Saana Institute and Crown Agents Foundation Seminar
21 November 2013
Unlocking Trade in Least Developed Countries:
Making Sure African and Asian Economies Benefit
from a New WTO Agreement on Trade Facilitation
OUTCOMES REPORT
saana institute
Contents
Foreword
Tom Pengelly, Managing Director, Saana Consulting
Steve Brady, Business Director, Customs & Trade Facilitation, Crown Agents
1.
SEMINAR REPORT 01
2.
PRESENTATIONS FROM PANEL 1 06
Where do we stand with the Trade Facilitation Agenda for LDCs?
The WTO Trade Facilitation Negotiations Dr. Joy Kategekwa 07
Regional Perspectives of Trade Facilitation in West Africa Dr. Sola Afolabi 09
Implications of a WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement for LDCs Dr. Mohammad A. Razzaque
Trade Facilitation in Action Frank Matsaert 13
3.
10
PRESENTATIONS FROM PANEL 2 17
How best to support implementation of a new WTO Agreement
in LDCs to maximise the gains? What are the roles for Development
Partners?
The Progress, Challenges and Prospects of Trade Facilitation Dr Naomi Chakwin 18
Trade Facilitation and LDCs: Do Regional Trade Agreements Help Implementation? Prof Jim Rollo
4.
BACKGROUND PAPER 26
Annexes 31
Seminar Agenda
Participants List
Further Reading and Web Resources
Acronyms and Abbreviations
24
Foreword
Tom Pengelly
Steve Brady
MANAGING DIRECTOR, SAANA CONSULTING
BUSINESS DIRECTOR, CUSTOMS & TRADE FACILITATION, CROWN AGENTS
Trade has long been seen as critical to economic growth
and prosperity. A new WTO trade facilitation agreement
that unlocks the potential, and provides practical support,
for LDCs to trade their way out of poverty must be a development priority. We were therefore delighted that, in
the run-up to the WTO Ministerial Conference in Bali from
3–6 December 2013, the Crown Agents Foundation and
the Saana Institute were able to partner in bringing together a distinguished group of key stakeholders to focus
specifically on how LDCs can be most effectively supported to ensure they capture the gains from a possible
new WTO trade facilitation agreement.
Saana Consulting is a market leader in providing expertise on trade and regional integration in developing
countries. The company’s new venture, the Saana Institute, aims to combine this consulting expertise with empirical evidence and targeted research to generate
practical development solutions to cutting-edge, realworld challenges. This seminar is the first activity of the
Saana Institute since its launch in October 2013.
The Crown Agents Foundation was established in
1997 and is a not-for-profit organisation that owns all the
shares in Crown Agents Ltd and oversees its ethos and activities. It also has distinct social and developmental objectives and is pleased to support events which are able
to demonstrate development impact. Crown Agents has
a long history as an international trader, perhaps distinctive in being both a user of the international trade architecture, its processes and procedures and a designer and
moderniser of them.
From this vantage point, and from the focus of our
two organisations in building human, institutional and organisational capacity within LDCs and supporting them
in enhancing the enabling environment for private sector,
trade-led, economic growth, we personally believe that
there are three key issues which should be paramount in
the implementation of any new WTO trade facilitation
agreement in Africa and Asia.
First, the importance of leveraging regional integration initiatives. Creating better conditions for intra-regional trade through trade facilitation is vital for boosting
the economies of many LDCs. Second, the importance of
technical assistance. Development partners must engage
quickly and decisively to address the concerns expressed
by some LDCs and firm-up commitments to support their
very real technical assistance and capacity building needs
to implement any agreement. To maximise effectiveness
and impact, much can be learnt from best practices of existing trade facilitation technical assistance initiatives.
Finally, the WTO Secretariat, national governments, regional economic communities and development partners
must all strive to remember the critical role of the private
sector in delivering the benefits from an agreement, and
encourage the participation of the business community
in generating effective implementation programmes.
Tom Pengelly
Managing Director, Saana Consulting
Steve Brady
Business Director,
Customs & Trade Facilitation, Crown Agents
1. Seminar Report
UNLOCKING TRADE IN LEAST DEVELOPED COUNTRIES 02
Seminar Report
Introduction
A select group of 40 trade facilitation and development
experts from developing countries, the private sector, academia and donor agencies came together in London on
the 21st of November 2013 to review the state of play with
the trade facilitation agenda in Least Developed Countries
in Africa and Asia in the context of a new WTO Agreement
on Trade Facilitation which may be launched at the Bali
Ministerial Conference from 3-6 December 2013.
Panellists and participants explored how LDCs and
development partners could build on the regional integration and trade facilitation initiatives already underway
in Africa and Asia to deliver solutions for implementing a
new WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement that would maximise the pay-offs for LDCs in terms of cutting the costs
of doing business and trading across borders.
In keeping with the ethos of the Saana Institute and
the Crown Agents Foundation, the seminar discussions
were conducted in a constructive, though informal manner, as participants took the opportunity to share national
and regional trade facilitation experiences, implementation concerns, good practices and responded to the viewpoints that were presented.
Objectives of the Seminar
The specific objectives of the seminar were:
•
To contribute to and influence discussions around the
nature and implementation of a possible WTO Agreement on Trade Facilitation in African and Asian LDCs.
•
To discuss and share ideas on how African and Asian
LDCs can best be supported to ensure they capture
the gains of an Agreement on Trade Facilitation.
•
To consider the roles of development partners in responding to LDCs’ trade facilitation needs with a particular focus on the needs of private sector importers
and exporters.
The final seminar agenda and list of participants are included as annexes to this Outcomes Report document.
Some suggested further reading and web resources are
also provided.
The Seminar Agenda
Setting the scene, in his Keynote Address Matthew Wilson, Chief Adviser to the Executive Director at the
WTO/UNCTAD International Trade Centre in Geneva recalled the importance of trade facilitation for connecting
small and medium sized enterprises in LDCs into global
value chains which are now so important in world trade.
He outlined a number of recommendations for how LDCs
could benefit from a new WTO Agreement on Trade Facilitation and reminded participants that the multi-disciplinary nature of trade facilitation required not just a
coordinated approach from development partners, but
also hinged on a ‘whole of economy’ implementation
strategy by LDCs.
Following the Keynote Address, the first panel reviewed the trade facilitation agenda in LDCs in Africa and
Asia from a number of different vantage points, including
UNLOCKING TRADE IN LEAST DEVELOPED COUNTRIES 03
the state of play and implications of the ongoing negotiations on new multilateral disciplines at the WTO. The
panel included presentations on the following elements:
•
The WTO Trade Facilitation Negotiations: An
overview of the coverage of the proposed agreement
and update on the status of the negotiations, particularly with respect to the issues in Part II of the text
which are still proving contentious.
•
Regional Perspectives of Trade Facilitation in West
Africa: Lessons and approaches from the Borderless
Alliance of West Africa on balancing the requirements
of individual WTO LDC member states, against the
economic value of regional and/or trade corridors
which may include LDCs, but as well, some non-LDCs.
•
Implications of a WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement for
LDCs: LDCs’ perspectives on the structure and details
of proposed commitments, the key outstanding
issues, and the potential impacts of a WTO trade
facilitation agreement on their economies.
•
Quantifying the Benefits of a WTO Trade Facilitation
Agreement for LDCs: An overview and practitioner’s
perspective on existing methodologies and difficulties
in trying to quantify the economic benefits from trade
facilitation reforms and investments.
