Trade Facilitation
The Doha Round talks on trade facilitation are slowly moving towards the development of a future WTO agreement on reducing red tape and other obstacles to the transit and customs clearance of goods. At a 30 April - 1 May meeting of the Negotiating Group on Trade Facilitation, Chair Eduardo Sperisen-Yurt called on Members to pick up the pace so they could quickly proceed to discussing draft text for a future agreement.
Many delegates called for the preparation of ‘fourth-generation’ texts that would incorporate comments made in recent sessions of the negotiating group. While the US noted that Members seemed to be in ‘legal drafting mode’, a developing country trade delegate cautioned that the focus was more on process and strategy rather than on substance.
Technical assistance was an important subject of discussion. Most developing countries want an upfront commitment that they will be provided the technical assistance and capacity-building they need to implement new commitments. The official added that developing countries also want a clearer understanding of the type and extent of actual assistance that would be forthcoming, and how this would be distributed among various Members. In contrast, most if not all developed countries want implementation- related aid to be determined bilaterally between the donors and recipients.
Developing countries have placed a high priority on meaningful technical assistance language as an integral part of any text. The trade facilitation mandate is unique in that Members will not be required to implement commitments unless they receive the technical assistance necessary to do so.
Transitional periods for implementation also need to be resolved: the trick will be to establish timetables that vary according to the realities of each Member without creating a multi-tier regime. The next formal meeting of the negotiating group is scheduled for early June.