Lobby group puts trade facilitation on WTO table

ALAN PEAT THE DEVELOPING countries in the World Trade Organisation (WTO) must place a dedicated focus on drafting a trade facilitation agreement (TFA) if they are to achieve the best deal for their trade economies, according to Edward Little. He has just returned from the third round table meeting of the “Boksburg Group” in Jamaica as chairman of the Federation of Clearing and Forwarding Associations of Southern Africa. The Boksburg Group, he told FTW, was established in June last year in the SA town of that name as a lobby group to discuss a possible approach to a TFA prior to the Cancun round of the WTO. It is an entity composed of both public sector (mainly the likes of customs commissioners) and the private sector (in the form of regional associations such as the C&F federation and Chambers of Commerce). It has members from countries as far afield as SA, Uganda and Kenya in Africa; New Zealand in Australasia; India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Singapore in South East Asia; and Jamaica in the Caribbean. While most of the necessary considerations for an FTA were made available prior to the Cancun round, other concerns of the developing countries precluded their consideration, according to Little. But the Boksburg Group has continued to liaise on the matter. “We now have an opportunity to take this matter further,” said Little, “and, if we are to make the best of it, the developing countries should be drafting the TFA. “This will ensure that our concerns are on the table, forcing the developed countries to work that much harder to achieve any amendments that they may require.” The three meetings of the Boksburg Group have been a direct result of the “Doha Development Mandate” of the WTO. These meetings, according to Little, recognised the need to expedite the movement and release of goods, including those in transit. This was coupled with the need for enhanced technical assistance and capacity-building in order to enable developing countries to improve facilitation measures. “Estimates suggest that developing countries will achieve greater cost savings than developed countries,” Little said. Although there are many factors that could be included under the umbrella of trade facilitation, the Boksburg Group thinking has been concentrated on those that would stimulate trade. “This,” said Little, “to deliver improved prosperity to all participants by improving the regulatory flow of goods.” In particular, Little stressed the need to encourage greater discrimination in the collection and use of data and to promote modern control techniques. “Things such as risk management through intelligent profiling,” he said, “can enable authorities to release staff from inspecting all consignments in order to concentrate their efforts on combating fraud and criminality.” But a criterion, according to the Boksburg Group, is that this should not mean a lowering of control standards or a threat to revenue collection.