•
Trade Facilitation in Action: A perspective on Trade Mark
East Africa’s success in implementing trade facilitation
reforms in East and Southern Africa and suggestions on
how this approach could be replicated.
The second panel focused on discussing the best ways
to support LDCs to maximise the gains of a new WTO
Trade Facilitation Agreement with specific reference to
the potential roles for development partners. The panel
included the following four main interventions:
•
The Progress, Challenges and Prospects of Trade Facilitation: Where and why these programmes have been
successful and suggestions on how this approach
could be replicated.
•
DFID’s experience in supporting trade facilitation reform in Africa: Where and why DFID’s innovative approach to aid for trade in Africa has been most
successful and insights on how LDCs can sustain the
trade facilitation reforms anticipated by a post-Bali
implementation agenda.
`
•
Trade Facilitation and LDCs: Do Regional Trade Agreements Help Implementation? A perspective on how
the new WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement would
complement trade facilitation initiatives already underway in COMESA, EAC, and ECOWAS and other
RECs and a perspective on the value and efficiency of
implementing a new Agreement through regional
blocs.
•
Messages from the private sector for trade facilitation
negotiators at the WTO Ministerial Conference in Bali:
How the private sector could be involved in trade
facilitation implementation and where improvements can be made to make this engagement most
productive and effective.
Following a lively discussion and exchange of views and
information, conducted under Chatham House rules, Tom
Pengelly, Managing Director at Saana Consulting,
wrapped up proceedings. He noted the broad consensus
for the potential of LDCs in Africa and Asia to achieve real
economic gains from trade facilitation reforms. He further
highlighted that Section II of the draft WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement is a landmark text in the history of
WTO special and differential treatment schemes and was
principally negotiated by developing countries and LDCs,
reflecting what they wanted and not a mere system of
arbitrary transition periods as in many of the Uruguay
Round Agreements.
At the same time, it was clear from the seminar’s
proceedings that should a new trade facilitation agreement be launched at the WTO Ministerial Conference in
Bali, the conversation had only just begun about how
best to operationalise Part II of the draft agreement, and
thereby support LDCs to capture the gains from trade
facilitation through implementation. A richer and much
broader dialogue between the WTO, LDCs governments,
the private sector, regional economic communities
(RECs) and development partners would therefore be
urgently needed in the coming weeks and months.
UNLOCKING TRADE IN LEAST DEVELOPED COUNTRIES 04
Key Points from the Discussions
A summary of the key points from the discussions is set
out below.
Leveraging Regional Approaches
A discussion on how best to make use of RECs and trade
corridors, along with the suggestion to adopt a cluster
configuration as a lens to implement the measures envisioned in the proposed WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement, provided a good basis to kick-start the general
discussions. Participants discussed how such a strategy
would evolve and how LDCs and development partners
could manage the asymmetries in the memberships of
such regional organisations. The view was expressed that
if this approach were to be viable, then donor support
would need to be carefully synchronised and mapped
accordingly, in order to achieve effective implementation of the various trade facilitation reforms.
Taking as an example the case of the East African
Community, which operates within a common legal
framework that prescribes commitments across the member states, participants discussed some of the practical
considerations that could be expected – how would LDCs,
RECs and development partners choreograph and sequence
technical assistance support for trade facilitation commitments and how could the political will and incentives be
created to make these efforts bear fruit? How existing technical assistance vehicles, for example TMEA, could integrate their efforts within the WTO framework to optimise
implementation would also be crucial.
The question of how to facilitate the wider economic
benefits and lock in the ‘neighbourhood effect’ of trade
facilitation implementation was also paramount in discussions on this topic. Some participants stressed that targeted trade facilitation inputs should not just be confined
to regional or national programmes, but that there was
need to contextualise and tailor demands to ‘clusters’, such
as specific areas and principal transport corridors, such as
the Abidjan-Lagos Corridor in the ECOWAS region. This
was required since there was need to prioritise aspects of
trade facilitation in some areas and change those priorities
for other groups with different needs.
A key issue for the private sector, LDCS, RECs and the
wider development community is to balance the tradeoffs – strong and efficient external borders but weakened
internal borders – and optimise plans for implementation
of a WTO trade facilitation agreement accordingly.
Participants agreed that issues that fall outside the scope
of the Agreement, for example, transport infrastructure
development, required simultaneous attention to maximise the benefits. Asia’s regional cooperation and integration strategy has taken some of these broad
parameters on board, with explicit goals of job creation
and growth, lifting poorer members of the region up the
value chain, and improving trade facilitation to attract
FDI, by for example, matching corridor investments with
declared interest from the private sector to take up potential trade opportunities.
It was acknowledged that trade facilitation measures
were more effective and valuable in the context of wider
regional trade liberalisation and integration frameworks
based on reciprocity. They may be less effective in other
contexts as governments which do not see a clear national benefit may not have the political will to carry them
through.
Sharing Good Practices on Trade Facilitation
A second underlying theme from the discussions was the
need to devise a system for sharing good practices in trade
facilitation in LDCs, which could be used a reference for
countries and their development partners seeking to support implementation of a potential new WTO trade facilitation agreement. It was pointed out that for this strategy
to be most useful, it would be important to have a clear
definition and understanding by all parties of what the
WTO trade facilitation agreement’s provisions actually
cover. Such a good practice system would see the checklists of trade facilitation needs of different LDCs being
open to development partners to contribute regular status updates on what commitments have actually been
made, and which have been delivered.
This trade facilitation technical assistance checklist,
based on existing needs assessments, would be a useful
planning tool for technical assistance. It could be supported by transparent data on progress and results from
trade facilitation reforms – for example, weblinks to tariffs
and customs duties published by local chambers commerce or information on customs clearance time and
costs from logistics carriers and drivers who are actual
users of the trade facilitation systems as well as the officially published information. A system for sharing good
practices could also usefully act as a platform for
catalysing partnerships and approaches that would maximise the pay-offs from trade facilitation reforms – for example by supporting evidence-based dialogue for a
UNLOCKING TRADE IN LEAST DEVELOPED COUNTRIES 05
priority focus of technical assistance on those LDCs and
developing countries with major ports that serve LDCs.
The Role of the Private Sector
A third theme of the discussions was the necessity to take
note of the needs of the business community in selecting
commitments/configuration and prioritising commitments to deliver trade facilitation implementation.
Participants noted from evidence presented that the
private sector had clear proposals to table on what
works and what is less than optimal.
The examples presented by Business Action for Africa,
Borderless Alliance West Africa, and TMEA showed that the
private sector can support trade facilitation not only
through consultation and public-private dialogue, but by
actually supporting the delivery of technical assistance.
Participants pointed out that in some cases, the private
sector has taken the lead in implementing customs reform
projects (such as Authorised Economic Operator schemes)
and discussed whether there was scope for them to deliver
capacity building for other trade facilitation commitments.
At the same time, participants acknowledged that in
certain cases in LDCs in Africa and Asia, there may be a prior
requirement for strengthening of apex business associations to ensure their effective participation in the process
of implementing a potential new WTO trade facilitation
agreement.
Quantifying the Benefits and Measuring Impacts from Trade
Facilitation Reforms
A final key issue from the discussion was the importance of
having reliable evidence and indicators available to inform
decision making by LDCs on their approach to implement
a new WTO trade facilitation agreement, and likewise
resource allocation by development partners for the
associated technical assistance.
The discussion touched on how regional groupings
could be used as a means for capturing development results
about the impact of trade facilitation reforms and investments. New research could also examine the value of lesswidely used indicators such as containerization of cargo
as a measure of trade facilitation implementation, given
that in many LDCs much trade is still transported in bulk.
