Cross-border paperless trade at the present stage: development of favorable for Russia legal conditions and procedures

In the article, the subject of the study is modern legal mechanisms for the formation of favorable legal conditions for trade in international markets carried out in the digital space for Russia. As such, the provisions of the Framework Agreement on the Simplification of Procedures for Cross-Border Paperless Trade in the Asia-Pacific Region (Framework Agreement), which is the newest UN treaty in the field of trade and development, fully dedicated to the digitalization of trade processes and the introduction of paperless technological and legal procedures (Russia joined on July 10, 2023), are considered. The author analyzes the conditions for mutual recognition by states electronic trade documents and data, as well as their exchange; legal problems and proposed solutions for the interoperability of national and sub-regional single window systems and/or other paperless trading systems; principles of electronic interaction in commercial legal relations. The author focuses on the complex legal and technological problem of agreeing on an “essentially equivalent level of reliability” of the cross-border exchange of electronic trade documents, which is the main condition for their mutual recognition by the parties and the main element of the cross-border space of trust. In this regard, various international and national legal approaches are compared to assess the reliability, cross-border recognition, as well as the legal responsibility of subjects of electronic interaction for adverse consequences that may occur as a result of their failure to fulfill obligations related to such interaction. Responsibility is considered as an essential criterion for the reliability of electronic transactions. The author proposes to include the existence of a legal mechanism of responsibility in the field of digital trade interaction (both national and cross-border) among the criteria (indicators) of the “digital maturity” of its participants. Particular attention is paid to Russia’s position on the implementation of the Framework Agreement: coordination of mechanisms to ensure an “equivalent level of reliability” and “independent assessment of readiness” of the national legislation of the Russian Federation. As a result of the analysis of the provisions of the Framework Agreement, it is concluded that it corresponds to the rights, interests and obligations of the Russian Federation in the field of building a cross-border trust space of the Eurasian Economic Union.