World Trade Organization
Donor Coordination Dialogue
Annex D Support for effective
implementation of a new Trade
Facilitation Agreement
Gerard McLinden
International Trade Department
World Bank
World Bank
Overview
The role of Annex D organizations
Key issues to consider
 For developing countries
 For the development community
Proposed next steps
World Bank
Role of Annex D organizations
Annex D – Modalities for Negotiations on Trade
Facilitation
4. “ … Members shall seek to identify their trade facilitation needs
and priorities, particularly those of developing and least-developed
countries, and shall also address the concerns of developing and leastdeveloped countries related to cost implications of proposed measures”
8. “In order to make technical assistance and capacity building more
effective and operational and to ensure better coherence, Members
shall invite relevant international organizations, including the IMF,
OECD, UNCTAD, WCO and the World Bank to undertake a
collaborative effort in this regard”
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Role of Annex D organizations
 Short Term
 Building bridges between Geneva and capitals
 Assistance to determine needs and priorities
 Sharing best practice
 Research and analysis on costs of implementation
 Long Term
 Support for developing and least developed
countries to implement any commitments that might
finally be agreed
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Key issues to consider for developing
countries
 Accurately identifying the gap and TA & CB
needs
 Identifying key priorities
 Confidence that support will be provided if and
when needed
 Early implementation
 Many measures are not sensitive to TA & CB
support
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Key issues to consider for
development community
Need to provide opportunities for bilateral and
multilateral donors to cooperate and contribute
according to their individual capacity, resources,
priorities and comparative advantage

 Implementation should complement rather than
replace or crowd out existing activities and assistance
programs
 Economies of scale need to be exploited wherever
possible
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Key issues to consider for development
community
Implementation mechanisms need to be as least
administratively resource intensive as possible

 Must include a sound review and evaluation
mechanism
 Incorporate incentives for early and full
implementation
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Proposed next steps
 Annex D Organizations work collectively to
develop a standard approach detailed into a ‘How to
Guide’ to assist members to develop Implementation
action plans
 Once work on the content of a new Agreement is
finished Members use the Guide to prepare their own
Action Plans for implementation
 For Members who need assistance to prepare their
Action Plans they can seek assistance from
development partners
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Proposed next steps
 Advantages of this approach:
 Members could use coordination bodies already
established as part of the needs assessment process
 Implementation on measures not requiring TA
and CB support could commence immediately
 Members could use the Action Plans as a basis
for dialogue with development partners
 Country ownership and commitment assured
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Why good design and sensitivity to
local conditions is important ….