Participants stressed that evidence to support technical
assistance is critical, not only for donors who need to
show expected and actual results from expenditures on
trade facilitation projects, but also for LDCs that have to
make the political argument for reform.
It was also pointed out that lower transport costs
from trade facilitation reforms do not have to be reflected
only as benefits driving trade expansion in the narrow, traditional sense. Rather, economists are now starting to
consider the second-round effects of lower trading costs
as driving potential within export industries in LDCs for
greater innovation and value addition, higher margins and
higher wages, which in turn increases the tax base and
produces stronger benefits for the whole economy.
It was suggested that existing research on the benefits
of trade facilitation reforms and investments though
widely available, was fragmented, too project-related and
did not follow a consistent methodology that would allow
easy comparison and aggregation. A better-organised set
of data and metrics to draw on to make the case for investment in trade facilitation reforms, and to evaluate the
actual impacts achieved, would be immensely valuable to
LDCs and development partners in the long run.
2. Presentations from Panel 1
Where do we stand with the Trade Facilitation
Agenda for LDCs?
UNLOCKING TRADE IN LEAST DEVELOPED COUNTRIES 07
The WTO Trade Facilitation Negotiations
Dr. Joy Kategekwa
DEVELOPMENT DIVISION, WTO SECRETARIAT
Outline
13. Institutional arrangements;
•
Disciplines;
14. National Committee on TF;
•
Flexibilities;
15. Preamble/Cross cutting matters.
•
Sticky Issues;
•
Ideas on support for Implementation.
Flexibilities
•
Recalling Annex D July 2004 Framework Agreement:
Art. 1-S.II.
•
Definition of categories: A, B, C.
•
Implementation: Developing countries: 4.1
–A
– B - Notify cat B at e.i.f, Year later notify implementation dates:
– C - Notify cat C at e.i.f, Info on required tech,
financial and CB assistance. One year later, additional arrangements to provide tech, financial and
CB assistance-inform TF Committee. 18 months
later, DC + donor to inform of progress – and DC
to notify – at same time – final dates for implementation.
8. Consularization;
•
Implementation: Least-Developed Countries: 4.2
9. Border agency cooperation;
•
LDCs will only be required to undertake commitments
to the extent consistent with their individual development, financial and trade needs or their administrative and institutional capabilities. (1.3-s II)
–A
– B-Notify 1 year after e.i.f. Two years after initial
notification, notify to confirm designations and
Disciplines
1. Publication and availability of information;
2. Prior publication and consultation;
3. Advance rulings;
4. Appeal or review procedures;
5. Other measures to enhance impartiality, non discrimination and transparency;
6. Disciplines on fees and charges imposed on or in connection with importation and exportation;
7.
Release and clearance of goods;
10. Formalities connected with importation and exportation and transit;
11. Freedom of transit;
12. Customs Cooperation;
UNLOCKING TRADE IN LEAST DEVELOPED COUNTRIES 08
implementation dates. Inadvertent misses?
Request extension.
– C-Notify 1 year after e.i.f. One year later notify
info on required tech, financial and/CB assistance
required. Within two years hereafter, LDCs +
donors to enter into additional arrangements /
agreements to enable implementation of Cat Cinform TF Committee. TF Com to invite non
Member donors to provide info on existing and
concluded arrangements. 18 months later, LDCs
and donors to notify of progress-and LDC to notify-at same time-list of definitive dates for implementation.
•
Difficulties in submitting provisional and definitive
dates within deadlines owing to lack of donor/probs
with assistance?4.3 - Notify. Members to cooperate
towards solution.
•
What to do in cases of no notification? 4.4 Mandatory implementation within [x] days;
•
Conditions for implementation: 4.5-ACP proposal,
compromise?
– Conditioned on acquisition of imp. capacity
through TA provision. Final dates approachingSelf assessment-of no capacity-notification.
– Request for establishment of adhoc expert
group (by who?)-composition-balance-recommendations to TF committee. Decision for TF
Committee.
•
Other flexibilities:
– Early warning mechanism;
– Shifting between categories B and C;
– Grace period for DSU non-application:
• Cat A: 2 years DCs, 6 years LDCs:
• Cat B or C: 2 years after implementation of commitment (DC). 2 or 6 years after implementation
of commitment for LDCs.
• Due restraint for LDCs.
•
Provision of TACB: Art. 8
– Recognized as precondition for acquisition of
capacity;
– By developed countries and Annex D organisations-IMF; OECD; UNCTAD; WCO, WB, (plus regional development banks, UN regional
commissions-9.5 s.II)
– Developed countries and DCs in position to do
so, agree to facilitate the provision of TA, f financial and CB-either bilaterally or through appropriate international organisations;8.2
– Paris Declaration on Aid effectiveness, Accra
Agenda for Action;
– TF Committee to have agenda to discuss TACB(through TF unit?)
• Receive requests from DCs, LDCs; discuss
problems with implementation, review
progress on TA provision, share experiences
on assistance, implementation, challenges,
successes:
•
Information on assistance: Art. 9
– Developed countries to provide info to submit
to TF committee at e.i.f on TACB resources,
amounts, procedures for disbursement, implementing agencies, contact points, processes s and
mechanisms for requesting assistance.
Sticky Issues in S II
•
Definition of Category C; links with provision of TACB;
•
How to import/use Annex D in text;
•
Redline on implementation conditioned on acquisition of capacity to implement;
•
What are the determinants of acquisition of capacity?
TACB or national reforms;
•
Self assessment (LDCs?)/trigger of expert group/what
happens with disputes in course of expert group consideration?
•
Additionality, predictability and sustainability of TA.
Ideas on Support for Implementation
•
Key focus areas: Institutional, legislative reform,
infrastructure:
•
Needs assessments-building on WTO work-taking it
further;
•
Categorization: what to put where?
•
What would this mean for timing support for Cat B
and C?
•
TF Committee-Unit-matching, identifying challenges;
UNLOCKING TRADE IN LEAST DEVELOPED COUNTRIES 09
Regional Perspectives of Trade Facilitation
in West Africa
Dr. Sola Afolabi
BORDERLESS ALLIANCE, WEST AFRICA
Preamble
Recall the objectives of Trade Facilitation for ECOWAS
sub-region:
a. Establishment of Free Trade Area:
Computation and compensation of loss of revenue
due to the establishment of ETLS necessitated customs automation. Implementation of national ASYCUDA/SYDONIA projects with the assistance of
UNCTAD
b. Establishment of a Customs Union requires harmonisation of trade facilitation efforts with the ECOWAS
Inhibiting Factors (Challenges)
1. Fragmented, weak economies in most cases
2. Delays, bribes, checkpoints, make the sub-region
uncompetitive
3. Low and uncoordinated use of technology for movement of goods and persons
Enhancing Factors Include
1. Harmonised trade facilitation texts (HS, Common
external tariff, common customs codes, etc.)
