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Discursos:
Mike Moore
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Good morning ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for that introduction,
Secretary-General Ricupero. I am very pleased to have the opportunity
to represent the WTO here today in this important meeting.
I
have been asked to speak about “trade facilitation in the
multilateral trade negotiations”. The negotiating part of this title
may bear the risk of being misinterpreted as a report on trade
facilitation negotiations, which are not (yet) under way. That said,
in the framework of the new round of multilateral trade negotiations
launched at the Doha Ministerial Conference, trade facilitation is one
of the topics where Ministers agreed to start the negotiations after
the next Ministerial. We are therefore preparing for future
negotiations on this subject, and I welcome this opportunity to update
you on progress made so far. In addition to outlining the current
state-of-play, I would also like to delineate the roadmap ahead, in
order to give you an idea of where we are heading.
Trade
facilitation was added to the WTO's agenda at the first Ministerial
Conference in December 1996 when the Council for Trade in Goods was
mandated to “undertake exploratory and analytical work…on the
simplification of trade procedures in order to assess the scope for
WTO rules in this area”. A great deal of such exploratory and
analytical has been undertaken in the course of the following five
years, with the main objective to identify the principal obstacles
encountered by traders in cross-border transactions and to develop
possible ways to overcome those barriers.
Last
November, we launched the Doha Development Agenda – the first
multilateral trade negotiation since the creation of the WTO at the
end of the Uruguay Round. This is the development round and trade
facilitation is a very important piece of the development round
puzzle. It is largely accepted that development is effectively
promoted through the creation of an open market economy that allows
optimal allocation of resources. Progressive trade liberalisation and
rule making under the GATT and the GATS has proven the most effective
way of establishing such open markets.
But
open markets can only function properly if, among other things,
procedures designed to facilitate the flow of trade are put in place
and a country’s capacity to regulate economic activity on its
territory is made effective.
Trade
facilitation, notably customs reform, directly improves tax returns by
enabling effective collection of import duties. Reforming customs
procedures, notably through automation, harmonisation of information
requirements, and risk-assessment methods, reduces levels of evasion,
under declaration, fraud, and collusion with customs officials, and
allows comprehensive, correct and prompt duty calculation and tax
collection, with obvious benefits for the public purse. This is an
important aspect to the development dimension of trade facilitation.
The
Doha Ministerial introduced a new phase for WTO work on this issue, by
providing for negotiations after the Fifth Ministerial in 2003, and by
mandating the Council for Trade in Goods to embark on a comprehensive
and challenging work programme.
The
Doha agreement was preceded by intense discussions among Members on
how to proceed with future work on trade facilitation. While there has
always been broad agreement on the necessity to remove distorting red
tape and on the overall benefits of embarking on such process, there
are divergent views on how to go about that in the framework of the
WTO.
Last
autumn, a number of delegations already considered trade facilitation
as being ripe for negotiations. They held the opinion that after more
than four years of exploring and analysing the scope for WTO rules on
this issue, it was time to move to the next stage and enter the
negotiating phase. A group of Members advocating the negotiation of
binding facilitation rules proposed what they called an integrated
“two track approach”, centered around commitments on border and
border-related procedures to expedite the movement, release and
clearance of goods. Such rules were suggested to build upon existing
WTO provisions
There
are, at the same time, many developing country members, which, while
supportive of the objectives of trade facilitation, objected to the
idea of taking on new legal obligations in the WTO at this point in
time. These Members are concerned that additional rules could exceed
their implementation capacities and expose them to dispute settlement.
Some also indicated a preference for trade facilitation work on the
national, bilateral or regional level.
The
text finally agreed on by Ministers in Doha constitutes a compromise,
which tries to find a balance between the conflicting positions.
Paragraph 27 reflects this compromise: “… that negotiations
will take place after the Fifth Session of the Ministerial Conference…”.
This commitment is however tempered by the clarification that such
negotiations are to take place “on the basis of a decision to be
taken, by explicit consensus, at that Session on the modalities of
negotiations”. The underlying motif for future negotiators is
identified as the recognition of “the case for further expediting
the movement, release and clearance of goods, including goods in
transit, and the need for enhanced technical assistance and capacity
building in this area”.
In
the time until the Fifth Ministerial, paragraph 27 sets out an
extensive work programme. The Council for Trade in Goods is not only
mandated to
“review
and, as appropriate, clarify and improve relevant aspects of
Articles V, VIII and X of the GATT 1994” , but also to
“identify
the trade facilitation needs and priorities of members, in
particular developing and least-developed countries”.
Very
significantly, Ministers committed themselves “to ensuring adequate
technical assistance and support for capacity building in this
area”.
As
you can see, we will have a lot to do in the coming months.
In
a series of informal consultations in February and March, Members
expressed divergent views on what they consider to be the appropriate
forum for future discussions on trade facilitation, (that is, whether
to have dedicated or regular sessions of the CTG in formal or informal
mode) how many meetings were required, and of what duration. After
intense discussions, delegations finally agreed on a trade
facilitation work program for the remaining part of this year.
The
work program provides for four formal meetings of the Goods Council of
1 1/2 days duration. A first one already took place last week (23 –
24 May). A second one is scheduled for July, followed by a third
one in October and a final one in December. Following the July
meeting, members will decide if additional time needs to be devoted to
trade facilitation to ensure fulfilment of the Doha mandate.
