UNNExT Workshop on Agricultural Trade Facilitation and Business Process Analysis in Bangladesh 27-29 October Dhaka, Bangladesh
Rules for cross border trade: The WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement Dhaka, 27 October 2015 Somnuk Keretho, PhD UNNExT Advisory Committee Director, inova, Kasetsart University Bangkok sk@ku-inova.org 2
In this presentation The WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement: What is the TFA and how did we get there? A brief look into the provisions Adoption and implementation UNECE and ESCAP support for implementation 3
WTO TFA: A long and winding road.. 1996 Singapore issues included Trade Facilitation 2001 Negotiations on the Doha round started 2004 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 December 2013 Bali Package: Consensus to Conclude the negotiation on the agreement (i.e. accept the negation text) subject to final (legal) clean-up Establish a Preparatory Committee for Trade Facilitation that will supervise the coming into force and the implementation of the agreement Open the protocol for acceptance by July 2014 4
Coming into force: The Protocol of Amendement In November 2014, the General Council adopted the Protocol of Amendment to insert the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement into Annex 1A of the WTO Agreement The TFA enters into force if 2/3 of the members have accepted the protocol (108 out of 160) No cut-off date Relationship between TFA and GATT (Art 24 of the TFA) Article V, VIII and X of GATT still hold TFA will not diminish any obligations of GATT TFA does not diminish rights and obligations under SPS and TBT Agreements 5
Structure of the TFA 6
TFA: Three levels of obligations 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 7
Article 10: The «Single Window» article Article10: Formalities connected with importation and exportation and transit 8
Single Window in the WTO TF Agreement 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.. 9
Single Window in the WTO TF Agreement 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. 10
Special and Differential Treatment for (L)DCs 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 Category A: Obligations met on entry into force of the agreement Category B: X years after entry into force Category 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 12
Economic Benefits OECD estimates benefits to UNECE region from full implementation of the WTO TFA at 13.2 % of total trade costs Globally, a 1% reduction in total trade costs results in welfare gain of USD 40 billion (OECD) Some estimates of total benefits of WTO TFA of up to USD1 Trillion and creation of 20 million jobs (90% of which in developing countries) 15
Economic benefits for developing countries Potential USD 3 billion p.a. saving for the 14 LDCs in the Asia Pacific region 16
Which measures are the hardest to implement?
Strategic Approach to TFA Some countries are already taking the opportunity of the political will associated with the WTO TFA. to make trade facilitation a core component of national/regional trade and economic development strategy The implementation of this agreement is already staring in many countries around the world 18
TFA entry into force * The TFA enters into force when 108 members have accepted the protocol no time limit 5 countries have already accepted the protocol: Singapore, USA, Hong Kong ( China), Mauritius, and Botswana 55 countries have sumbmitted their category A notifications (inlcuding Mongolia, Tajikistan, Kyrgyz Republic) *State: March 2015 19
Regional Breakdown of Notifications State: April 2015 20
UNNEXT Single Window Planning Guide A Guide to plan and manage a Single Window Project Enterprise Architecture Structured approach to design project phases, activities, outcomes Phases: Developing a vision Masterplan Analysis of processes Development of electronic documents Implementation Review 21
UNNEXT Busines Process Analysis Guide Systematic documentation of the Import and Export processes Analysis of the «as-is» situation identification of bottlenecks Development of improved «to-be» processes 22
UNNEXT Data Harmonization Guide International standards and best practice for paperless trade Stepwise approach: Simplification of documents Simplification of data Standardization Electronic documents and paperless trade 23
UNECE Trade Facilitation Implementation Guide (TFIG) A Guide on trade facilitation instruments, tools and approaches On-line training tool High level overview Links to detailled material Content: Standards Recommendations TF Organizations Implementation approaches Country experiences tfgig.unece.org 24
Thank You Somnuk Keretho, PhD inova, Kasetsart University, Bangkok sk@ku-inova.org The slides are prepared by Markus Pikart, UNECE Markus.Pikart@unece.org 25