Background

The project of Strengthening Arab Economic Integration for Sustainable Development (AEISD), by UNDP, has an objective to provide technical assistance to the League of Arab States (LAS), specifically the Economic Sector and relevant organs, and member states of Pan Arab Free Trade Area (PAFTA) in working towards a deepened integration, including preparations for the Arab Customs Union.

Being conscious that trade has significant potential to fight poverty in Arab countries through generating more income and access to markets. Its second important component relates to strengthening the Arab connectivity among economies in the region. Expectedly, these efforts would be translated into contribution of economic integration for better livelihoods, more employment opportunities and participation by the private sector.

To support improvement of Arab connectivity among countries, project activities, priority is exercised in activities aimed at facilitation of trade, transport, investment and trade-related areas (i.e. trade/transport corridors, promotion of quality infrastructure, competition). Among these, an important initiative related to the promotion of application of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and digitalization to facilitate trade, investment and economic development for various countries. UNDP cooperates with Governments of Arab countries and regional/sub-regional organizations such as Agadir Technical Unit to promote activation of trade facilitation measures such as the dematerialization and the digitalized information processing platforms such as National Single Windows, specified by Article 10:4 of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement.

Its third component focuses on the promotion of inclusiveness and transparency as part of the development agenda, particularly on the economic empowerment of women for regional economic integration.

Built on the progress achieved in supporting the implementation of the Executive Program of the agreement on Facilitating and Developing Trade among Arab Countries (PAFTA), the current project focuses on specific aspects of making trade an engine of inclusive and sustainable growth guided by the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda.  In continuation, the project will also 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.

The project also aims to address specific challenges and complexities that Arab countries and League of Arab States face to enhance regional economic integration, more specifically in the transition from an FTA- based framework towards making the customs union a reality.

The following present major areas of focus:

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 in collaborating with national policy makers in trade and economic fields in efforts to modernize and reform trade policy by taking into consideration new developments.
4. Facilitation of transport and trade activities which constitutes one of the key areas to support national programs of enhancement, national competitiveness, better market access, and more integration of the value chain.
5. Promoting gender equality and women empowerment as well as generating business and job opportunities for youth is also a key target under the project activities. Moreover, good governance constitution which is a pre-requisite in deepening Arab economic integration to a higher level of commitment with inclusiveness and sustainability.
6. Promoting contribution of trade to be one of the pillars to achieve the SDGs at national and regional level.

These priority dimensions form the basis of the work program of the project. Specifically, the project targets the following result-oriented activities:

1. Development of the technical framework and required instruments for the PAFTA Upgrading - an 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 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).

Governmental agencies in charge of regulatory controls of international trade are required to work to facilitate legitimate cross border trade and investment and to protect the society. From various international instruments and good practices, particularly the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement, the Revised Kyoto Convention, among others, adoption of risk-based management is recommended to balance the requirements of the protection of the international trade and facilitation. Furthermore, Arab countries have started looking at its application with a wider scope of application instead of addressing conventional risks at the entrance or arrival of shipments in a particular port or border points.

Based on increasing interests of customs administrations and border control agencies of member countries of Pan Arab Free Trade Area, UNDP will provide technical assistance to the countries in the review and design of a comprehensive framework of application of risk management to administer cross-border operations by these control agencies. This would be based on several international instruments and best practices to secure and facilitate trade and investment in the region and for the commerce between Arab countries and trading partners in the world. The support comprises of provision of technical advice to identified Arab countries for concerned governmental agencies and conduct of activities of capacity building for governmental officials and the private sector. This aims at securing adequate level of technical understanding, enabling interactive dialogues between law enforcement officials and businesses towards higher level of compliance to national regulations. The new initiative should also strengthen the existent application by respective Arab customs administrations and concerned agencies.

