS to respond to the requirements of implementation of the PAFTA Upgrading, and consequently of designing and establishing the ACU.
5. Delivery of awareness raising activities and provision of technical guidance on good governance and integrity approaches.
6. Promotion   of   regulatory   transparency, open   dialogues   and   consultations   with   related stakeholders, targeting all social groups but particularly women, for more active participation to cross border operations and related economic activities, among others.

The objective of the study is to identify and determine mechanisms for collection of revenues on goods of international trade by participating Arab countries of the ACU and mechanisms of re-distribution of these collected revenues among them. These mechanisms would be executed by corresponding institutional set-ups as designed and accepted by the countries as commonly agreed by them.

In general terms, it was understood that the Arab Customs Union would be designed and established in line with the spirit of Article XXIV of the GATT. As a main characteristic of a Customs Union (CU), flows of goods, capital and factors of production circulate without any impediment within the countries as they do within their national borders.  Besides that, foods and products being imported from a country who is not a member to the ACU into the customs territory of Arab Members would be subject to a uniform, common and applicable tariff (so called Common External Tariff or CET) and should comply with trade policies and measures uniformly in the CU.

The study will consider and design special policy measures to be undertaken by Member States to serve the purposes of the ACU and their collective interests. Besides that, it should help in the review of potential impacts of Common External Tariff (CET) on revenues and their collection and re-distribution mechanism, including their formula impacts, directly and indirectly, to determine likely revenues losses/gains for concerned Arab countries.  that might be affected the Member States, and operational modalities of revenues administration, in order to identify the appropriate re-compensation mechanisms for policy making purposes. Essentially, the study should come up with concrete findings of various scenarios of collection, distribution and recompensation of revenues as well as impacts to the public fiscality of participating Arab economies in support to sustainable and inclusive economic growth in Members.

This study will also explore comprehensively technical aspects and distinctive features of the ACU CET, which serves as the main platform for more specific discussions and elaboration of concrete modalities of assessment and collection of dutiable revenues. Moreover, discussion of operational practices of the collection and distribution of revenues, on the basis of good practices is also required. It also targets development of policy recommendations on these specified mechanisms within the ACU integrated environment of public fiscality of Arab countries.

In this economic environment, all trade among participating members of the ACU would be in free and unlimited movement. Goods being commercialized with non-participating countries, outside the ACU, would be subject to the Common External Tariff (CET), agreed upon and adopted by ACU members. From concerned analysis, findings and conclusions may identify potential negative impacts to revenues being collected by individual member countries, which might lead to identify impacts, likely, lower revenues as well as effects to national trade policies. From that, it seeks to identify mechanisms of compensation to certain affected Arab countries to the extent and coverage as decided by Arab trade policy makers.

The technical analysis and its findings are particularly essential for policy consideration by Arab trade policy makers in respective negotiations. The analysis should evaluate and design of technical options of collection and transfer of customs revenues (customs duties on imports, exports, indirect taxes and other concerned fiscal levies), determine the mechanisms of distribution of these collected revenues (i.e…, in the form of identified formula and concept of revenue sharing, and/or prescribed distributive schemes) among participating Arab countries in support of sustainable development and Arab Customs Union.

The areas to be covered by the study include among others:

1. An assessment of the objectives and rationale for an agreement mechanism of management of revenues collected, included specific modalities of distribution or re-allocation of revenue collected on international trade into Member States within the ACU framework;
2. The development of the objectives of the proposed revenue collection mechanism and sharing formula including its distributive mechanism;
3. An assessment of the distribution of collected revenues, including the design of formula or prescribed outlines, and essentially, an analysis of implications on the Customs revenues and the likely losses;
4. An assessment of objectives and rationale for mechanisms of re-compensation to offset the likely revenues losses, included specific criteria for determine these negative impacts to concerned Member States within the ACU framework;
5. The development of the objectives of the proposed re-compensation mechanism to be used in addressing reductions of revenues collected; and
6. An outline of the links between the proposed revenue collection mechanism and sharing formula in one hand and the key national policy objectives of the Member States in the other hand.

