Synthesis report
An exploration of the need for and cost of selected
trade facilitation measures in Asia-Pacific in the
context of the WTO negotiations
SYNTHESIS REPORT2
Introduction
The WTO’s 147 member governments agreed on 1 August 2004 to commence
negotiations on trade facilitation. The issue of whether trade facilitation, along with four
other so-called “Singapore issues”, should be included in the Doha round of negotiation
had been one of the issues that resulted in the failure of the WTO Ministerial Meeting in
Cancun in 2003.
The main reason for the reluctance of many developing countries (DCs) to negotiate
on trade facilitation as part of the Doha Development Agenda seemed to be the fear that
implementation of such agreement would entail substantial investment in infrastructure
and human resources for them, while at the same time requiring nothing from the developed
countries who had already implemented many of the trade facilitation measures (TFMs)
likely to be included in a multilateral trade facilitation agreement. Some also feared that
a trade facilitation agreement might not reflect the needs and priorities of their countries in
this area, as most of the standards and international best practices were established by
a few developed countries based on their own needs and priorities. Finally, a binding
trade facilitation agreement could have serious consequences on some of the lesser
developed countries that still derived a significant share of their Government revenue from
customs activities.
The August 1 Decision of the WTO General Council, often referred to as the “July
Package”, outlined the modalities of the trade facilitation negotiations in its Annex D.3
Members agreed that the negotiating agenda would focus on clarifying and improving
relevant aspects of Articles V (freedom of transit), VIII (fees and formalities) and X (publication
and administration of trade regulations) of the GATT 1994; enhancing technical assistance
and support for capacity building; and effective cooperation between customs or any other
appropriate authorities on trade facilitation and customs compliance issues.
2 This report was prepared by Yann Duval, Trade Policy Section, Trade and Investment Division,
United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), based on ARTNeT
Working Papers No. 3, 4, 5, 8, 9 and 10. Please refer to these working papers and their authors for
more detailed and country-specific information. The views presented in this and related papers are the
responsibility of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations and other
ARTNeT members and partners.
3 http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/dda_e/ddadraft_31jul04_e.pdf