To that end, UNDP seek the provision of services by an expert in the design and establishment/ adoption of the risk management to the control and administration of cross borders of trade and investment, aimed at promoting more control efficiency and furthering legitimate transactions. The expert discharges her/his duties under the supervision and guidance of the Chief Technical Advisor of the project and would be supported by the team of domain experts. His responsibility would be defined by the work scope and defined activities as below.

Duties and Responsibilities

Risk management of the international supply chain requires an integrated and multi-sectoral approach, engaging Manufacturers, Transportation companies and many active actors. Therefore, it is essential to secure the political mandate and convergence of the goals and measures to deal with challenges of no compliance to the national regulations as related to international trade and cross border movement of shipments, goods and commodities.

The expert is expected to design the integrated risk management framework taking into account international practices, promoted by international specialized organizations, such as the World Customs Organization, World Trade Organization, IPPC and others for international trade and investment. These benchmarks should also be used to further the cooperation among border control agencies of Arab countries to facilitate inter- and intra- Arab trade.

The expert will be responsible to complete the following tasks:

Activity 1: Review of key regulation of the legal framework and existent organizational structure to enact risk management in the Customs and concerned agencies of Arab countries (i.e…, Food and Drug Administration, Standard Organizations).

Activity 2: Review of operational application of risk management (as example; functional risk management modules, profiles of risk management) by Arab Customs administrations and concerned agencies in order to identify common areas of interest.

Activity 3: Design of the essential components of the management of risks of no-compliance for individual customs authorities and/or other agencies, as applicable, in the pursuit of operationalization of risk management systems. That will also include the specific plan of implementation through progressive stages.

Activity 4: Design and establish key components of the process of risk management toward operational risk profiles for its adoption for implementation.

Activity 5: Design of criteria of risk management to secure and facilitate trade in partnership with identified customs administrations. It includes also provision of technical advice on the application of information and communication technology, of big data and other tools to assess risk levels.

Activity 6: Design and conduct of activities of capacity building in response to requirements of requesting Customs administrations (in two or three countries as applicable).

Activity 7: Design and activate the pilot application of risk management in requesting Customs administrations as identified.

Approach and Methodology

The expert is expected to design the risk management environment taking into account international standards and empirical experiences of international customs administrations as well as those of border control agencies. The analysis being undertaken by the expert should comprise quantitative and qualitative review towards the identification of a set of technical criteria, which could be progressively activated.

Essential reference on risk management and control of no compliance by international organizations, among them, those developed by the World Customs Organization, are to be revisited in the design of functional criteria, which will be applied by Arab Customs Administrations and border control agencies. This should take into account the complexity of the supply chains, evolution of traffic of e-Commerce, increasing number of small-value consignments and the dynamics of smuggling methods. Furthermore, protection of the fiscal revenues (to be collected by revenue agencies, including the Customs) and design of corresponding measures to secure due collections should guide technical works to be undertaken by the expert as specified in measures of mobilization of fiscal resources to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

It is also expected that the cooperation in the risk management among Arab Customs Authorities and border control agencies would be an essential public goods, which is brought about by economic partnership in the region. To that end, the expert is expected to review current administrative arrangements in function of the formulation of new regional policies of Arab coordination.

The expert might also develop cases study to guide the operationalization of the risk management as agreed upon by concerned administrations in charge of border controls and collection of revenues. Along this line, it is expected that this application will further higher economic competitiveness through more efficient controls at more reasonable costs.

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.

Required Skills and Experience

Academic Qualification

• Bachelor’s Degree in international trade, development economics, computer sciences
• Advanced trainings works in the management of risk of border controls such as Customs, control border agencies to secure compliance to national regulations, and closely related fields.

Years of Experience

• Practical experience of at least 5 years of professional experience with works related to the design and establishment of risk management for the administration and control of cross border operations and international trade and transport transactions.

Language Requirements

• Excellent writing, editing and oral communications in English with a strong analytical and synthesis skills. Speaking Arabic is desirable.

