AN EXPLORATION OF THE NEED FOR AND COST OF SELECTED TRADE FACILITATION MEASURES IN ASIA AND THE PACIFIC IN THE CONTEXT OF THE WTO NEGOTIATIONS

An exploration of the need for and cost of selected trade facilitation measures in Asia and the Pacific in the context of the WTO negotiations

During the first meeting of the Negotiating Group on Trade Facilitation (NGTF) held
in November 2004, the need to identify trade facilitation needs and priorities of DCs and
least developed countries (LDCs) was highlighted, along with the need to address the
concerns of DCs/LDCs related to cost implications of proposed measures and in terms of
special and differential treatment.⁴

In that context, the purpose of this report is to present the findings and results of an
exploratory ARTNeT study on the needs for and costs of implementation of selected trade
facilitation measures related to GATT Articles V, VIII and X. This synthesis report is based
on six ARTNeT working papers issued between January and April 2006, including five
country case studies of Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Nepal conducted by researchers
from research institutions located in these countries, namely, Debapriya Bhattacharya,
Syed S. Hossain, Chen Wenjing, Li Wei, Sachin Chaturvedi, Yoze Rizal Damuri, Pushpa
Raj Rajkarnikar, Nephil M. Maskay and Shiva R. Adhikari, respectively.

Following a brief overview of the relevant literature (section I), this synthesis report
provides an overview of the trade facilitation situation in each of the five countries studied
(section II) as well as the results of private sector surveys on trade facilitation needs and
priorities (section III). Section IV discusses costs of implementation of trade facilitation
measures and presents the main results of an international expert survey conducted on
this issue as part of the research effort. Section V highlights potential implications for the
WTO negotiations on trade facilitation.

http://www.wto.org/english/news_e/news04_e/tradefac_15nov_e.htm

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