The project team also cooperates with several national authorities and regional organizations in the implementation of defined activities in taking into account requirements and priorities of national socio- economic development plans and strategies of Arab economic integration. The execution is carried out under rules and regulations by the UN applicable for Delegated Direct Implementation and fully aligned to UNDP Programme and Operations Policies and Procedures (POPP).

Duties and Responsibilities

The deliverables and outcomes of the study would consist of reaching key findings from practical experiences and research, resulting from a detailed and comprehensive analysis related to the Customs revenues collection, distribution and re-compensation to any negative impacts. It includes among other issues an assessment of the economic and fiscal impacts of the ACU (in hypothetical scenarios) on the Customs revenues and other fiscal challenges that might be encountered by Member States. These revenues are essential in the light of the global commitment of mobilization of resources for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and several Arab countries are Least Developed Countries in which, indirect taxes collection account for more than fifty percent of the governmental budget.

In conducting the analysis, the experts should apply fact and evidence-based approach and present facts and operational information in a structured manner to substantiate policy recommendations and suggestions.  Particular focus would be on the definition of the applicable concept of customs revenues within the customs union framework (specifically the ACU), and preparation of CET scenarios (in simulation modalities with assumptions from economic analysis perspectives) with clear identification of the proposed collection mechanism and sharing formula of collected revenue among participating countries. It may also concern design of a number of CET alternatives with hypothetical common tariff rates, applicable to goods being imported into any of customs territories of the ACU.

The implementation of the CET can have significant, and in some Member States very serious, consequences to collection of national revenues, particularly in countries where customs duty accounts for substantial proportion of central revenues. For these purposes, detailed country-analyses will be conducted regarding the potential impact of the CET and revenues distribution formula on fiscal revenues. Outcomes from these researches help to ensure a clear understanding of the most appropriate policy response towards challenges of likely revenues losses that might occur with the CET implementation.

Where direct re-compensation is envisaged, detailed analysis will be critical to make sure that solutions are provided in a timely and sufficient manner and serve the purpose of the re-compensation scheme if agreed by Members. It is also critical to ensure that decisions on concerned measures of re-adjustment/re-compensation and applying criteria respond to difficulties, encountered by Members in terms of incurred losses of revenues, if any. Subsequently, from the analysis of possible declines in the collection of revenues by concerned countries, the experts would help to design corresponding mechanisms of recompensation to the affected countries, which could be consistently applicable in all participating ACU Arab countries.

The expert will meet and consult with relevant officials and stakeholders in Member States and the LAS Secretariat to discuss issues identified in the Terms of Reference and to gather statistical data and more economic/fiscal information in function of requirements for the study to the extent required under the guidance of the AEISD Chief Technical Advisor. The assignment should include an analysis of the scope of interaction and, to which extent trade and fiscal policies are effective for the purpose of deepening economic integration and what re-adjustments need to be undertaken by Member States in heading towards the ACU. Indeed, the assignment should look into possible impacts to domestic sectors of Arab economies. Reference will be made to how synchronize upgrading existent schemes of PAFTA to the more comprehensive ones under ACU.

The expert will review pertinent experiences of revenue collection and distribution, and re-compensation or re-adjustment of fiscal resources and/or management of programmes of adjustments for countries exposed to challenges of suffering of decline in revenues of other Customs unions in several trade groupings such as GCC, of EU, ECA, COMESA, and adapted into the ACU to serve the purpose of the study. Good practices could also be analyzed in support of policy making related to the ACU.

The experts will review pertinent experiences of re-compensation or re-adjustment of fiscal resources and/or management of programs of adjustments for countries exposed to challenges and suffering from decline in revenues in other Customs unions, or in trade blocks such as Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), of EU, ECA, and COMESA. In effect, these experiences could be further explored and adapted into circumstances of the ACU so as to integrate international best practices into the framework of policy making related to the ACU through analytical assessment.

