RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/C/M/31
3 April 1998
(98-1349)
Council for Trade in Goods
16 March 1998
MINUTES OF THE MEETING
Held in the Centre William Rappard
on 16 March 1998
Chairperson:  Mr. R. Saborío Soto (Costa Rica)
The meeting was convened by WTO/AIR/792.  The proposed agenda contained in
document G/C/W/106 was adopted as follows, with the inclusion of items 4, 5 and 6 under "Other
business":
Page
1. Trade Facilitation (Paragraph 21 of the Singapore Ministerial
Declaration (WT/MIN(96)DEC)...................................................................................... 2
- Statement by the Chairman
2. Status of Notifications under the Provisions of the Agreements in
Annex 1A of the WTO Agreement (G/L/223 and Corr.1)............................................... 5
3. Customs Union between the European Community and the
Principality of  Andorra: ................................................................................................... 6
- Notification from the European Community
(WT/REG53/N/1 and WT/REG53/1)
4. Hungary - Free Trade Agreement between Hungary and Israel ...................................... 6
5. Report on consultations for the Chairper son of the Market Access Committee.............. 6
6. Date of the next meeting .................................................................................................. 6
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1. Trade Facilitation (paragraph 21 of the Singapore Ministerial Declaration
(WT/MIN(96)DEC))
- Statement by the Chairman
1.1 The Chairman made an introductory statement (G/L/226)1 summarizing the main issues raised
and the outcome of the WTO Symposium on Trade Facilitation which had taken place from 9 to
10 March 1998.
                                                     
1 The text of the statement was circulated following a request by delegations.G/C/M/31
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1.2 The representative of the European Communities stated that the Symposium, which had fully
fulfilled its objective, had significantly contributed to his delegation's understanding of trade
facilitation as well as its importance and relevance to the WTO.  The statements from business
representatives showed clearly that there were problems, that the simplification of trade procedures
must be treated as a high priority, and that failure to do so would undermine the benefits of trade
liberalisation.  The WTO as the organization most  concerned with the management of world trade
should necessarily be interested in simplification of trade procedures and must therefore get involved
in a comprehensive way.  His delegation agreed wi th the comment of the Director-General in his
opening address that the Symposium had placed Members in a better position to move to the
analytical phase of work on trade facilitation.
1.3 There were some particularly useful messages from business representatives and problems
identified, many of which were particularly acute for small and medium sized companies, or for
developing countries.  His delegation was also impressed by the examples from many participantsshowing that simplification of trade procedures wo uld benefit all traders, and countries would find
themselves in what was referred to during the Sy mposium as a "win-win" situation.  Above all, there
was a very strong message from the business community that they had high expectations of the WTO,
to which Members now had to respond.  His delegation was also encouraged by the statements from
the different international organizations.  They too clearly saw a strong value that could be addedfrom the WTO, in terms of providing political mome ntum, and in working together to identify future
priorities, as well as in pursuing a comprehensive and well coordinated approach to technical
cooperation, as opposed to the piece-meal approaches taken so far.
1.4 His delegation was more than ever convinced of the need for a serious evaluation in the WTO
of the issues raised at the Symposium, and of the need to do so in a way which reflected all Members'interests in a coherent and comprehensive fashi on.  It was now up to Members to decide how to
respond to the issues raised and the expectations placed on them.  Some more time was needed to
reflect on how exactly to take the process forward, a nd how best to carry out the analytical work that
the Singapore Ministerial meeting had instructed  the Council to do.  The Community's views on this
were known. It was important to reflect on the process that would allow Members to look at tradefacilitation in a comprehensive and coherent way.
1.5 In order to assist the thinking process, he proposed that the Secretariat provide as early as
possible a report of the conference, identifying the arguments and issues raised, the recommendations
made and the different conclusions drawn by the various participants. If the Secretariat were able to
draw up a checklist on these lines as a first and priority step, until the fuller report could becompleted, his delegation would find that an extremel y helpful way forward.  A checklist of that kind
would be an excellent basis to discuss how to take the work further.