2. All Member States use versions of ASYCUDA
3. A regional customs connectivity project (ALISA
/SAMBA) adopted by Customs DGs and Ministers of
Finance
4. New drive for a regional cross-border trade programme led by Nigeria
Recommendations
1. Support the regional cross-border initiative led by
Nigeria
2. Implement a TMEA-type project for West Africa
3. Promote private-sector advocacy efforts of the Borderless Alliance to monitor project implementation
and compliance with regional policy objectives
4. Reinforce external borders and relax controls at internal borders
UNLOCKING TRADE IN LEAST DEVELOPED COUNTRIES 10
Implications of a WTO Trade Facilitation
Agreement for LDCs
Dr. Mohammad A. Razzaque
HEAD, INTERNATIONAL TRADE & REGIONAL
COOPERATION, COMMONWEALTH SECRETARIAT
Background
The State of Play: TF Negotiations
•
•
Annex D of July package – negotiations to have two
core components
– The substantive measures/provisions
– Provision of S&DT
•
Section I – substantive rights and obligations, 12 articles, institutional or cross-cutting issues, + 3 articles
that may be placed elsewhere
– Publication of trade laws and regulations, fees
and charges, transit, appeal mechanism, border
agency cooperation, etc
•
Section II – 9 articles addressing S&DT
Development Issues for LDCs: The Road to Bali
– July package, early harvest, Doha lite, LDC package, now “small package”
– Expectation – Bali should not be a housekeeping
exercise
•
A deal on TF can be an encouraging development
– Doha impact otherwise criticised
•
TF is the only full Doha discipline/modality that is
widely hoped to be delivered at Bali
•
The potential TF deal is not specific to LDCs but has
significant implications
•
Attracted huge attention of ACP Group, LDCs and
SVEs along with other developing countries
•
Discussions on A likely TF agreement
– Emerged from Singapore MC
– Recognition from the outset to minimise the
burdens on members with limited resources
– Recognition of TA needs for DCs and LDCs
– The mandate to conclude a TF deal – Paragraph
27 of Doha Ministerial Declaration
– Reinforced and elaborated in Annex D of the July
Package agreed by the General Council in 2004.
– Text-based negotiations from December 2009
– The latest version – 18th – is dated 23 October
Current Status
•
The 18th revision with numerous [ ]
– Non-agreed language
– Comparing with 17th, progress in 18th Section I,
but Section II remains unchanged
– On the whole, the majority of the text does not
yet have agreed language with just over 6 weeks
to go before Bali
– Many differences are due to legal quality of the text
•
Progress on 40 substantive provisions
– 12 with agreed text (another 10 likely)
– In majority cases, divergence due to technical
details and level of ambition
– Prospects of removing all [ ] by Bali?
– Also, conditional upon deals elsewhere
UNLOCKING TRADE IN LEAST DEVELOPED COUNTRIES 11
Current Status – Section II (S&DT)
•
•
•
•
High expectations since July package
– Annex D – S&DT should go beyond transitional
periods
– Innovative S&DT provisions expected
– Important for balancing the members’ positions
Section II  mainly covers implementation flexibilities for DCs and LDCs including TA and capacity building and reporting obligations on TA
•
How the ‘acquisition of capacity to implement’ is to be
determined?
•
Aid conditionality and donor accountability
– Even without being effective TA, CAT C commitments can be binding
Trade Facilitation in LDCs – Does it Work?
•
It’s a fundamental question – in general LDCs are positive
•
1% reduction in trade transaction costs leads to $40
billion gains in world incomes
DCs and LDCs’ scheduling of commitments: 3 CATs –
A, B, C
– B & C with longer time periods that are not specified but will be determined ex post on individual
case basis
– C  compliance is conditional upon TA
•
Varying estimates: 1 – 15% of total transaction costs
due to procedures and formalities
•
Provisions for ‘early warning’ mechanism and shifting
between B and C
If the world becomes Singapore in terms of TF, global
income to increase by $2.6 trillion.
•
Evidence of small and medium firms gaining from TF –
good news for DCs and LDCs.
S&DT
•
Progress to date
– slow – unchanged text (Revs, 17 & 18)
– DCs and LDCs – lack of operational clarity and
legal bindingness
– Developed countries – S&DT cannot be reason
for not taking commitments
– DCs and LDCs – for strong legal obligations for
TA but developed countries find them difficult
– Hence TA delivery obligations remain in soft
language
LDC Concerns
•
Asking LDCs to take up commitments against the
spirit of the DDA?
•
Categories A, B, C – LDCs will have to undertake binding commitments
– From none LDCs are exempt – unprecedented
•
Graduation out of LDC group and possible implications?
•
TA and support needed even before categorising the
commitments
•
Are the S&DT provisions going to be binding in
nature?
An Ex-post Assessment
•
Commonwealth work on AfT: Disaggregated components within AfT (e.g. aid for trade facilitation, aid for
economic infrastructure, aid to productive capacity)
and their impact
•
The relationship between Aid to Trade facilitation
(coded as 33120 in OECD-CRS database) and cost of
trading (World Bank Doing Business section on trading across borders)
– Handling and transporting a 20’ container
•
An increase of US$1 mln in Atf is associated with
$15–$20 reduction in handling a 20’ container
– SSA ports’ handling of 2.5mln containers
(in 2000)
•
Reduced trading costs and participation in global
value chains
UNLOCKING TRADE IN LEAST DEVELOPED COUNTRIES 12
Building Regional Supply Chains
Wider implications for LDCs in terms of regional trade – an example from South Asia
BGD
IND
PKN
SRL
Global
Imports
($ million)
Imports from
South Asia
Region
($'000)
Global Exports
of 3 other
Countries
($'000)
Imports from
the region as
% of country’s
global imports
Global imports of
a country as a %
of global exports
of the region
493
4,834
1,166
327
147
222
202
94
2,690
1,380
15,543
3,623
29.7%
4.5%
17.3%
28.9%
18.3%
350.3%
7.5%
9.0%
Regional Supply Chains
•
Why regional trade not taking place – consultation
with the private sector
•
Further studies on Sub-Saharan Africa
– Sectors being covered leather, textiles and clothing and agro-processing
– In the case of leather, the impact of non-tariff
barriers can be as high as in terms of lost trade is
estimated to be as high as $1.9 billion (part of
which is likely to due to TF)
•
WTO TF agreement provides an opportunity for improving regional trade
•
Overall positive impact on South-South trade
•
Doha liberalisation scenarios – benefits for LDCs
– most recent and influential estimates (Bouët
and Laborde, 2011), both the real income and export effects turn out to be negative for this group
of countries
Concluding Remarks
•
Striking a balance – S&DT to provide LDCs and DCs
sufficient confidence
•
LDCs for greater alignment between Section I and II,
to ensure that commitments are subject to up-front
technical assistance
•
Complex coordination of support needed
•
In general, a +ve perception about the importance of
improved TF measures
Is TF Alone Enough?
•
Import facilitation?
•
To enhance regional integration and South-South
trade
•
Development of productive capacity
– The impact of Aid for Trade
•
Triggering and sustaining export capacity and
response, and diversification will remain as major
challenges
•
Market access and productive capacity development
in other sectors in the medium to long term.
