WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/C/W/443
5 December 2002
(02-6716)
Council for Trade in Goods Original:  English
OVERVIEW ON TRADE FACILITATION
Communication from Australia
The following communication, dated 4 December 2002, has been received from the
Permanent Mission of Australia.
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I. INTRODUCTION
 
1. In previous submissions to the Council for Tr ade in Goods (CTG) Australia outlined current
and planned measures aimed at the facilitation of international trade and outlined its program of
international technical assistance.  As the Counci l for Trade in Goods proceeds to 'review and, as
appropriate, clarify and improve relevant aspects of Articles V, VIII and X of GATT 1994 andidentify the trade facilitation needs and priorities of Members, in particular developing and least-
developing countries' Australia puts forward this submission to summarise its views on the basis of
the work done thus far.
 
II. THE BENEFITS OF TRADE FACILITATION
2. On 18 March 1998, the Chairman of the Council of Trade in Goods summarised the outcome
of a WTO Trade Facilitation Symposium (circulate d in document G/L/226) where he concluded that
the main concerns traders had voiced fell under the following headings:
• Excessive documentation requirements;
• Lack of automation and insignificant use of information-technology;
• Lack of transparency; unclear and unspecified import and export requirements;
• Inadequate procedures; especially a lack of audit-based controls and risk-assessment techniques;
and
• Lack of modernization of, and cooperation am ong customs and other government agencies,
which thwarts efforts to deal effectively with increased trade flows.
3. These concerns still exist in international trade.  The results of this year's consideration by the
Council for Trade in Goods reveal there may be potential for Articles V, VIII and X to address some
aspects of these concerns.G/C/W/443
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4. There are many benefits of measures to simplify import and export procedures.  For
governments it is better information and control, revenue protection and more efficient administration.
For business and industry, particularly small and medium sized enterprises it is added certainty and
transparency, reduced costs and delays, and more competitive import and export conditions.  For the
community it is lower prices and a more efficient public sector.
5. Australia promotes the development and, importantly, the implementation of fair and modern
trade procedures as a basis for good border administration.  It has implemented trade facilitation
initiatives on a number of levels:
• Unilaterally through modernising border procedures and practices to improve the efficiency with
which goods are cleared.  Activities have been expanded to include the pre-arrival and post-
clearance stages.  Examples are the use of pre-arrival information in respect of goods and personsto speed up clearance, as well as a post-clearance audit to ensure compliance.  The use of
information technology has enabled border agencies to improve risk management techniques and
to better access traders' information;
• Bilaterally through agreements with its trading partners;  and
• Multilaterally through accession to international agreements such as the World Customs
Organisation’s International Convention on the Simplification and Harmonisation of Customs
Procedures, otherwise known as the Kyoto Convention.
6. Other than WTO rules, these actions have been undertaken voluntarily in recognition of the
benefits that accrue to their implementation, partic ularly in relation to their ability to create a
consistent, transparent and predictable environment to facilitate trade.  The examination by the
Council for Trade in Goods has revealed general supp ort for measures that facilitate trade.  However,
it has also revealed differences in understandings ab out the requirements and the ability to implement
facilitation measures.
III. THE OPPORTUNITIES OFFERED BY WTO RULES
 
7. Australia supports the development of trade facilitation commitments by the WTO as a means
to provide both high level political impetus and an overall trade policy framework to ensure WTO
members follow a consistent approach to trade facilitation.  The advantages of more operational WTOrules on trade facilitation would be:
• providing a more harmonised and standardised approach to ensure consistent implementation;
• encouraging support and compliance from the trad e community for efficient and effective border
agency operation;
• providing for the necessary political impetus to guide national efforts to simplify and modernise
trade procedures and carry out domestic reforms that otherwise might not take place, even thoughtheir desirability is recognized; and
• offering strengthened rules and monitoring mech anisms, and thereby improving transparency and
predictability for traders and helping them compete on a non-discriminatory basis.
8. When considering a way forward, an approach is to incorporate into WTO Articles a number
of high level principles for formalities and procedures which underpin other extant and modern
multilateral instruments for facilitating trade, including:G/C/W/443
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• the application of procedures and practices that are predictable, consistent and transparent;
• the provision to interested parties of all the necessary information regarding laws, regulations,
administrative guidelines, procedures and practices;
• the adoption of modern techniques such as risk management and audit-based controls, and the
maximum practicable use of information technology;
• cooperation wherever appropriate with other national authorities, other administrations and the
trading communities; and
• the provision of easily accessible processes for administrative and judicial review.
9. Moreover, the facilitation of international trade must be achieved without compromising
appropriate standards of control for the protection of society, revenue collection and to ensure
compliance with national laws and regulations while facilitating legitimate trade.  Some observations
about trade facilitation imply a balance must be brokered between control and facilitation. It is useful
to note that many measures used to facilitate trade and the movement of goods are also control
enhancing.  For example, the advance provision of information for the clearance of goods will at the
same time provide longer lead times for assessment by authorities.  Electronic submission of trade
data enables faster and more sophisticated compliance analysis to be undertaken.  Risk managementprinciples direct resources to where they are most needed.  Closer relationships with the trading
community enable a better understanding of trading patterns and engage industry cooperation against
illegitimate trade.  The benefits of trade facilitation are multi-faceted, but are unlikely to be fully
realised while their implementation remains for the most part voluntary.
IV. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND CAPACITY BUILDING
 
10. Australia welcomed the Doha Ministerial Declaration’s recognition of the case for further
trade facilitation and the need for enhanced technical assistance and capacity building in this area.
11. Australia agrees that measures to deliver technical assistance should be an integral part of any
WTO trade facilitation negotiations as it would be inadvisable to assume commitments in the WTO in
cases where Members do not have the capacity to implement measures. Consequently, any agreement
or understanding on GATT Articles V, VIII and X should take account of different levels of
development amongst different WTO members, and recognise the needs and difficulties faced bydeveloping countries, especially the least developed, and provide practical means to assist their
development.
12. Any future WTO provisions should therefore include a range of special and differential
treatment provisions, including less onerous initial commitments for developing countries, transitionalperiods for the assumption of commitments, and more stable provisions regarding the supply of
technical assistance.
13. Recognition should be given to the existence of the trade facilitation instruments and work
plans of other organisations such as the WCO,  APEC, UNCTAD, UNECE along with the World Bank
and other development agencies. The WTO should take an approach that supports, rather than
duplicates, the work of these other organisations.  In this way the successful achievement of a unifiedset of trade facilitation expectations does not need to be a complex undertaking.  For example, the
communications from the World Customs Organisation have shown that the revised Kyoto
Convention on the simplification and harmonisation of customs procedures already delivers theG/C/W/443
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current requirements of the Articles V, VIII a nd X.  The Convention also makes complementary
provisions for enhanced customs control.  Importantly, the World Customs Organisation is able to
promote the Convention, and provide assistance to implement the convention, against a backdrop of
other trade facilitation instruments (such as the harmonised system for the classification of goods) and
within the context of a broader capacity building framework.
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