1.6 The representative of the United States stated that the Symposium had fulfilled its promise to
provide a unique opportunity for delegations to hear directly from the private sector about concerns in
this very important area.   Her delegation had observed common messages in the presentations given
at the Symposium, particularly with regard to an expectation for a continuing WTO role in this area,
and an emphasis on ongoing work, such as in the areas of preshipment inspection and customsvaluation.  The Symposium had also made clear how electronic commerce had rapidly emerged
within the customs and the overall trade environment.  The United States looked forward to seeing the
Secretariat paper and participating in future discussions on this subject.
1.7 The representative of Switzerland stated that for the first time government representatives
responsible for trade policy, representatives of the private sector and of other organizations active in
the field of trade facilitation had the opportunity to express their views in one forum.   He proposed
that the Secretariat draw up a  factual report on the Symposium.  Such a  report would enableG/C/M/31
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Members to identify the very numerous demands of the private sector.  These demands could be
placed in relation with, on the one hand, activities conducted in other international organizations and
on the other, with WTO areas covered by existing agreements.  On this basis, Members should
structure the analysis and draw the appropriate conclusions as part of the mandate from Singapore.
1.8 The representative of Nigeria stated that the Symposium on Trade Facilitation was timely and
significant in many ways.  The interaction between practitioners and policy officials had enabled both
sides to appreciate each others' perspectives of the subject and on how to proceed.  While conscious of
the need to avoid duplication of efforts, Members should remind themselves of the mandate given by
Ministers in Singapore and the need to meet their expectations.  Meanwhile, it was Nigeria's view that
the Symposium had succeeded in highlighting the ground so far covered by numerous bodies andorganizations and identified areas for possible future work by the WTO.   It was hoped that the
Secretariat would produce a report on the proceedings of the Symposium. Such a report would be
useful to the work of the Council in reporting to the General Council.  Such a report should also
compile a checklist of issues the WTO should take up in order to advance the process of trade
facilitation.  In this regard, the presentation by the representative of the WTO Secretariat at theSymposium should be taken into account in view of its analytical perspective from the WTO point of
view.  The special situation of developing and least developed countries should also be taken into
account in the compilation of such a report.  For example, firstly, on the subject of electronic
commerce, what measures were needed in order to fully integrate it into the system?  Secondly, the
role of customs and ports reforms in developing countries, how could these two important elements be
addressed in the WTO context?  There were quite a number of issues which needed clarification in the
light of the Symposium and it was his delegation's hope that the Secretariat's report would offer usefulguideposts.
1.9 The analysis and exchange of views on this subject should continue in the Council while
informal consultations should be intensified as to how future work should be handled.  The Council
oversaw a number of subsidiary bodies and organs of the WTO hence the subject of trade facilitation
should be addressed in the context of either a Working Group, a Working Party or a Committee onTrade Facilitation.  A multilateral framework on trade facilitation within the WTO would contribute
to concrete realization of market access commitments and concessions granted in the context of the
Uruguay Round.
1.10 The representative of Hong Kong, China stated that the Symposium had revealed the
existence of a commonality of views among the private sector on the problems and issues to be
addressed.  There was also agreement on how to tackle the problems.  As already mentioned by the
representative from European Communities, everybody could win from trade facilitation - exporters,
importers, consumers and governments.  Members now needed to reflect on how the WTO could take
this matter forward.  Several suggestions were made at the Symposium and monitoring of actualimplementation of agreements, drawing the threads to gether of the disparate measures that already
existed under the WTO, and ensuring coherence between them was one such element.   It would be
useful for the Secretariat to produce a checklist of th e issues raised and the suggestions of how to take
them forward, so that Members would jointly be ab le to examine how best and in which forum the
WTO could tackle this issue.
