WTO starts negotiations on trade facilitation

WTO starts negotiations on trade facilitation    The World Trade Organization Monday started multilateral talks on the facilitation and simplification of international trade, following a new policy adopted as part of an international agreement made in July.
   The Geneva-based body has formed a “Negotiating Group on Trade Facilitation,” chaired by ambassador Muhamad Noor Yacob, of Malaysia. The group held its first meeting Monday and adopted an agenda for future work and a schedule of meetings.
   The agenda of the new negotiating group includes identifying trade facilitation needs and priorities, concerns related to cost implications of proposed measures, and cooperation between customs or other authorities on trade facilitation and customs compliance issues. The agenda also refers to the need for technical assistance for developing countries and support for capacity building.
   At the first meeting, many delegations underlined the importance of the agenda items related to the needs of developing countries and less developed countries. “Landlocked countries expressed the hope that negotiations would be of practical benefit to them, pointing out that they faced higher transport costs compared to other (WTO) members,” the WTO said.
   Under the recent “July package,” the WTO’s general council decided to commence negotiations on trade facilitations, aiming to expedite the movement, release and clearance of goods, including goods in transit.
   The Negotiating Group on Trade Facilitation will work on a “special and differential treatment” for developing and least-developed countries.
   It agreed to hold its next meeting Nov. 22-23, and to invite the International Monetary Fund, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the United Nations Conference on Trade And Development, the World Customs Organization and the World Bank to attend on an ad hoc basis.
   Smaller delegations at the negotiating group urged that their resource constraints be considered in the scheduling of future meetings.