At a meeting of the WTO’s
Committee on Trade Facilitation on 3 November, members for the first time
engaged in substantive discussions on ongoing efforts to implement the Trade
Facilitation Agreement (TFA), which formally entered into force last February.
The chair of the committee, Ambassador Daniel Blockert of Sweden, noted that the meeting was the first
focused on substantive matters related to the TFA and responded to a request
for a more member-driven way of looking at TFA notifications.
Since February, the committee has received 21
notifications from members regarding so-called Category A, B and C
notifications. Category A covers TFA commitments developing members promised to
implement upon entry into force of the TFA; Category B covers commitments that
a developing or least-developed country (LDC) member will implement after a
transitional period following the entry into force of the agreement; and
Category C covers commitments that a developing or LDC member will implement
after a transitional period following the entry into force of the Agreement and
that require technical assistance and capacity-building support to implement.
Developed countries were required to implement all
provisions of the TFA from the date of entry into force
In addition, the committee has now received 11
notifications from members which the chair described as having
"transparency" objectives, either in a broader context or in relation
to particular provisions of the TFA, such as single window operations, the use
of customs brokers, and customs cooperation.
Finally, the committee has received seven
notifications from donor members since February under Article 22 of the TFA
which provide information on assistance and support for capacity building that
will be made available to members requiring such assistance.
All the notifications are available in the
WTO's Trade Facilitation Agreement Database.
Several members that submitted Article 22
notifications underlined the importance of transparency in identifying partners
looking for assistance and their commitment to ensuring implementation of the
Agreement.
The chair concluded that the discussions on the
notifications provided a valuable first exchange on implementation and that
this item would likely be on the agenda of the committee for the foreseeable
future.
The chair updated members on the progress made on
the committee's rules of procedure. He said that progress had been made and
that consultations on the issue will continue.
The WTO Secretariat provided an update on the
activities on the Trade Facilitation Agreement Facility, which was created
in 2014 at the request of developing and LDC members to help ensure that they
receive the assistance they need to reap the full benefits of the TFA and to
support the ultimate goal of full implementation.
The chair said the committee will hold its next
meeting in the first quarter of 2018, probably sometime in February.
Concluded at the WTO's 2013 Bali Ministerial
Conference, the TFA contains provisions for expediting the movement, release
and clearance of goods, including goods in transit. It also sets out measures
for effective cooperation between customs and other appropriate authorities on
trade facilitation and customs compliance issues. It further contains
provisions for technical assistance and capacity building in this area.
The TFA broke new ground for developing and
least-developed countries in the way it will be implemented. For the first time
in WTO history, the requirement to implement the Agreement was directly linked
to the capacity of the country to do so. In addition, the Agreement states that
assistance and support should be provided to help them achieve that capacity.