The experts will partner with the technical team of UNDP and collaborate with officials of Economic Sector of the LAS under the guidance of the AEISD Chief Technical Advisor in order to gather information and consultation on the analysis of data. The latter constitutes one of key tasks of the identified expert.

The study should address the following technical issues:

1. Document and analyze potential impact of the CET on the Customs revenues in the Member States.
2. Document and analyze potential impact of the CET on the VAT, indirect taxes (value added tax), and the excise.
3. Document and analyze potential impact of the CET on the tax regime and national revenues rather than Customs revenues and VAT.
4. Concept of public revenue and administration of collected revenue within the ACU environment.
5. Analysis of the statistics on individual Member States' Customs revenues data, budgets and taxation of the last three years for detail understanding of trade and economic structure (i.e… industry, agriculture).
6. Analysis of Customs revenues, refunds, drawbacks and para fiscal revenues that collected by Customs authority in each Member State in the last three years.
7. Impacts of the overlapping membership by any Arab country as it participates or is member to more than one regional, or bilateral trade arrangement.
8. Technical analysis for the migration of the tariff nomenclature under PAFTA towards the CET of ACU.
9. Practices of re-compensation or re-adjustments for negative impacts to collection of revenues based on international common practices, included those under WTO;
10. Quantitative assessment of impacts of the decline in revenues to Member States with application of the CET, including the impacts on VAT and different taxes regime in operation, CET and its impact, elimination of internal tariffs impact, intra-regional investments and FDI;
11. Sensitivity analysis (expressed in scenarios) to understand annual losses associated with applying the CET and its impacts on the Member States economies including trade and business operations; and
12. Proposal of mechanisms to deal with the collection of revenue, re-distribution of revenue and  the possible decline of revenues and measures to mitigate any negative impacts.

EXPECTED OUTPUTS AND DELIVERABLES

Deliverable 1: Assist in preparing the Inception Report and Define the analysis Framework

The Inception report should include:

A detailed work plan and study schedule for the study;

The scope and methodological aspects to Member States and LAS Secretariat, including adequate documentation, to use these within the study, a thematic analysis to substantiate a selection of methods to be used in the analysis of potential impacts of the customs revenues in the 17 PAFTA Members, including any possible limitation or constraint of these methods;

Present the economic modeling design that will be used in determining how the CET implementation in the member countries of the ACU could affect collected revenues by the Customs or taxation authorities. The study should present specific models of the CET, including its assumed CET rates and conclusions achieved from the analysis of its scenarios within the simulation exercise.

Review available findings of the revenue impacts analysis from the study, specified above (from point 1 to point 4) and of any other credible studies related to the possible short-term negative impacts to the collection of dutiable revenues, associated with the implementation of the CET with a view to achieve comprehensive understanding of factors for any decline if any.

Present the technical backgrounds (economic analysis techniques to be applied in the study) to be used in the design and identification of mechanisms of collection of revenues, distribution/re-allocation of collected revenue, and re-compensation to any short-term decline in the revenue collected, if any, and use of these resources, once available.

Review PAFTA members’ current related-practices in within a similar environment to a Customs Union or within a Customs Union itself.

Conduct an initial sensitive analysis of the impacts due to the implementation of CET through the desk research and review of existing literature in function of the analysis of the Customs revenue structure of the 17 PAFTA Members in the pursuit of policy recommendations.

Gather and collect data and statistics including interviewer plans, data collection plans and survey instrumentation, as well as identify related data sources.

Deliverable 2: Assist in drafting the outlines of the Analysis Report

Draft Outlines of the Report to be presented to Member States and the LAS that should incorporate the following:

A presentation of the overall structure of the final report and its components in addressing all deliverables of this TOR.

