TRADE
FACILITATION: OVERVIEW Overview
of trade facilitation work from mid-1998 until end of 1999
In
July 1998, the CTG decided that it was necessary to
conduct further exploratory and analytical work in a
dedicated forum in order to focus more specifically on
questions of trade facilitation, as would have been
difficult in the framework of formal CTG meetings. On 8 July, the Council agreed to continue work as set out in a
Chairman’s proposal on future work (page 4-5 of
document
G/C/M/34)
(download in Microsoft Word format, 6 pages, 49KB).
It
was agreed to hold four dedicated meetings on trade
facilitation as informal meetings of the Goods Council.
The meetings should address the following issues:
import
and export procedures and requirements, including
customs and border-crossing problems; overview of
the Kyoto Convention and its current revision
process — September 1998;
physical
movement of consignments (transport and transit);
payments, insurance and other financial
requirements which affect the cross-border
movement of goods in international trade — December 1998;
electronic
facilities and their importance for facilitating
international trade; technical cooperation and
development issues relating to simplification of
trade procedures; consideration of WTO Agreements
relating to, or including provisions on, trade
facilitation — March 1999;
evaluation
of the exploratory and analytical work to assess
the scope for WTO rules in the area of trade
facilitation — June 1999.
The
“Chairman’s proposal” further foresaw that
“the results of the exploratory and analytical work
mandated by the Singapore Ministerial Declaration should
be reported by the CTG to the General Council”.
The
first three meetings were held between September 1998 and
April 1999, as set out in the “Chairman’s
proposal”. Several papers by Members were circulated
at these meetings (for a complete overview, see below).
At the third meeting, input from other WTO bodies on
those aspects of trade facilitation related to the
respective agreements under their purview was circulated.
At
the fourth meeting on 21 June 1999, Members carried out
an evaluation of the exploratory and analytical work to
assess the scope for WTO rules in the area of trade
facilitation.At this informal meeting, it was agreed to
submit a status report to the General Council on work
undertaken since Singapore. (G/L/333)
(download in Microsoft Word format, 12 pages, 86KB)
Issues
Relating to the Physical Movement of Consignments
(Transport and Transit) & Payment, Insurance
and Other Financial Questions Affecting
Cross-border Trade in Goods
Trade
Facilitation in the preparatory work for the Seattle
Ministerial Conference back
to top
In
the preparatory work for the Seattle Ministerial
Conference, a number of Members presented proposals on
trade facilitation in the General Council.
EC
(WT/GC/W/190) (download in Microsoft Word format,
2 pages, 35KB)
Japan
(WT/GC/W/257) (download in Microsoft Word format,
3 pages, 41KB)
Switzerland
(WT/GC/W/264) (download in Microsoft Word format,
1 page, 32KB)
United
States
(WT/GC/W/254) (download in Microsoft Word format,
3 pages, 39KB)
Some
Members called for the launch of negotiations at Seattle
to establish a framework of rules and disciplines, or to
strengthen and elaborate on existing WTO rules (e.g.
Articles VIII and X GATT 1994) with the objective of
alleviating administrative and procedural burdens on
traders. Such negotiations were to be built upon WTO
principles and would be aimed at maximizing transparency,
expediting the release of goods and reducing,
simplifying, and as appropriate modernizing and
harmonizing border-crossing requirements, procedures and
formalities.
It was proposed to develop and implement a capacity
building programme in conjunction with the design of WTO
disciplines with the aim of ensuring that all members are
able to implement the negotiated rules and disciplines.
Other Members preferred to continue with the exploratory
and analytical work started at Singapore, and believed
that there was no need for additional WTO obligations. In
this context, it was argued that reform and improvement
of customs and trade administration were not contingent
upon new disciplines, and that technical co-operation
efforts should be stepped up to help developing countries
with the improvement of their infrastructure for trade
transactions.