•
Other infrastructure development
– The evidence from empirical studies
•
Export diversification
– Commonwealth study by Cirera and Winters
(2013)
•
Market access remains an important issue
– In developed countries as well as advanced
developing countries
UNLOCKING TRADE IN LEAST DEVELOPED COUNTRIES 13
Trade Facilitation in Action
Frank Matsaert
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, TRADEMARK EAST AFRICA
High Transport & Trade Costs
Cost to Import & Export a Container
6,000
Cost of Importing a Container
Cost of Exporting a Container
5,000
USD
4,000
3,000
2,000
1,000
0
Rwanda
Burundi
Uganda
Kenya
South Africa
Tanzania
China
Singapore
UNLOCKING TRADE IN LEAST DEVELOPED COUNTRIES 14
Projected Trade Growth on Northern Corridor
100.00
89.58
90.00
80.00
77.04
Northern Corridor Traffic
77.93
Tons - Millions
70.00
NC Traffic Through Port of Mombasa
60.00
NC Traffic by Road
50.00
40.00
30.00
35.26
30.33
21.50
18.28
20.00
31.74
20.21
10.00
0
2009
2015
2030
Source: Corridor Diagnostic Study
Transport Cost Components
Costs for an Average Bujumbura Bound Container
14,000
Bribes
Distance-Based Costs
12,000
10,000
2%
Fixed Costs
2%
Time Based Costs
23%
2%
Cost $
23%
1%
2%
8,000
19%
26%
49%
33%
6,000
47%
46%
4,000
2,000
54%
50%
46%
46%
47%
0
Mombasa
Port/Mombasa CFS
Channel
Nairobi
Kampala
Kigali
Bujumbura
Source: Corridor Diagnostic Study
UNLOCKING TRADE IN LEAST DEVELOPED COUNTRIES 15
Vision, Mission
•
Our Vision:
‘’a united East Africa with flourishing trade, strong investment and less poverty’’
Value of benefits $17 billion – $34 return for every $1
invested
Our mission:
‘’to promote rapid advances in East Africa’s integration,
trade and global competitiveness for all East Africans”
What Are We?
30% decrease in the average time a truck takes to
cross selected borders
What’s Our Approach?
•
Focus on East Africa’s two main trade corridors
•
Holistic - national implementation, regional policies
•
Trade facilitation (‘software’) combined with trade
infrastructure (‘hardware’)
•
Trade and Markets East Africa (TradeMark)
•
Not for profit SPV registered in all partner states
•
•
Regional & national presence & funds – branches in
all 5 member states, Juba & Arusha
Strong reinforcing partnerships – private sector
demand-led approach
•
Strong national and regional stakeholder governance
Results and value for money driven
•
Multi-donor platform – Belgium, Canada, Denmark,
Finland, Netherlands, Sweden, UK – USA joining
•
•
Budget – $520m 2010 to 2016
Trade Facilitation in East Africa
1. Customs Systems
2. Reducing the thickness of borders – one stop border
posts (OSBPs)
Increased Trade
3. Increasing the efficiency of East Africa’s Ports
4. Standards Harmonisation & NTB elimination
5. Private sector engagement
Customs Systems
Increased
Enhanced
Increased
Market
Trade
Product
Access
Environment
Competitiveness
Increased Trade Competitiveness
in East Africa
Expected Results by 2016
•
10% increase in the total value of exports from the
EAC region
•
25% increase in intra-regional exports when compared to total exports in the region
•
15% reduction in average time to import or export a
container from Mombasa or Dar es Salaam to Burundi
or Rwanda
•
Streamlining processes for trade using information
technology
•
Supporting increased capacity to improve trade facilitation
•
TMEA’s partners have invested $55 million in upgrading
customs management and single window systems and
inter-connectivity
•
Rwanda Single Window - $20m savings pa for private
sector, 40% reduction in clearance times
•
Uganda - Customs Management System (CMS) upgrade a 50% reduction in clearance times, $56m savings projected pa
•
Kenya – new CMS projects a 20% increase in customs
revenues
UNLOCKING TRADE IN LEAST DEVELOPED COUNTRIES 16
•
Burundi - RA establishment 110% leap in national revenue collection since 2010
•
TradeMark Challenge Fund – with new Logistics
Innovation for Trade (LIFT) window
•
South Sudan – establishment of customs service
•
Mombasa Port Community platform
Standards & NTBs
•
National standards bureaux support combined with
regional private sector standards platform
•
National level NTB monitoring bodies combined with
regional sanctions mechanism at EAC
•
EAC Standards Platform with strong private sector
participation prioritising largest value of trade
•
74 standards unleashing $290m harmonised trade –
8% of US$ 3.5 billion intra-EAC trade basket – targeting 50% of trade basket
•
Award winning SMS system: elimination of 21 NTBs
– regional roll out planned
•
EAC NTB law: EAC level approval 1Q14 – increased
enforcement & credibility
OSBPs & Ports
•
Infrastructure upgrading of seven OSBPs with World
Bank - target key bottlenecks along trade corridors
•
Bring in automation at borders & integrated border
management approaches – 30% reduction in time
•
Comprehensive port analysis from ship-shore interface, port yard efficiency, off-take and ICDs
•
$100m port hardware & software investment - Berths
1-7 Dar es Salaam, Mombasa Port Productivity Plan
•
Mombasa Port Charter & KPI Dashboard – 50%
reduction in throughput & dwell times
Private Sector Engagement
•
Support Private Sector (& civil society) on analysis and
action for advocacy, policy change – national &
regional
•
Key issues identified by Private Sector – regional platforms on tax, tourism, women in business, standards
•
Resource centres for women cross-border traders
•
Award-winning SMS reporting system in Tanzania
3. Presentations from Panel 2
How best to support implementation of a
new WTO Agreement in LDCs to maximise
the gains? What are the roles for Development
Partners?
UNLOCKING TRADE IN LEAST DEVELOPED COUNTRIES 18
The Progress, Challenges and Prospects
of Trade Facilitation
Dr Naomi Chakwin
RESIDENT DIRECTOR GENERAL, ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK
ADB’s Strategy 2020 and Regional Cooperation and Integration (RCI)
INCLUSIVE
ENVIRONMENTALLY
REGIONAL
GROWTH
SUSTAINABLE GROWTH
INTEGRATION
Private Sector
Knowledge
Development
Good
Partnerships
Governance
Main Drivers in Strategy 2020
Regional
Infrastructure
Environment
Cooperation
Education
and Integration
Financial Sector
Development
Core Areas in Strategy 2020
Regional/sub regional
Monetary and
Trade and Investment
Economic Cooperation
Financial Cooperation
Cooperation and
Programs
and Integration
Integration
Cooperation in
Regional Public Goods
Four Pillars in Regional Cooperation and Integration Strategy
UNLOCKING TRADE IN LEAST DEVELOPED COUNTRIES 19
Gains from Regional Integration
•
Create more jobs and more growth
•
Lift poorer members up the value chain
•
Maximize and complement natural advantages
•
Solid and lasting relationships
•
Improve trade to attract more investment
Greater Mekong Subregion
GMS Progress
•
$15 billion investment – 58 projects
•
Largely completed corridors: East-West, North-South,
Southern
•
Cross-border power links, higher power access
•
Information superhighway for ICT applications
G R E AT E R M E K O N G S U B R E G I O N
GMS Road Network (1992)
UNLOCKING TRADE IN LEAST DEVELOPED COUNTRIES 20
G R E AT E R M E K O N G S U B R E G I O N
GMS Road Network (2010)
G R E AT E R M E K O N G S U B R E G I O N
GMS Road Network (2015-2020)
UNLOCKING TRADE IN LEAST DEVELOPED COUNTRIES 21
Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation
CAREC Progress
•
$21 billion investments for transport, trade, energy
links
•
Six transport corridors, 4,000 km roads, 3,200 km
railway, upgraded ports, border crossings
•
CAREC Federation of Carriers and Freight Forwarders
Association
•
2,000 km transmission lines, Regional Master Plan
Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation Transport Corridors
UNLOCKING TRADE IN LEAST DEVELOPED COUNTRIES 22
South Asia Subregional Economic
Cooperation
SASEC Progress
•
Over $6 billion investments for transport, trade facilitation, energy, ICT
•
Supports SAARC, BIMSTEC, and South Asia-Southeast
Asian integration
•
Cross-border energy projects: BAN, BHU, NEP -IND
•
SASEC Information Highway: high-speed optical fiber
cable link
Regional Corridors in South Asia
Financing for Trade Facilitation Areas
•
$210 million total in loans and grants for RCI
•
$58 million customs modernization TA
•
$25 million in grants for TF from Japan
•
$48 million policy loans TF for SASEC 2012
UNLOCKING TRADE IN LEAST DEVELOPED COUNTRIES 23
Challenges
•
Software to take advantage of hardware
•
Effective monitoring and evaluation (CPMM)
•
Dealing with negative impacts from increased
connectivity
•
Capacity strengthening for RCI management
Asia Subregional Connectivity
UNLOCKING TRADE IN LEAST DEVELOPED COUNTRIES 24
Trade Facilitation and LDCs: Do Regional Trade
Agreements Help Implementation?
