RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE G/C/W/67
11November 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-4781)
Original: english Council forTrade inGoods
WTO MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE
Elements ofaWTO programme ontrade facilitation
Thedelegation oftheEuropean Communities requested atthemeeting oftheCouncil forTrade
inGoods on1November 1996 thatthiscommunication, firstsubmitted asanon-paper intheheads
ofdelegation process, alsobecirculated asaCouncil document.
_____________
I. Background
Industry andTrade gives highpriority tosimplification ofimport andexport procedures as
compliance withcomplex andnumerous regulations andprocedures could constitute asignificant and
timeconsuming burden totrade.
Thecosts canoften exceed thecostoftariff duties asapercentage ofthetotalvalue ofgoods
traded. Costsavings canbeobtained through rational procedures, butmore significantly theyenable
anun-interrupted physical flowofgoods. Asthecostburden fallsespecially heavily onsmaller
companies andoneconomic operators oftheleastdeveloped countries, trade facilitation alsohasa
roletoplayinenabling themtoparticipate moresuccessfully intradeandincrease theirexport potential,
thisgenerating export-led growth inincomes andemployment. More efficient procedures alsobring
greater certainty todelivery time, thusimproving theservice tocustomers.
Theneedforsimplification/harmonisation ofdocumentation andstandards forcomputerisation
isfullyacknowledged atpolitical levelandwork iscarried outinseveral international organisations.
Inparticular within theWorld Customs Organisation (WCO) work isunder wayinrespect ofrevision
ofcustoms procedures.
United Nations 'International Symposium onTrade Efficiency (UNISTE) washeld in
Columbus/Ohio 1994andthere theimportance oftrade facilitation wasendorsed atministerial level.
Therecommendations made inthatsymposium formapriority element ofUNCTAD 'swork. Another
UNorganisation, theUN/ECE anditsWorking Party onFacilitation ofInternational Trade Procedures
hasbeendeveloping standards fortrade facilitation formore thanthirty years.
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Furthermore within bilateral agreements between Members ofWTO, liketheEU/US action
plan, theEU/ASEAN summit agreement andtheAPEC Osaka Action Agenda acceleration ofwork
ontrade facilitation isprovided for.
AgainstthisbackgroundtheWTOshouldgiveitspoliticalbackingtothisvitalworkaseconomic
benefits from trade facilitation would contribute toglobal prosperity.
II. RoleoftheWTO
Thequestion arises astowhether steps should alsobetaken todevelop afuture multilateral
discipline inthetrade facilitation area.
Since work iscarried outinanumber ofinternational bodies andframeworks withaviewto
simplification andmodernisation there seems firstofalltobeaneedforanoverall assessment ofthe
situation inorder tomore clearly defining towhatextent andwithin whatstructures aWTO initiative
istoberequired. TothatendWTO aspartofthenewworking programme should approach bodies
suchastheWCO, theUN/ECE andothers withaview tolaunching acoordinated approach on
trade/customs procedures, ensuring aworld-wide andmultisectorial coverage.
III. Singapore objectives
1. Ministers inSingapore should giveanewpolitical impulse tosimplification andharmonisation
oftrade procedures inviewofitsimpact ontrade.
2. Ministers should encourage active participation intherevision work currently under wayin
theWCO.
3. Ministers should invite theWTO inco-operation withrelevant bodies toundertake exploratory
andanalytical work. Thisshallinclude anexamination ofthetradefacilitation work currently
going onindifferent forawithaview toensuring thatstandardised trade procedures are
developed inacoordinated way, thereby recognising thesignificance oftrade facilitation as
animportant partinarriving atlower trade barriers andimproved market access.
Inareport tobepresented totheCouncil forTrade inGoods theimpact ontradeandthescope
foramore effective andtransparent discipline within WTO should beassessed.
Special attention should begiven tothemodernisation oftheKyoto Convention onsimplification
andharmonisation ofcustoms procedures, themaximum exchange ofdatas byinformation
technology onastandardised basis aswellasother keyissues relevant toofficial formalities
ininternational trade.
Onthebasis ofthereport theCouncil decides onhowtoproceed andwhether acodeshould
bedeveloped within structures tobedefined.