Support for the Apostille Convention among APEC Member Economies

In June 2013, representatives of Member Economies of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) attended a workshop in Medan, Indonesia, on the Apostille Convention. The workshop was organised by the Department of Justice of Hong Kong, China, under the auspices of the APEC Economic Committee, in collaboration with the Asia Pacific Regional Office of the Hague Conference on Private International Law. The aim of the workshop was to introduce the Apostille Convention and demonstrate how it may complement APEC's Ease of Doing Business ("EoDB") initiative by facilitating cross-border transactions, as well as to share experience concerning the implementation and operation of the Convention and the e-APP among the APEC Member Economies. A report of the workshop (including conclusions and recommendations) can be found here.

Following the success of the workshop, the benefits of the Apostille Convention to Member Economies was reaffirmed by the APEC Ministers at the APEC summit in Bali, Indonesia. In a Joint Ministerial Statement released on 5 October 2013 (available here), the APEC Ministers recognised that "APEC-wide adoption of the Hague Apostille Convention would facilitate APEC's EoDB targets in the area of trading across borders and advance institutional connectivity among APEC authorities" and "encouraged wider participation in the Hague Apostille Convention".