Prof Jim Rollo
UNIVERSITY OF SUSSEX AND INTERANALYSIS LTD
Key Questions
•
Note these are essentially ergaomnes
•
Does regionalism add value to WTO Trade facilitation initiatives?
•
But it depends to a degree on the form of Regionalism
•
Are there special issues for LDC in Regionalism and
Trade facilitation?
Does Regionalism have Potential to
Improve Implementation of Trade
Facilitation?
•
Big picture answer is “Yes, But…..”
•
In the multilateral framework, trade facilitation can
appear to be a form of unilateral liberalisation and
as such it mobilises the import substitution lobby in
opposition and not directly the export sector
•
Region wide reciprocal liberalisation (including reducing administrative barriers) with specific near
neighbours. It gives concrete reciprocity and direct
benefits to exporters.
The political commitment to trade liberalisation with
regional partners and the jointness of action potentially generates more momentum for cross border TF
actions eg:
– Single border posts
– Harmonisation of documentation
– Visas
– Cross border transport infrastructure
– Cross border administrative infrastructure
eg testing and certification
Some Forms of Regionalism Better
Than Others for Facilitating Trade
•
Regional FTA introduce an additional administrative
barrier which is regionally specific Rules of Origin
(which matter see -developing spat between US and
Korea) and which require border posts
•
Customs union better, in principle: allows the abolition
of border posts and free movement within a common
external customs border
•
But implementation of CU matters, not enough to
have common external tariff:
– No exceptions and quotas must also be abolished
– Revenue sharing crucial especially where tariff
revenue major source of tax revenue
– Admin infrastructure important notably MR of
testing and certification
•
Single market better still since covers goods and
services and approximation/harmonisation/mutual
recognition of standards, regulatory norms, tax rates
which all reduce costs of doing cross border business
as well as free movement of Capital and labour
•
None of these are easy to negotiate: EU took 30 years
to implement CU and 2 decades after 1992
UNLOCKING TRADE IN LEAST DEVELOPED COUNTRIES 25
Particular Benefits for LDC?
•
Yes to the extent that better access to a larger potentially higher income and perhaps faster growing traditional market nearby boosts economic activity
(improved access to India for Nepal matters more
than vice versa)
•
Especially where being landlocked is a major barrier
to development, reducing administrative barriers and
improving cross border transport infrastructure would
be a great benefit as it reduces cost of access to region
and RoW
•
May also be economies of scale
– in provision of infrastructure and dealing with
donors
– and for firms from increased size of regional
market
4. Background Paper
Unlocking Trade in Least Developed Countries:
Making Sure African and Asian Economies
Benefit from a New WTO Agreement on
Trade Facilitation
UNLOCKING TRADE IN LEAST DEVELOPED COUNTRIES 27
Unlocking Trade in Least Developed Countries:
Making Sure African and Asian Economies Benefit
from a New WTO Agreement on Trade Facilitation
1. Introduction
Trade facilitation is one of the topics being negotiated by
World Trade Organization (WTO) Members under the
Doha Development Agenda round of negotiations. The
mandate for the trade facilitation negotiations is set out
in Annex D of the Doha Work Programme Decision. 1 This
mandate was developed by WTO Members to set out the
scope of negotiations.
Following several years of exploratory work, WTO
Members formally agreed to launch negotiations on trade
facilitation on the basis of modalities contained in Annex
D of the ‘’July package’’. Under this mandate Members are
tasked to clarify and improve three articles of the General
Agreement on Tariff and Trade (GATT) which relate to
the transit of goods (Article V), fees and formalities (documentation and procedures) (Article VIII), and transparency of laws and regulations (Article X). The aim of the
negotiations is to make border procedures easier and
more transparent and to expedite the movement, release
and clearance of goods.
The negotiations are also intended to enhance technical assistance and capacity building in this area and improve effective cooperation between customs and other
appropriate authorities on trade facilitation and customs
compliance issues. In addition to the technical measures,
special and differential treatment (SDT) is an important
component of the negotiations.
DEFINING TRADE FACILITATION
It is important to be clear from the outset as to what is meant by the term trade facilitation, and the kinds of
development activities that fall within its purview. There are basically two alternative definitions. The first one –
“narrow” trade facilitation – focuses on the improvement of customs and border procedures, primarily through
the reduction of red tape and other administrative burdens. This approach to trade facilitation is reflected in the
negotiations on trade facilitation taking place at the World Trade Organization (WTO) since inclusion of that item
as part of the Doha Round negotiating agenda through the 2004 “July Package”.
By contrast, “broad” trade facilitation sees customs and border procedures as just one part of the overall agenda.
The focus of “broad” trade facilitation is on reducing the full range of costs associated with international trade
transactions. The policy agenda therefore includes interventions in areas such as infrastructure development,
regulatory reform particularly in trade-related services markets, and non-tariff measures, in addition to the
improvement of customs and border procedures.
1.
Doha Work Programme Decision Adopted by the General Council on 1 August 2004 (WT/L/579).
UNLOCKING TRADE IN LEAST DEVELOPED COUNTRIES 28
2. Background
Reducing the cost of doing business and easing cross-border
trade for the benefit of exporters, importers and consumers
in Africa and Asia
Evidence suggests that high levels of bureaucracy and unnecessary extra costs represent significant barriers to
cross border trade. Researchers point to vast amount of
red tape, document requirements that are non-transparent and involve duplication, lack of coordination between
private sector traders and customs directorates, lack of
automatic data transmission, added costs and waste of
limited time and resources. Poor countries and Least Developed Countries (LDCs) suffer the most. Research by the
World Bank reveals that trade costs for Africa, where 33
of 55 states are LDCs, are higher than any other region
and that improving trade logistics could improve trade
performance significantly. For example, Ethiopia cutting
the costs of moving a standardised container of goods
halfway to the level in Mauritius is equivalent to a 7.6%
cut in the tariffs faced by Ethiopian exporters.
The World Bank also estimates that if all countries
streamlined their border management administration and
transport and communications infrastructure to the level
of Singapore, for example, world income could increase
by US$2.6 trillion - far more than if tariffs across the globe
dropped to zero.
Recent estimates suggest that with the lowering of
tariffs, the costs of complying with customs formalities
now far exceeds the cost of duties payable. According to
the OECD, up to 7 percent of the US $1.2 trillion in international trade generated each year is absorbed by the
costs of documentation.
3. WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement
– State of Play
‘’The Bali finish line is clear and is in sight’’
2
As WTO Members prepare in earnest to conclude a deal
at the Bali Ministerial Meeting on December 3-6, 2013,
progress on the negotiations on the Text of the Draft 3
Agreement continues, with Members reflecting ‘a constructive attitude and encouraging degree of willingness
to find convergence.’