Technical experience

• Extensive expertise and knowledge of customs practices and operations and respective application of risk management in the regulatory control;
• Extensive expertise and knowledge on key customs techniques (i.e…, tariff, valuation, rules of origin) and application of Information and Communication Technology to manage risk of non-compliance within border control agencies, among them, customs authorities and others;
• Proven experiences in the application of risk management for transactions within a National Single Window are desirable. 
• Good knowledge of international and regional trade agreements for trade facilitation and secured trade;
• Proven track record in the design and application of technical tools for risk management by border control agencies in one specific country;
• Being knowledgeable with good practices and standards in risk management as being addressed in international trade agreements and customs agreements and conventions; 
• Demonstrated experience in having performed similar assignments in the Arab region is an asset; and

Language Requirements

• Excellent writing, editing and oral communications in English with a strong analytical and synthesis skills. Speaking Arabic is desirable.

INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENT

• The expert is required to exhibit his or her commitment to this assignment 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 of AEISD. The supervision will include approvals/acceptance of the outputs as identified in Matrix 1 – List of expected deliverables;
• The expert is expected to liaise and collaborate in the course of performing the work with other consultants, suppliers and UN colleagues;
• The expert is required to maintain close communication with the 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.
• Delays that would affect the flow of the collaborative work and the delivery of outputs on schedule will lead to termination of contract; and
• 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.

DURATION OF THE WORK

The duration of the work is expected to be 75 working days from the date of signing the contract for the duration of 5 months. The expected date of the commencement of the contract is February 20th 2020.

DUTY STATION AND TRAVEL PLAN

This is a home-based assignment Part of this assignment may require the individual to travel to two to three Arab countries. In such cases, unforeseen travel will be arranged and covered in accordance with corporate regulations and rules.

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 costs of (professional fees, communications…., etc.) that could possibly be incurred are a factored into the final amounts for submission in the proposal.

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 mentioned in Procurement Unit.

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. A five-page description to substantiate thematic explanations about why you consider yourself as the most suitable candidate for the assignment;
4. One sample of work that shows the candidate’s competence to undertake the assignment.
5. Financial Proposal that indicates the all-inclusive total contract price, supported by a breakdown of costs, as per template provided.  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. If an Offeror is employed by an organization/company/institution, and he/she expects his/her employer to charge a management fee in the process of releasing him/her to UNDP under Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA), the Offeror must indicate at this point, and ensure that all such costs are duly incorporated in the financial proposal submitted to UNDP.

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 05 February 2020.

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 

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodologies:

Step I: Screening and desk review:

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodology.

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

• Bachelor’s Degree in international trade, development economics, computer sciences
• Practical experience for at least 5 years of professional experiences of international trade and risk management for border control agencies; and
• Excellent writing, editing and oral communications in English

Technical evaluation Criteria max 100 points (Weighted 70):

• Extensive expertise and knowledge of customs practices and operations and respective application of risk management in the regulatory control; (20%)
• Extensive expertise and knowledge on key customs techniques (i.e…, tariff, valuation, rules of origin) and application of Information and Communication Technology to manage risk of non-compliance within border control agencies, among them, customs authorities and others; (15%)
• Proven experiences in the application of risk management for transactions within a National Single Window are desirable.  (20%)
• Good knowledge of international and regional trade agreements for trade facilitation and secured trade especially good practices and standards in risk management;(15%)
• Proven track record in the design and application of technical tools for risk management by border control agencies in one specific country;(20%)
• Demonstrated experience in having performed similar assignments in the Arab region is an asset; (5%)
• Samples & five-page description to substantiate thematic explanations (5%)

Financial Criteria - max 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 the desk review and the financial proposal with the following weights assigned to the technical and financial proposal.

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% of the total score.
Financial Criteria weight: 30% of the total score.

Only Individual Consultants obtaining a minimum of 49 points (70%) on the evaluation of the technical proposal would be considered to present for the evaluation of the financial proposal.