1.11 The representative of Canada believed that the Symposium was an important step in the
Council's deliberations on trade facilitation.  The Symposium had achieved fully its objectives of
providing a direct interface between traders and trade policy officials and in identifying the main areas
where traders faced obstacles when moving goods across borders.  Members had also benefited from
the presentations by other international organi zations, such as the WCO, UNCTAD and UN/ECE,
IMF and the World Bank on their work in the area of trade facilitation.   All Members agreed that the
Symposium had increased the information available and provided a greater understanding of the key
issues and problems in the area of trade facilitation.  Canada agreed with the points raised by the
representatives of the European Communities and Hong Kong, China with regard to the expectations
and common concerns that came from the private sector and industry.  As the Council prepared toG/C/M/31
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move to the next stage of the work on trade facilitation, as mandated by Ministers at the 1996
Singapore meeting, Canada proposed that the Secretariat prepare a compendium of the papers and
presentations given at the Symposium.  Canada would also propose that, as part of this document, the
WTO Secretariat prepare a factual report, an annotated inventory or checklist of the problems and
concerns raised by the private sector, the solutions to these problems by the private sector, and the
proposals by the private sector relating to the possible role of the WTO in the area of trade facilitation.Likewise, this factual annotated document should  also summarize the key points raised by other
international organizations at the Symposium.  This factual annotated paper and the compendium of
the Symposium's presentations and papers would be an important element to the Council's analytical
work.  It would not only provide transparency, bu t it would assist all Members in absorbing and
assessing the important presentations and key issues raised during the Symposium.
1.12 The representative from Malaysia, speaking on behalf of ASEAN Members, stated that the
presentations during the Symposium were very informative and had brought to the attention of
delegations the complexity of the matter.   The Symposium had made his delegation aware of the fact
that there were many organizations dealing with trade facilitation.  In particular, it had noted that
discussions/negotiations were underway to modify the Kyoto Convention.  He agreed with many of
the observations made regarding the need to improve and facilitate the trade process.  In this regard,
the following needed to be emphasized:  there had to be very close collaboration by all interested
parties and organizations;  further cost and a nxiety could be reduced by avoiding duplication of
efforts;  in view of the complexity of the matter, at this juncture, it would not be a timely initiative to
have a binding obligation in the area of trade facilitation.  Members should be devoting  efforts,
resources and sharing of experiences including supply of technical assistance to areas most needed.
His delegation was prepared to work with others in this area in the WTO as well as in other bodies.The information obtained from the Symposium provided useful inputs in Members' efforts to fulfil the
mandate as contained in the Singapore Ministerial Declaration.  His delegation could agree with the
suggestion that the Secretariat prepare a factual report on the outcome of the Symposium to guide the
Council in its future analytical work.
1.13 The representative of India recalled that at the end of the Symposium his delegation had made
a few preliminary remarks highlighting certain issues and concerns. His delegation recognized that the
Symposium was only one stage in the process of exploratory and analytical work which the Council
was directed to undertake by Ministers in Singapore.  The Council should continue with this work.
After getting all the papers relating to the Symposiu m, his delegation  wished to reflect further on the
subject before coming to any definite view.  Everyone  agreed that trade facilitation was a laudableobjective, but this objective should not be prejudiced by talking about WTO disciplines at this stage.
1.14 The representative of Korea stated that the Symposium was very informative with the wide
participation of the trading community and international organizations.  Many proposals and
recommendations had been put forward to the WTO for its consideration.  His delegation believed
that the findings of the Symposium suggested the necessity of binding rules for simplification and
harmonization of customs procedures for the enhancement of transparency and for the use of
electronic methods for speedier customs clearance.  These findings would stimulate future discussionson trade facilitation in the context of the WTO.  He acknowledged the contribution from APEC which
was circulated by the Chairman of the APEC Committee on Trade and Investment (CTI) during the
Symposium.  He wished to thank the Chairman of the APEC CTI for the useful information on
APEC's work in the area of trade facilitation.  He recognized that there would be certain limitations on
the scope of global application of what was achieved and what was being achieved at the regionallevel.  But, his delegation hoped that the WTO could benefit from the APEC experience when
addressing trade facilitation.  He supported the idea that the Secretariat prepare a checklist of the
results of the Symposium, including the written contributions.G/C/M/31
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1.15 The representative of Norway stated that the statement made by the Chairman at the outset of
the meeting might constitute an element which woul d assist the Council in the consideration of the
analytical aspect of the whole process.