2.
3.
4.
Key elements 4 of the proposals being negotiated by
Members include:
•
The use of the Internet for publishing information that
is useful to exporters and importers and in general
improving the availability of information
Estimates from the OECD are that improvements in information availability would save 1.8% of transaction costs.
•
Establishing advance rulings on tariff classification
and applicable duties to expedite customs clearance
According to a study by the OECD, advance rulings would
achieve the single biggest reductions in trade costs (up to
3.7%)
•
Introducing pre-arrival clearance which would allow
goods to be released immediately upon arrival
•
Expediting and simplifying the release and clearance
of goods
•
Enhancing transparency in customs rulings and
administrative procedures
•
Developing a uniform administration of trade
regulations
•
Streamlining fees and charges and establishing
more discipline in their application – for example,
prohibition of the collection of unpublished fees and
charges, reduction/minimization of the number and
diversity of fees and charges, and prohibition of
consular fees
Research from the OECD indicates that this could cut 1.7%
of total costs.
•
Improving coordination among border agencies
According to the OECD, this cooperation would have
a significant cost reduction potential, of up to 2.4%
•
Creating a single window – to submit data only once
to one agency
•
Establishing discipline for transit formalities and
documentation requirements.
WTO Director General Robert Azevedo statement to the Informal Trade Negotiating Committee Meeting, 25 October 2013
TN/TF/W/165/Rev.18
Source: WTO
UNLOCKING TRADE IN LEAST DEVELOPED COUNTRIES 29
The successful conclusion of a WTO Trade Facilitation
Agreement will depend on convergence in negotiating positions in relation to three areas of the Text:
• A number of specific issues in Section I of the draft
Trade Facilitation Text. These include the crafting of
language in the consolidated text to ensure that the
outcome document includes sufficient flexibilities for
country specific needs, especially those implementation
requirements of the LDCs which are also landlocked.
• Section II of the draft Trade Facilitation Text which
focusses on Special and Differential (S&D) Treatment
provisions for developing countries and LDCs. In
particular LDCs seek a balance in the provisions of
Section I with respect to commitments for technical
assistance, financial support and capacity building
aimed at addressing infrastructure constraints as well
as the S&D provisions
• Customs Cooperation.
For LDCs, other development issues of interest which
could potentially constrain their ability to ‘constructively
engage’ in Trade Facilitation negotiations include the services waiver, cotton and the operationalization of duty free
quota free market access.
4. Trade Facilitation Matters for Business
In a recent paper 5 which looks at the distribution of gains
from trade facilitation among exporters of different sizes,
Hoekman and Shepherd use enterprise level data from many
developing countries to show that firms of all sizes export
more in response to improved trade facilitation. Some
econometric studies 6 have also found that reducing the time
required for trade transactions can result in a significant
growth in exports, for example, one day less spent in transit
and export handling could increase trade by at least 1%. Research from Saslavsky and Shepherd (2012) indicate that
trade facilitation and logistics performance matter significantly more for trade in parts and components – a feature of
global value chains – than trade in final goods. The early conclusions from their analysis is that (a) developing countries
stand to gain from improved trade facilitation as much as developed countries with exports expected to increase for both
groups and (b) firms of all sizes benefit from improved trade
5.
6.
VOX, Bernard Hoekman and Ben Shepherd (June 2013)
Djankov, Pham, and Freund (2010)
facilitation by exporting more in response to improvements
such as the reduction in the time taken to export goods.
How to ensure that small firms can benefit from improved trade facilitation in the same way as large firms,
will require enabling development policy that can adequately design and assess the impact of trade facilitation
reforms and projects over time.
5. Commitment to Maximise the Gains of
Trade Facilitation
The Implementation Agenda...“Unlocking trade in least
developed countries to make sure African and Asian economies
benefit from a new Agreement on Trade Facilitation”
Like governments, but perhaps even more so, the private
sector in LDCS await the conclusion of a WTO Bali Ministerial Conference that will deliver multilateral disciplines
to the package of reform we have come to know as trade
facilitation: the improvement in efficiency of ports and
inland container depots, the reduction in administrative
red tape, procedures and other regulations, and upgrading
of information technology to boost trade transparency
and promote effective border management.
At the conclusion of the Fourth Global Review of Aid
for Trade on 8 July 2013, 27 governments and institutions,
whose support for trade facilitation extend across the
globe, renewed their commitment to assist in the implementation of trade facilitation reform. A total of $381 million was committed to trade facilitation in 2011, an
increase of 365% of Official Development Assistance
(ODA) to trade facilitation compared to the average for
2002-2005. Since 2006, over $1.2 billion in ODA for trade
facilitation has been disbursed.
At the Annual Finance Ministers’ Meeting in Washington in mid-October 2013, the heads of the World Bank,
International Monetary Fund and four regional development banks pledged to boost support for trade facilitation.
They committed to provide the financial resources needed
by developing countries and LDCs to meet the ’full and effective implementation’ of commitments they will make
in the WTO Trade Facilitation negotiations. Since 2008,
the seven institutions have disbursed US$22 billion in concessional support for economic infrastructure and building
the productive capacity in developing countries.
UNLOCKING TRADE IN LEAST DEVELOPED COUNTRIES 30
It is against this backdrop, that this Seminar seeks to engage discussions on the potential ‘architecture’ of post
Bali implementation support for LDCs in Africa and Asia.
Of interest to LDC governments and business will be
discussions on the following implementation issues:
• Coordination and effective response to trade facilitation
requests from Least Developed Countries and Developing
Countries
• Access to and coherence of technical assistance for
trade facilitation
• Coordination of trade facilitation support with
complimentary infrastructure development
If a WTO Agreement is concluded, the private sector in
LDCs in Africa and Asia could play an even greater role in
identifying and resolving trade-related obstacles. They
could partner with governments to implement trade-related programmes and projects, especially in regulatory
and infrastructure areas such as trade and transport facilitation, warehousing and storage sectors and other supporting infrastructure which have the potential to
transform the economic landscape of many LDCs and developing countries.
Some Final Thoughts – Moving from
Theory to Practice
• Trade flows across LDCs are not equal – should we
focus first on the areas with the biggest flows and
bottlenecks? Or go for low-hanging fruit? Do we know
where these are? Is the WTO thinking about this?
• Trade flows through economic spaces and along
corridors covering several countries (some LDCs some
not) but the focus for a WTO Agreement would be
individual WTO member states – how do we reconcile
this?
• Likewise, much of the momentum for trade facilitation
comes from African and Asian RECs like the East African
Community (EAC) who are not members of the WTO.
How should LDCs and their development partners
consider this?
• As well as corridors, strategic points for the highest
returns may well be ports – but some of these will be
in non-LDCs (eg the Port of Mombasa in Kenya). How
should these considerations be built into the policy
dialogue?
• There have been some innovations in recent years in
supporting trade facilitation in LDCs – both in terms of
content and donor harmonisation. For example
TradeMark East Africa, TradeMark Southern Africa’s
work on One Stop Border Posts, (OSBPs) and in Asia,
initiatives like Greater Mekong Delta. How can we
learn from these lessons? How can we bring to
bear these innovations for aid effectiveness into
implementation of the WTO Trade Facilitation
Agreement in LDCs?
• How do we keep the private sector involvement at the
heart of implementation of a Trade Facilitation
Agreement in LDCs?