Determine key basis of the analysis of aspects related to design and identification of mechanisms related the collection of revenues, distribution/re-allocation of collected revenue and use of these resources, as well as assess factors linked to any possible declines of customs revenue or dutiable levies. This should include the analysis of pooled resources (at the regional level of the ACU) and mechanisms of operation of this treasury platform as appropriate.

Provide technical explanations for the rationale of the proposed mechanisms of collection of revenues, distribution/re-allocation and compensation, as well as a detailed elaboration of similar mechanisms applicable in Customs Union-like arrangements for consideration by Arab countries.

Determine factors and mechanisms to address any declines in collected revenues in Arab economies due to the adoption and implementation of the CET. The analysis should present concerned scenarios for design and identification of mechanisms of re-compensation, to the extent required.

Describe the economic/trade analysis model that is used to analyze trade/economic statistics, gathered and collected as per Deliverable 1 and its application in the study.

Present a detailed description of the modalities of estimation/quantitative calculations of trade, economic statistics to analyze the potential impacts by the application of the CET, and ACU policies to various Arab countries.

Provide regular updates (on bi-weekly basis) on the progress of the technical analysis, assessment of quantitative data to the Chief Technical Advisor of AEISD.

Deliverable 3: Technical Report

Analyze economic and trade data in order to illustrate potential impacts of technical pillars of the ACU as well as the likely scenarios in the collection of revenues on goods of international trade due to the application of the Common External Tariff.

Provide a concise and thematic summary of the results or findings of these estimations as well as its possible policy implications. It should serve to understand the findings of technical/estimation analysis of quantitative data, supported by technical works (using any econometric approaches, and proposed solutions and policy recommendations).

Prepare the overview of Customs revenues, VAT, indirect taxes and levies as well as relevant taxes like excises within the ACU for more detailed understanding of the environment of fiscality of the ACU. Achieve adequate understanding of the tax regimes and national revenues (beyond the indirect taxes within the ACU).

Analyze findings and results of the simulation exercise of possible trade and fiscal effects of the CET for the ACU, including a detailed analysis of the migration of the tariff nomenclature under PAFTA towards the ACU CET, and a detailed analysis of factors. The expert should elaborate economic conditions and concerned elements linked to the possible decline of revenues that are collected by Members when the CET is being applied on the basis of available data and information.

Elaborate and present the overall framework of design of measures to mitigate negative impacts to national revenues (with the main focus is on the indirect taxation) for common understanding and use by Member States, as well as identify a conceptual definition of customs revenues losses within the ACU framework, based on the international and regional practices.

Identify criteria for assessment of any negative impact to revenues being collected by Member States in order to design mechanisms of re-compensation to conduct analysis of any other fiscal measure or domestic tax that may be linked to the assessment of possible decline of revenues in early years of implementation of CET (short-term effects).

Design technical proposals of modalities of operational mechanisms of revenues collection within the ACU including its effective implementation, including its effective implementation, considering international practices.

Design technical proposal related to modalities of operational mechanisms of re-allocation/distribution and management of revenues within the ACU including its effective implementation, considering international practices.

Establish technical proposal related to the modalities of operational mechanism for re-compensation from the revenue losses and different scenarios of analysis used, including its effective implementation, considering international practices.

Design technical proposal of key fiscal policies to mitigate negative impacts of the CET in the initial two years of implementation, including measures of re-compensation as applicable;

Review technical options of alignment related to features of tariff nomenclatures (of specific trade agreements) to the CET of the ACU on the basis of international and regional grouping’s experiences and practices. And

Elaborate and present a detailed analysis of policy implications that might result from the findings of the estimation analysis as per Deliverables 1 and 2 above.

Deliverable 4:  Final Report

The expert is expected to submit the Final Report to Member States through Economic Sector of the LAS, which comprises of:

A detailed description of the methodology being used in the completion of the study, including any quantitative models used in the estimation and analysis of trade matters of each of seventeen PAFTA countries. Effectively, the report should document findings resulted from activities undertaken in the above Deliverables.