1.16 The representative of Pakistan stated that the Symposium had gone a long way in clarifying
few misconceptions that existed on the subject of trade facilitation.  His delegation looked forward to
a report by the Secretariat which would act as a basis for further reflection on this subject.
1.17 The representative of Australia stated that the Symposium was useful.  It had enabled an open
exchange of views and had identified relevant issues and problems with the benefit of the experience
and input of business participants.  It had also permitted delegations to obtain more information on the
work done by other intergovernmental organizations on trade facilitation.  The Symposium had
contributed more to her delegation's understanding of the subject of trade facilitation.  Her delegation
now needed to reflect on how this process should be taken forward, and in this connection a report by
the Secretariat on the Symposium would be useful.
1.18 The Chairman proposed that the Council take note of the statements and that the Secretariat
be requested to prepare as soon as possible a factual paper on the Symposium.1.19 The Council so agreed.
2. Status of Notifications under the Provisions of the Agreements in Annex 1A of the WTO
Agreement (G/L/223 and Corr.1)
2.1 The Chairman drew attention to document G/L/223 and its corrigendum which contained a
comprehensive listing of notification obligations under the provisions of Annex 1A Agreements and
the compliance therewith.  The information in these documents reflected the situation as of
31 December 1997.   He recalled that document G/L/223 had been placed before the Council for its
consideration at its meeting of 4 February 1998.  However, due to the unavailability of the documentin the three official WTO languages, Members had had agreed to revert to it when the translations into
French and Spanish of this document had been completed, which was the case at this meeting.
2.2 The representative of Norway stated the WTO would not be able to supply Members with
information they required if those same Members did not scrupulously observe their notification
obligations. Consequently, Members had a responsibility to each other.  He hoped that by the time arevised version of this document was issued, many more Members would have fulfilled their
notification obligations.
2.3 The Council took note of the statements and the information provided in document G/L/223
and its corrigendum.3. Customs Union between the European Community and the Principality of Andorra
- Notification from the European Comm unity (WT/REG53/N/1 and WT/REG53/1)
3.1 The Chairman drew attention to the notifica tion from the European Community circulated in
document WT/REG53/N/1.  The text of the Agreement had been circulated in document
WT/REG53/1.
3.2 The Chairman proposed that the Committee on Regional Trade Agreements carry out the
examination of this Agreement in accordan ce with the following terms of reference:G/C/M/31
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"to examine, in light of the relevant provisions of the GATT 1994, the Customs Union
between the European Community and the Princi pality of Andorra and to submit a report to
the Council for Trade in Goods".
3.3 It was understood that the understanding read out by the Chairman of the Council for Trade in
Goods under item 7 of the Agenda of the meeting of the Council for Trade in Goods on20 February 1995, as contained in document WT/REG3/1, would apply mutatis mutandis  to this
examination.
3.4 The Council so agreed.
4. Hungary - Free Trade Agreement between Hungary and Israel
4.1 The representative of Hungary, speaking under "Other business", stated that a Free Trade
Agreement, within the meaning of Article  XX IV of GATT 1994, between Israel and Hungary had
entered into force on 1 February 1998.  Parties to the Agreement pursuant to Article XXIV:7(a) ofGATT 1994 and to the Understanding on Interpretation of Article XXIV of GATT 1994, had notified
it on 23 February to the Council for Trade in Goods, thus, satisfying the requirement for prompt
notification.  Parties to the Agreement had recently made available the text of the Agreement for
circulation.
4.2 The Council took note of the statement.
5. Report on consultations for the Chairperson of the Market Access Committee
5.1 The Chairman, speaking under "Other business", reported that he was still holding
consultations on the matter of the Chairperson of the Market Access Committee.  He hoped that this
could be cleared in the coming days. It would be his intention as soon as there was consensus on a
name to convene a brief meeting of the Council, ev en at short notice, in order for the Council to take
note of the consensus on that nomination2.
5.2 The Council took note of the statement.
6. Date of the next meeting
6.1 The Council took note that its next meeting was scheduled to take place on 21 April 1998, and
that the agenda would close by close of business, 8 April 1998.
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2 A meeting was convened on 25 March 1998 (G/C/M/32).