Annexes
Seminar Agenda
Participants List
Further Reading and Web Resources
Acronyms and Abbreviations
UNLOCKING TRADE IN LEAST DEVELOPED COUNTRIES 32
Seminar Agenda
Unlocking Trade in LDCs: Making Sure African and Asian Economies Benefit from a New WTO Agreement on
Trade Facilitation 21st November 2013 12.30–19.00 Venue: 10–11 Carlton House Terrace, London
Facilitator: Angela Strachan, former Chief, Business Environment and Lead on Trade Facilitation, WTO/UNCTAD
International Trade Centre, Geneva
Timing
Session
12.30–13.15
Registration and sandwich lunch buffet
13.15–13.30
Welcome and Introductory Remarks
Angela Strachan; Steve Brady, Crown Agents; John Morgan, Saana Consulting
13.30–13.45
Keynote Speech
Matthew Wilson, Chief Adviser, Office of the Executive Director,
International Trade Centre, Geneva
13.45–14.00
PANEL 1: Where do we stand with the Trade Facilitation Agenda for LDCs?
Chair: Douglas Tweddle, Former Director, Customs and International Relations for HM
Revenue and Customs, UK
14.00–14.15
Presentation 1: The WTO Trade Facilitation Negotiations
Dr. Joy Kategekwa, Development Division, WTO Secretariat
14.15–14.30
Presentation 2: Regional Perspectives of Trade Facilitation in West Africa
Dr. Sola Afolabi, Borderless Alliance, West Africa
14.30–14.45
Presentation 3: Implications of a WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement for LDCs
Dr. Mohammad Razzaque, Head, International Trade & Regional Cooperation,
Commonwealth Secretariat
14.45–15.00
Presentation 4: Quantifying the benefits of a WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement for LDCs
Dr. Oliver Morrissey, CREDIT, University of Nottingham
15.00–15.15
Presentation 5: Case Studies: Trade Facilitation in Action
Frank Matsaert, Chief Executive Officer, TradeMark East Africa
15.15–15.45
Moderated Question & Answer Session with Audience members
15.45–16.00
Afternoon Tea
16.00–17.45
PANEL 2: How best to support implementation of a new WTO Trade Facilitation
Agreement in LDCs to maximise the gains? What are the roles for Development Partners?
Chair: Angela Strachan
Dr. Naomi Chakwin, Director General, European Representative Office,
Asian Development Bank
Eamon Cassidy, Head, Joint Trade Policy Unit, DFID-BIS
Professor Jim Rollo, Professor Emeritus, CARIS, University of Sussex
Richard Gilbert, Deputy Director, Business Action for Africa
(10 minute interventions followed by a moderated Question & Answer Session)
17.45–18.00
Wrap-up and Closing Remarks
Tom Pengelly, Managing Director, Saana Consulting
18.00–19.00
Drinks Reception
UNLOCKING TRADE IN LEAST DEVELOPED COUNTRIES 33
Participants List
Name
Role
Organisation
Matthew Anthony Wilson
Chief Adviser,
Office of the Executive Director
International Trade Centre
Dr. Joy Kategekwa
Legal Affairs Officer,
Development Division
World Trade Organization
Dr. Sola Afolabi
Business Environment Adviser
Borderless Alliance
Dr. Mohammad Razzaque
Head, International Trade & Regional
Cooperation
Commonwealth Secretariat
Dr. Oliver Morrisey
Professor in Development Economics
University of Nottingham
Frank Matsaert
Chief Executive Officer
TradeMark East Africa
Dr. Naomi Chakwin
Resident Director General,
European Representative Office
Asian Development Bank
Eamon Cassidy
Head, Joint Trade Policy Unit
Department for International
Development & Department for
Business, Innovation and Skills
Jim Rollo
Professor Emeritus
Centre for the Analysis of Regional
Integration at Sussex (CARIS),
University of Sussex
Richard Gilbert
Deputy Director
Business Action for Africa
Angela Strachan
Technical Facilitator
Saana Consulting
Douglas Tweddle
Chairman
Institute of Export and International
Trade
Tom Pengelly
Managing Director
Saana Consulting
Steve Brady
Business Director,
Customs & Trade Facilitation
Crown Agents
John Morgan
Associate Director, Strategy
Saana Consulting
Azhar Rauf
Private Sector Development Advisor
Trade Policy Unit, Department for
International Development
Bill Gain
Global Product Manager for the
Investment Climate Advisory Services
International Finance Corporation,
World Bank Group
Eva Corral
Deputy Head, Trade for Development
team, Trade Policy Unit
Department for International
Development
Fiona Shera
Principal Associate
Saana Consulting
Heather Scott
Policy Advisor, Africa Regional Department Department for International
Development
Imran Shahryar
Economist
Trade for Development Team,
Trade Policy Unit, Department for
International Development
UNLOCKING TRADE IN LEAST DEVELOPED COUNTRIES 34
Name
Role
Organisation
Ivan Mbirimi
Researcher and Consultant
Independent
Kevin Atkinson
Lead Customs and Trade Facilitation
Advisor
Crown Agents
Marie-Agnes Jouanjean
Research Officer
International Economic Development
Group, Overseas Development
Institute
Michael Johnson
Senior Associate
Saana Consulting
Mutale Chilangwa
Business Development Trade Advisor
Crown Agents
Peter Callaghan
Director General
Commonwealth Business Council
Vinaye Ancharaz
Senior Development Economist
International Centre for Trade and
Sustainable Development (ICTSD)
Ruth Stanley
Director
Trade out of Poverty
Sharifa Khan
Commercial Counsellor
Bangladesh High Commission
Terri Sarch
Head of Wealth Creation,
Africa Regional Department
Department for International
Development
William Elliot
Senior Business Advisor
Crown Agents
Yusuf Kashangwa
Commercial Counsellor/Director
Tanzania Trade Centre, Tanzania High
Commission
UNLOCKING TRADE IN LEAST DEVELOPED COUNTRIES 35
Further Reading and Web Resources
Further Reading
Web Resources
ICTSD
Bridges Africa, Volume 2, Issue 8 – November 2013;
What should LDCS pack in their Suitcase for Bali?
WTO - Trade Facilitation
http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/tradfa_e/tradfa_e.
htm
OECD
Working Party of the Trade Committee, OECD Trade
Policy Paper No. 150; Trade costs: What have we learned?
A synthesis by Evdokia Moïse and Florian Le Bris
TradeMark East Africa
http://www.trademarkea.com
World Bank Group
Note No 335, Viewpoint: Public Policy for the Private
Sector; Trade Logistics Reform: Linking Business to Global
Markets by Uma Subramanian
Borderless Alliance
http://www.borderlesswa.com
International Trade Centre
http://www.intracen.org
World Bank
Doing Business 2013
http://www.doingbusiness.org/~/media/GIAWB/Doing
%20Business/Documents/Annual-Reports/English/DB13full-report.pdf
Logistics Performance Index
http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/LP.LPI.OVRL.XQ
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
Development – Trade Facilitation Indicators
http://www.oecd.org/tad/facilitation/indicators.htm
UNLOCKING TRADE IN LEAST DEVELOPED COUNTRIES 36
Acronyms and Abbreviations
ADB
Asian Development Bank
COMESA Common Market for East and Southern Africa
DFID
Department for International Development
DFID–BIS Department for International Development–
Department for Business Innovation and Skills
EAC
East African Community
ECOWAS Economic Community of West African States
LDCs
Least Developed Countries
TF
Trade Facilitation
TMEA
Trade Mark East Africa
WTO
World Trade Organisation
saana institute