The APEC Guidelines and Best Practices for the Adoption of Global Data Standards (GDS) provide useful reference materials to assist APEC member economies, government agencies including customs agencies, and traders involved in supply chains including exporters, logistics companies and importers in their adoption and implementation of GDS for the purpose of enhancing the overall performance of supply chains and improving risk management.

The guidelines outline the steps for the planning and implementation of GDS, the current state of GDS applications in the APEC region as well as potential areas where APEC economies can explore for further applications of GDS.