With
respect to substance of future work, Members agreed to deal with the
following three topics as core agenda items:
-
(i)
First: GATT Articles X, VIII and V. These articles deal with
transparency, public information, formalities associated with
importing and exporting and goods in transit. The idea is to have
each of the first three meetings focus on one of these Articles,
while at the same time allowing delegations to address questions
related to the two respective other provisions; (The focus on
these three Articles follows from their mentioning in the Doha
mandate, reflecting members' shared conviction that future trade
facilitation work should be geared to build on those three
provisions.)
-
(ii)
Secondly: Trade facilitation needs and priorities of Members,
particularly of developing and least developed countries; Like the
third topic, this will be a standing item in all meetings;
-
(iii)
And finally, issues related to technical assistance and
capacity building. The incorporation of this item in the CTG's
trade facilitation work programme reflects the membership's shared
conviction that technical assistance and support for capacity
building are essential for an effective participation of the
developing world in WTO trade facilitation work. (Clearly, the
capacity of resource-constrained members to actively engage in the
debate is a condition of further progress in our work.)
At
last week's meeting, the discussion focussed on GATT Article X, as
well as on the specific trade facilitation needs and priorities of
Members, particularly of developing and least developed ones. Closely
related to these two issues, the meeting further dealt with trade
facilitation-related technical assistance and capacity building
questions as a third agenda item.
Six
delegations(1) and
two observer organisations(2)
had submitted communications in preparation for that meeting, most of
them being proposals related to the review and possible
clarification/improvement of GATT Article X. Among the most frequently
proposed measures were (i) the installation of inquiry points, (ii)
the introduction of an advance ruling system, and (iii) the
establishment of effective appeal procedures. Several proposals also
suggested the granting of a reasonable time-period between the
adoption of a regulation and its entry into force. All communications
highlighted the importance of trade facilitation for the reduction of
trade transaction costs (especially for SME's) as well as for a
country's economic development. The meeting also had before it a
Secretariat background paper on GATT Article X which outlines Article
X's main provisions from a legal perspective and takes a look at how
they have been interpreted in the GATT and WTO jurisprudence so far.
(Additional papers on Articles V and VIII have also been prepared and
will be issued soon.)
After
a brief introduction to these papers, Members engaged in comprehensive
and constructive discussions, expressing general support for the
advancing of trade facilitation work. While most delegations described
trade facilitation as a win-win scenario with positive impacts on
development, some also raised concerns with respect to cost
implications, both in terms of human and financial resources.
Reference was further made to different levels of development, and
related different needs. A number of developing countries were also
concerned about trade facilitation measures infringing upon their
national sovereignty.
On
the issue of technical assistance and capacity building, Members were
in agreement on their utmost importance for the advancement of trade
facilitation work. Coherence, coordination and thorough needs
assessment were flagged as necessary elements of any successful
assistance activity. Developing countries pointed at the many
challenges they are facing in their endeavours to facilitate trade,
and underlined the importance to have assistance programs reflect
development objectives.
This
leads me to another point regarding the relationship between
development and trade facilitation I would like to make before I
close. Simplification measures by customs and other agencies can make
an important contribution to realizing development objectives by
allowing significant reductions in administrative costs. Introduction
of electronic customs clearance systems, risk assessment techniques
(rather than inspection of individual consignments), and pre-arrival
processing and post-release audit all reduce time, resources and
levels of error. As trade flows increase greater than public
resources, trade facilitation measures of this type are necessary. By
way of example, Chile, at the March 1998 WTO Symposium estimated
savings of US$ 1 million each month through automation and a greater
use of risk assessment. So, while some countries are concerned over
the start up costs involved in introducing e.g. computerisation and
associated training in use of risk assessment and so on, the
experience of Chile and others showed that costs are recovered over
time through greater operating efficiency and increased tax
collection. This makes it well worth doing.
So,
this is where we stand now. Good first steps have been taken, we are
on schedule, and in agreeing on our work programme for this year, we
made solid progress. This of course does not mean that we don't still
have an enormous amount of work ahead of us – but I am confident,
that we will achieve our goals. Where we come out on the negotiating
modalities issue at the Cancun Ministerial will be a critical factor
in the conduct of the post-Cancun negotiations. What we do over the
next 15 months and – in particular – the comfort levels of our
developing country participants, will be the key.
Thank
you. |
Notas:
(1) The
European Communities, Japan, Korea, Canada, the United States and New
Zealand. With the exception of New Zealand, whose paper outlined their
current trade facilitation-related technical assistance activities,
all other communications proposed measures to clarify and improve GATT
Article X. volver al texto
(2)
The
World Customs Organization and the OECD. In their communication, the
WCO examined the compatibility of WCO principles with GATT Article X,
and the Article's reflection in both the various WCO instruments and
national customs legislations. The paper further analysed whether some
of the proposed measures to strengthen Article X are already embodied
in those instruments. The OECD introduced their survey of trade
facilitation provisions in regional trade agreements, and discussed
their relationship with the WTO. A second paper highlighted business
benefits of trade facilitation. volver al texto
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