UNNExT Workshops on Trade Facilitation UNNExT Workshop on Paperless Trade Facilitation for Small and Medium-Sized Entreprises Almaty, Kazakhstan 4-6 May 2015
Rules for cross border trade: The WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement Almaty, May 2015 2
The WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement: q What is the TFA and how did we get there q A brief look into the provisions q Adoption and implementation q UNECE and ESCAP support for implementation 3
qunited Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE): North America, Europe, Central Asia, Western Asia and Caucasus qfocal point in the UN system to develop standards and best practice for trade facilitation qthe United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and electronic Business (UN/CEFACT) develops policy recommendations, standards, guidelines qsimplified and harmonized trade documents, processes and information flows throughout the supply chain 4
Capacity Building & Technical assistance 5
q1996 Singapore issues include Trade Faciltation q2001 Negotiations on the Doha round start q2004 July Package: Agreement to clarify and improve Article V (Freedom of Transit), Article VIII (Fees and Formalities connected with Importation and Exportation), and Article X (Publication and Administration of Trade Regulations) of GATT 1994; + SDT and customs cooperation qdecember 2013 Bali Package: Consensus to q Conclude the negotiation on the agreement (i.e. accept the negation text) subject to final (legal) clean-up q Establish a Preparatory Committee for Trade Facilitation that will supervise the coming into force and the implementation of the agreement q Open the protocol for acceptance by July 2014 6
qin November 2014, the General Council adopted the Protocol of Amendment to insert the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement into Annex 1A of the WTO Agreement qthe TFA enters into force if 2/3 of the members have accepted the protocol (108 out of 160) qno cut-off date Relationship between TFA and GATT (Art 24 of the TFA) qarticel V, VIII and X of GATT still hold qtfa will not diminish any obligations of GATT qtfa does not diminish rights and obligations under SPS and TBT Agreements 7
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Binding Obligations: «Shall» Art 23.2 Each Member shall establish and/or maintain a national committee on trade facilitation Best endavour: «Encouraged/shall endeavour» Art 4.1 Members shall endeavour to establish or maintain a single window.. Combination: shall, to the extend possible/practicable Art 2.1 Each Member shall, to the extent practicable and in a manner consistent with its domestic law [.. ], provide opportunities [.. ] to traders [.. ] to comment on [.. ] amendment of laws 9
Article10: Formalities connected with importation and exportation and transit 10
Art 10.4 Single Window 4.1. Members shall endeavour to establish or maintain a single window, enabling traders to submit documentation and/or data requirements for importation, exportation or transit of goods through a single entry point to the participating authorities or agencies.. 11
Art 10.4 Single Window 4.1.. 4.2... 4.3 Members shall notify to the Committee the details of operation of the single window. 4.4 Members shall, to the extent possible and practical, use information technology to support the single window. 12
Art 23.2 National Committe on Trade Facilitation Each Member shall establish and/or maintain a national committee on trade facilitation or designate an existing mechanism to facilitate both domestic coordination and implementation of the provisions of this Agreement. 13
All member countries have to implement all provisions of the TFA; (L)DCs have more time to implement the provisions and can link implementation to provision of Technical Assistance & Capacity Building (TACB) For each article of the Agreement the (L)DC shall define a category on when the country will meet the obligation qcategory A: Obligations met on entry into force of the agreement qcategory B: X years after entry into force qcategory C: X years after entry into force and on the condition that TACB is provided to the country Countries need to notify the Committee on Cat A, their time plan for Cat B and their need for TACB for Cat C 14
Figure 1: Developing Countries Notification for all categories of provisions Entry into Force of TFA* CAT B Notify definitive dates for implementation of Cat. B provisions 1 year 2 years 2.5 years Notify A,B,C categories & indicative implementation dates for categories B &C CAT C Member and Donor inform of TACB arrangements CAT C 1. Progress in provision of TACB 2. Definitive dates for implementation * Entry into force of TFA when 2/3 of Members ratify. Obligations for an individual country will only commence once this country completed its ratification process as well. Source: Sheri Rosenow, WTO 15
Figure 2: LDCs Notification for all categories of provisions Entry into Force of TFA* CAT A-B-C Notify: A, B, C Categories CAT B LDCs may notify indicative implementation dates for category B CAT B Notify definitive dates of implementation for Cat. B provisions CAT C Inform TF Committee on progress in provision of assistance and notify definitive dates 1 year 1 year 2 years 3 years 2 years 4 years 2.5 years 5.5 years CAT C Notify technical assistance required for implementation of Cat. C provisions CAT C Inform TF Committee of arrangements with donors & indicative dates for implementation for Cat. C provisions * Entry into force of TFA when 2/3 of Members ratify. Obligations for an individual country will only commence once this country completed its ratification process as well. Source: Sheri Rosenow, WTO 16
qoecd estimates benefits to UNECE region from full implementation of the WTO TFA at 13.2 % of total trade costs q Globally, a 1% reduction in total trade costs results in welfare gain of USD 40 billion (OECD) qsome estimates of total benefits of WTO TFA of up to USD1 Trillion and creation of 20 million jobs (90% of which in developing countries) 17
Potential USD 3 billion p.a. saving for the 14 LDCs in the Asia Pacific region 18
qsome countries are already taking the opportunity of the political will associated with the WTO TFA. q to make trade facilitation a core component of national/regional trade and economic development strategy q The implementation of this agreement is already staring in many countries around the world 20
qthe TFA enters into force when 108 members have accepted the protocol qno time limit q5 countries have already accepted the protocol: Singapore, USA, Hong Kong ( China), Mauritius, and Botswana q55 countries have sumbmitted their category A notifications (inlcuding Mongolia, Tajikistan, Kyrgyz Republic) *State: March 2015 21
State: April 2015 22
Outreach and Support
qa Guide to plan and manage a Single Window Project qenterprise Architecture qstructured approach to design project phases, activities, outcomes Phases: q Developing a vision q Masterplan q Analysis of processes q Development of electronic documents q Implementation q Review 24
q Systematic documentation of the Import and Export processes q Analysis of the «as-is» situation q identification of bottlenecks qdevelopment of improved «to-be» processes 25
International standards and best practice for paperless trade Stepwise approach: qsimplification of documents qsimplification of data qstandardization q electronic documents and paperless trade 26
A Guide on trade facilitation instruments, tools and approaches qon-line training tool qhigh level overview qlinks to detailled material Content: q Standards q Recommendations q TF Organizations q Implementation approaches q Country experiences q tfgig.unece.org 27
Thank You Markus Pikart, UNECE Markus.Pikart@unece.org 28