“The Trade Facilitation Agreement commits World Trade Organization
members to streamlining cross-border trade, but reforms can go further,” UNCTAD report says. The
TFA obligates most of the world’s trading nations to recognize trade-easing measures
in international law and so reduce the loss to developing countries of billions
of dollars that lengthy waiting time, ungathered income and spoiled goods can
cause.
UNCTAD
estimates that the cost of cross-border trade for developing countries is on
average 1.8 times higher than for developed countries.
“Article 23.2 of the TFA stipulates the obligation for countries to
set up or maintain a coordination mechanism that will support the
implementation of the trade facilitation provisions included in the agreement,” UNCTAD trade facilitation
specialist and main author of the study, Arántzazu
Sánchez, said.
“The inclusion of this article represents an official
acknowledgement of the importance of coordination and cooperation among
relevant stakeholders, including customs authorities and businesses trading
across borders, in making trade facilitation reforms happen,” she added.
While
the inclusion of trade facilitation committees in a WTO agreement is a novelty,
in reality these kinds of bodies have existed for more than six decades, Ms.
Sánchez said.
Among
other findings, the report concludes that National Trade Facilitation
Committees (NTFCs) should work beyond compliance with the TFA, and that reforms
should not end once its provisions are in place.
“By defining a broad scope of action from the beginning, NTFCs will
remain flexible to promptly adapt to changes that new regional and
international agreements and priorities might bring in the future,” Ms. Sánchez said.
Providing
quantitative and qualitative analysis of existing NTFCs, the report also
presents, for the first-time, data on women’s participation in National Trade
Facilitation Committees as part of UNCTAD’s ongoing work on trade and gender
mainstreaming.
In
addition, the report includes a discussion on the basic structure of the NTFCs
around the world such as their composition, level of institutionalization,
sources of finance, frequency of meetings and modes of communication. It also
discusses the factors that can ensure the successful functioning of NTFCs, and
the obstacles that they face in their work. (Guardian)
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