Bridges Weekly Trade News Digest • Volume 8 • Number 39 • 17th November 2004
WTO Members Take Stock Of Kazakhstan Accession Process
WTO TRADE FACILITATION NEGOTIATIONS LAUNCHED
Members met in a first formal WTO meeting on trade facilitation negotiations on 15 November, and agreed on a work programme and tentative schedule of meetings for 2005, based on previous informal discussions (see BRIDGES Weekly, 10 November 2004). The meetings will be held back-to-back with those of the Negotiating Group on Non-Agricultural Market Access (NAMA) to enable more capital-based officials to attend, and will be left somewhat flexible, providing Members with the possibility of introducing new issues. At the meeting, delegates agreed that among the issues on the agenda, none would be given priority over another. Commenting on the planned negotiations, some countries with small delegations said they would have problems attending the meetings, which are set to be held every month during the first half of 2005. While Taiwan supported holding frequent meetings, India, Tanzania, Jamaica, the Philippines, and Sri Lanka preferred fewer meetings. On the way forward, some countries felt trade facilitation issues were lagging behind other areas of the Doha Round, and needed to be expeditiously addressed. Other countries felt that agreement to go ahead with negotiations, reached as part of the Doha Round July Package, already constituted substantial progress. Nigeria, Indonesia, Pakistan, Philippines, Egypt and Uruguay, while welcoming the talks on trade facilitation, stressed the need for developing countries to receive support to meet their obligations under a new agreement in this area. Landlocked countries Nepal and Rwanda expressed their hope that negotiations would benefit them in practical terms, pointing to border delays and their higher transport costs relative to other Members.
The Negotiating Group on Trade Facilitation will convene again from 22-23 November. Other relevant international organisations working on trade facilitation, including the IMF, World Bank, OECD, UNCTAD and the World Customs Organisation, have been invited to attend.
ICTSD reporting; "WTO Members Agree on Meeting Dates, Work Program for Trade Facilitation Talks," WTO REPORTER, 16 November 2004; "WTO Starts Bid for Global Pact on Customs Rules," REUTERS, 15 November 2004; "WTO Launches Negotiations on Trade Facilitation," WTO RELEASE, 15 November 2004.
The WTO Working Party on the Accession of Kazakhstan met for the seventh time on 7 November, and Kazakhstan engaged in bilateral talks with interested Members around that date. Topics under discussion in the Working Party included agriculture, Kazakhstan’s customs system, price controls, legal reform, services, and trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights (TRIPS). The delegation from Kazakhstan stressed the country’s adherence to the principles of market economy and trade liberalisation, as well as its determination to intensify the negotiations process. The Members of the Working Party affirmed their support of Kazakhstan’s accession, and outlined measures to accelerate the negotiations process in 2005. According to trade sources, progress in the Working Party is slow but steady, and the first draft of the Working Party accession report is expected soon.
ICTSD reporting; "7th Meeting Of The Working Party On The Accession Of Kazakhstan To WTO," PERMANENT MISSION OF REPUBLIC OF KAZAKSTAN, 4 November 2004.
WTO EXTENDS DEVELOPING COUNTRY ACCESS TO EXPORT SUBSIDIES
Meeting on 4 November, the WTO Committee on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (SCM) decided to grant 19 developing countries the right to continue using export subsidies in key sectors for another year. The transition period for the elimination of export subsidy programmes was extended under an implementation decision at the Doha ministerial conference in September 2003, allowing annual renewal until 2007, providing certain criteria are met. Without the decision, most developing countries would have been obliged to give up their export subsidies by 2002. The countries concerned are Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Costa Rica, Dominica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Fiji, Grenada, Guatemala, Jamaica, Jordan, Mauritius, Panama, Papua New Guinea, St Lucia, St Kitts and Nevis, St Vincent and the Grenadines, and Uruguay.
The next regular meeting of the Committee is set for 14-15 April 2005.
"WTO body extends date for export subsidy," ASIA PULSE, 10 November 2004; "Transition Period Extended For Export Subsidies Of Developing Countries," WTO RELEASE, 4 November 2004.