SEE
ALSO:
> Trade
facilitation work in 2004
> Trade
facilitation work in 2003
> Trade
facilitation work in 2002
> Trade
facilitation work in 2001
> Trade
facilitation in the preparatory work for the Doha Ministerial
Conference, (2001)
> Trade
facilitation work in 2000
> De-restricted
papers submitted until end of 2000
> Work
from mid-1998 until end of 1999
> Trade
Facilitation in the preparatory work for the Seattle Ministerial
Conference (1999)
> Work
in the WTO until mid-1998
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Trade
facilitation work in the area has been carried out by organizations
such as UNCTAD,
UN
ECE
(now through UN/CEFACT) or the WCO
for several decades. Steadily growing volumes of trade, together with
tariff levels at an all-time low after the conclusion of the Uruguay
Round and modern technology available to significantly improve the
management of cross-border trade and distribution of goods have lately
created a strong interest from international business in the
improvement of the infrastructure for international trade. The losses
that businesses suffer through delays at borders, opaque and often
redundant documentation requirements and lack of automation of
government mandated trade procedures are estimated to exceed in many
cases the costs of tariffs.
Specific
elements connected with the simplification and harmonization of trade
procedures are already contained in the WTO legal framework, e.g., in
Articles V, VII, VIII, X of the GATT 1994 as well as the in Agreements
on Customs Valuation, Import Licensing, Preshipment Inspection, Rules
of Origin, Technical Barriers to Trade, and the Agreement on the
Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures. However, only the
Singapore Ministerial Conference gave the WTO the mandate to take a
more comprehensive look at trade facilitation.
Information by year
2004
2003
2002
2001
2000
1999
1998
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