A concise summary of conclusions reached and respective findings as well as identified mechanisms of revenue collection, distribution of revenues collected and mechanisms of re-compensation. A detailed analysis of different scenarios of application of the CET for the seventeen countries of the PAFTA and expected impacts to the revenue collection of each of them should be produced.

A detailed presentation of the methodologies of calculation and estimation that are being used to conduct the analysis and document references and sources of information, economic and trade statistics. It should also comprise the assessment and results of required works for each of seventeen PAFTA countries, as described in Deliverables of 1 to 3. It should also explain any limitation or constraints of any econometric or quantitative methods being used.

A description of proposed operational mechanisms and protocols for establishment and application of the adopted technical criteria of establishment of mechanisms of re-allocation/distribution and management of revenues and mechanism of re-compensation from the revenue losses within the ACU.

Explain findings and results related to the analysis of the sensitivity of simulation scenario within the CET for the Arab Customs Union and explanations of possible trade and fiscal effects of the CET for the ACU, as well as factors and elements related to the possible decline in customs revenue during the early periods the CET’s implementation.

Establish proposed criteria to assess the sensitivity of simulation scenarios of the CET for the Arab Customs Union (with various tariff rates) and explanations of possible trade and fiscal effects of the CET for the ACU, as well as of factors and elements related to the possible decline in customs revenue in early period of implementation of the CET.

Identify proposed criteria for the assessment of any negative impact to revenues being collected by Member States for their endorsement of the CET implications for the ACU, as well as a detailed explanation of possible trade and fiscal effects of the CET for the ACU.

Present the technical proposals of adjustments or re-compensation need to be undertaken by Member States in their fiscal and trade policies within the ACU, including schemes of implementation.

Establish proposals for policy recommendations with regard to the design and implementation of mechanisms of re-allocation/distribution and management of revenues and mechanism of re-compensation from the revenue losses.

Identify thematic areas in which Member States may need further support in strengthening their capacity and capability in policy making in deepening Arab economic integration and particularly toward the ACU.

Competencies

Key Competencies

Corporate

• Demonstrates integrity and fairness, by modeling the UN/UNDP’s values and ethical standards;
• Promotes the vision, mission and strategic goals of UNDP;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.
• Functional
• Time management and organizational skills, with the ability to undertake multiple tasks and deliver under pressure;
• Strong analytical and synthesis skills;
• Ability to work independently and achieve quality results with limited supervision and within tight schedules;
• Strong quantitative and qualitative research skills;
• Experience in reports production;
• Ability to write in a clear and concise manner;
• Good teamwork and interpersonal skills;
• Flexibility and ability to handle multiple tasks and work under pressure;
• Excellent computer skills especially Word, Excel and Power Point.

Knowledge Management and Learning

• Ability to strongly promote and build knowledge products;
• Promotes knowledge management in UNDP and a learning environment in the office through leadership and personal example;
• Seeks and applies knowledge, information and best practices from within and outside of UNDP;
• Demonstrates a strong capacity for innovation and creativity in providing strategic policy advice and direction.

Leadership

• Demonstrated ability to think strategically and to provide credible leadership;
• Demonstrated flexibility in leadership by performing and/or overseeing the analysis/resolution of complex issues;

Required Skills and Experience

Academic qualification:

Master’s degree in business administration, economics, international trade, trade and development, or related fields.

Work Experience:

At least 10 years of experience in the conduct of economic studies, research in international trade, and customs unions affairs, customs operations, revenue management and taxation.

• Strong expertise in the customs union administration fields: customs revenues collection, revenues sharing and payment mechanisms, import/export processing procedures, and compliance with international rules and enforcement, as well as knowledge with best international/regional practices in customs unions administration and be able to provide guidance on the legislative aspects of revenue administration and on strategic planning and organizational and trade-related issues.
• Proven experience in conducting policy analysis in matters related to economics, trade policy and industrial and trade data analysis, with concrete experiences of working in one or various Arab countries.
• Expertise in quantitative and qualitative data collection, analysis and statistical methodologies, in particular relating to the governmental fiscal statistics, as well as the compilation and dissemination of fiscal and trade data of one or more countries supported by experience in the areas of fiscal policy and trade policy analysis.
• Extensive knowledge of best international/regional practices in industrial policy formulation within customs unions or similar set-ups and being able to provide guidance on the legislative aspects of industry structure, as well as on strategic planning and organizational and trade-related issues.
• Knowledge in the compilation and dissemination of balance of payments and investment schemes statistics, conducting surveys, trade and fiscal data collection, and compilation of foreign direct investment statistics, as well as understanding of the effective use of information technology in customs administrations and modern tax is also required.
• In depth-understanding of the WTO Agreements and rules, and PAFTA.
• Expertise in the quantitative analysis of issues related to the management of a customs union, and/or similar set-up which requires a detailed knowledge of the national fiscal framework (i.e… customs revenues collection, revenues sharing and payment policies, and compliance with international rules and enforcement).
• In-depth understanding of customs revenues administration and economic and fiscal impact on customs revenues within customs union framework.
• Ability to perform economic researches and summarize findings in a concise and professional format.
• Excellent presentation and communication skills, particularly in the preparation of the technical report for various audiences (i.e. national policy makers, businesses and industries). And
• Proven experience working within the Arab region and with Arab trade policy makers either at the level of the League of Arab States or at the national level.

Language Requirements: Language proficiency in both written and oral English is required.

INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENT

• The individual is required to exhibit his or her full-time commitment with UNDP-RBAS;
• S/He shall perform tasks under the general guidance of the Regional Programme Coordinator and the direct supervision of the Chief Technical Advisor (CTA) of the Strengthening Arab Economic Integration for Sustainable Development (AEISD) regional project. The supervision will include approvals/acceptance of the outputs as identified in the previous section;
• S/he shall demonstrate the financial capability to conduct the study through presentation of records of financial statements of the last three years from the date of the submission of the bidding proposal.
• The individual is expected to liaise and collaborate in the course of performing the work with other consultants, suppliers and UN colleagues, as required;
• The individual is required to provide periodical progress reports on regular and needed basis throughout the assignment in order to monitor progress;
• The individual is required to maintain close communication with UNDP-RBAS on regular and needed basis at any period throughout the assignment in order to monitor progress. In the event of any delay, S/he will inform UNDP promptly so that decisions and remedial action may be taken accordingly;
• Should UNDP deem it necessary, it reserves the right to commission additional inputs, reviews or revisions, as needed to ensure the quality and relevance of the work.

SCOPE OF PRICE PROPOSAL AND SCHEDULE OF PAYMENTS

All proposals must be expressed in a lump sum amount. This amount must be “all-inclusive”. Please note that the terms “all-inclusive” implies that all costs (professional fees, travel costs, living allowances, communications, consumables, etc.) that could possibly be incurred are already factored into the final amounts submitted in the proposal. Also, please note that the contract price will be Deliverables/Outputs based - not fixed - subject to change in the cost components.

The contractor will be paid an all-inclusive Deliverables/Outputs based lump sum amounts over the assignment period, subject to the submission of Certification of Payment (CoP) duly certified and confirmation of satisfactory performance of achieved work (deliverables/outputs) in line with the schedule of payments table hereunder:

DOCUMENTS TO BE INCLUDED WHEN SUBMITTING THE PROPOSALS

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications. Candidates that fail to submit the required information will not be considered.

1. Duly accomplished Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided by UNDP;
2. Personal CV or P11, indicating all past experience from similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate and at least three (3) professional references;
3. Brief Description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment, including references to how she/he will approach and complete the assignment.
4. Technical Proposal a half page technical proposal detailing how they will approach the assignment, prioritizing activities to meet the deliverables as set above in the most efficient and effective manner;
5. One or more samples of similar works or assignments to demonstrate the individual’s competencies to undertake this assignment;

Interested candidates shall submit above documents to the Job Advertisement Website: https://jobs.undp.org/cj_view_jobs.cfm  as one document not later than 04 April 2019.

Interested candidates can find Procurement notice, letter of confirmation of interest and availability and P11 http://procurement-notices.undp.org/

Please do not submit financial proposal in this stage.  Financial proposal shall be requested from Candidates who are considered technically responsive

EVALUATION

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodologies:

Step I: Screening and desk review:

Applications will be first screened and only candidates meeting the following minimum criteria will progress to the pool for shortlisting:

• Master’s degree in business administration, economics international trade, trade and development, or related fields.
• At least 10 years of experience in the conduct of economic studies, research in international trade, operations and industrial policies within the customs unions, customs operations, revenue management and taxation.
• Language proficiency in both written and oral English is required;

Shortlisted Candidates will be then assessed and scored against the following evaluation criteria:

Technical evaluation Criteria max 100 points (Weighted 70):

• Extensive experience in the customs procedures and taxation systems. In addition, exposure to customs procedures and tax systems at international level is a highly-valued asset, at either national or regional level (10 pts).
• Strong expertise in the customs union administration fields: customs revenues collection, revenues sharing and payment mechanisms, import/export processing procedures, and compliance with international rules and enforcement, as well as knowledge with best international/regional practices in customs unions administration and be able to provide guidance on the legislative aspects of revenue administration and on strategic planning and organizational and trade-related issues (15 pts).
• Proven experience in conducting policy analysis in matters related to economics, trade policy and industrial and trade data analysis, with concrete experiences of working in one or various Arab countries (10 pts).
• Expertise in quantitative and qualitative data collection, analysis and statistical methodologies, in particular relating to the governmental fiscal statistics, as well as the compilation and dissemination of fiscal and trade data of one or more countries supported by experience in the areas of fiscal policy and trade policy analysis (10 pts).
• Knowledge in the compilation and dissemination of balance of payments and investment schemes statistics, conducting surveys, trade and fiscal data collection, and compilation of foreign direct investment statistics, as well as understanding of the effective use of information technology in customs administrations and modern tax is also required (10 pts).
• In depth-understanding of the WTO Agreements and rules, and PAFTA (10 pts).
• Expertise in the quantitative analysis of issues related to the management of a customs union, and/or similar set-up which requires a detailed knowledge of the national fiscal framework (i.e… customs revenues collection, revenues sharing and payment policies, and compliance with international rules and enforcement) (10 pts).
• Excellent presentation and communication skills, particularly in the preparation of the technical report for various audiences (i.e. national policy makers, businesses and industries) (5 pts).
• Proven experience working within the Arab region and with Arab trade policy makers either at the level of the League of Arab States or at the national level (10 pts).
• Technical Proposal (5 pts).
• Sample of Work (5 pts).

Financial Criteria - 30% of total evaluation

For those offers considered in the financial evaluation, the lowest price offer will receive 30 points. The other offers will receive points in relation to the lowest offer, based on the following formula: (PI / Pn)* 30 where Pn is the financial offer being evaluated and Pl is the lowest financial offer received.

Step II: Final evaluation

The final evaluation will combine the scores of desk review and financial proposal with the following weights assigned to each:

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the cumulative analysis methodology (weighted scoring method), where the award of the contract will be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

• Responsive/compliant/acceptable; and
• Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

Technical Criteria weight: [70%]

Financial Criteria weight: [30%]

Only Individual Consultants obtaining a minimum of 49 points (70%) on the Technical evaluation would be considered for the Financial Evaluation.