WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/L/425
5 December 2000
(00-5262)
COUNCIL FOR TRADE IN GOODS
CHAIRMAN’S PROGRESS REPORT (2000) ON TRADE FACILITATION
1. Introduction
Paragraph 21 of the Singapore Ministerial Declaration (WT/MIN/(96)/DEC) directs the
Council for Trade in Goods
"to undertake exploratory and analytical work, drawing on the work of other relevant
organizations, on the simplification of trade procedures in order to assess the scope for
WTO rules in this area."
In continuation of its work on trade facilitation,1 the Council for Trade in Goods held three
informal meetings (on 7 June, 13 July, and 26 October) in 2000.
Members invited the Secretariats of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the
International Trade Centre (ITC), the UN Econom ic Commission for Europe  (UN/ECE), the United
Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), and the World Customs Organization
(WCO) to attend the informal meetings.
A total of sixteen written contributions by Members, and one by an observer were received in
2000.  In addition, the WTO Secretariat updated its background note on work carried out in other
international organizations (G/C/W/80/Rev.1).  A summary table of all contributions is contained inthe Annex to this document.
2. National Experiences by Members
Several WTO Members shared their national trade facilitation experiences at the informal
meetings of the Council for Trade in Goods.  These presentations carry a number of common themes:one theme is that trade facilitation measures are taken by administrations in response to real world
problems such as challenges arising from increasing trade volumes, stagnant administrative budgets,
and greater facilitation demands from the private sector.  Second, the experiences highlight that
simplified official requirements are an important precondition for the application of information
technology.  The use of information technology, in  turn, is instrumental for the time savings and
efficiency improvements in the customs clearance process which Members reported.  A third
important theme is that simplified procedures and enhanced transparency benefit in particular small
and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Another observation that is common to the various national experiences is that
administrations from all regions are increasingly making efforts to foster a cooperative relationship
                                                     
1 For an overview of work carried out between 1997 – 1999, see: Status Report of the Council for
Trade in Goods, G/L/333.G/L/425
Page 2
between government and the trade community, be it by making import and export requirements and
other relevant information available in easily accessible ways (for example, on the Internet), through
customer liaison groups, advance rulings, green channels for compliant traders, or other measures.
One contribution analyzed various difficulties affecting land-locked developing countries,
including issues such as access to and from the sea, and freedom of transit.  This contribution
suggested that further study of trade facilitation should cover transit issues more extensively.
Delegations agreed to add a specific item on transit procedures and related problems of landlocked
countries to the agenda of future meetings.
3. Trade Facilitation Principles and Measures
Members elaborated on the significance of certain trade facilitation measures and best
practices, and their relationship with certain fundamental WTO principles embodied in the legal
framework of the WTO, e.g. in GATT Articles VIII and X.  The principles of transparency and
simplification were recurring themes present in all national experience papers.
The importance of measures to enhance transparency and predictability was emphasized by
all delegations.  GATT Article X requires Members to publish all laws, regulations, judicial decisions
and administrative rulings of general application related to import and export in such a manner as to
enable governments and traders to become acquainted with them.  However, transparency problems
were still seen to create delays and additional comp liance costs for traders, and to allow discretionary
practises to flourish.  Arbitrary or sudden changes in practices were identified as a cause of frequentdisruption.  Proposed measures to improve access to information and achieve greater awareness,
clarity and predictability with regard to the requirem ents and procedures relevant to international trade
include: (i) publication and making easily accessible all rules, regulations and administrative
guidelines relating to official trade procedures and requirements; (ii) advance rulings on tariff
classification and other forms of customs treatment, (iii) prior publication of new and amendedprocedures, (iv) establishment of enquiry points where all information on trade procedures was
available.
Likewise, the principle of simplification wa s highlighted by all delegations. A number of
measures proposed relating to this principle were also brought up under the headings such as
efficiency, least-trade restrictiveness, intervention by exception, or coordination.  Some measures
suggested under these headings relate to: (i) reduction of import, export and customs procedures to theabsolute minimum, providing a balance between facilitation and enforcement, (ii) introduction of
modern and flexible customs control systems based on risk-assessment techniques, and allowing for
post-clearance customs control, pre-arrival processing, and the granting of premium procedures or
fast-track facilities for authorised traders, (iii) adaptation of requirements and formalities to existing
international standards and instruments, (iv) concentration of official controls in the hands of oneagency, (v) a “single window” for the submission of required information, (vi) equal recognition of
current national standards in cases wher e international standards are lacking.
Other principles mentioned during the informal meetings were the concepts of
proportionality, non-discrimination, integrity, and consultation.
4. Development and Capacity Building Aspects of Trade Facilitation
Delegations underscored that capacity building and technical assistance are not only of
fundamental importance to implement trade facilitation measures, but that principles underlying the
multilateral trading system mandate positive efforts in favour of developing countries.  While it wasacknowledged that technical assistance was presently provided both bilaterally and through regional
or multilateral programmes, it was noted that efforts of intergovernmental agencies, donor andG/L/425
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recipient governments were not sufficiently coordinated, hence leaving gaps in some areas and
overlapping in others.  As a result, the limited resources available were not put to their best use.
Existing assistance programmes often addressed only specific aspects of trade facilitation; however,
as trade procedures were interconnected, it was important to develop holistic programmes covering
the entire set of interdependent tools and procedures relating to different stages of the tradetransaction.  Moreover, while many agencies and donors worked on trade facilitation, there were no
common benchmarks to which efforts could be targeted.
Some delegations expressed the view that experience with the implementation of some WTO
agreements suggested that assistance should not be a mere afterthought to WTO disciplines, but
should in the future be designed before negotiations were concluded.  Experience with other
organizations' technical assistance efforts further suggested that longer term maintenance and regularfollow-up were important to permanently root improvements that were achieved.
It was pointed out by several delegations that the private sector could be instrumental in
assisting with the implementation of  trade facilitation measures.
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ANNEX
Overview of written contributions on Trade Facilitation circulated in 2000
Symbol Member / Other
SourceDate Title and Topic
G/C/W/211 European Communities 6 June 2000 Basic GATT/WTO principles as
applied to trade facilitation
G/C/W/212 Korea 6 June 2000 Korea’s recent efforts to streamline the
customs clearance system
G/C/W/214 Canada/United States 9 June 2000 Proposal for a CTG work method on
trade facilitation
G/C/W/215 Japan 9 June 2000 Proposal for future work on trade
facilitation
G/C/W/221 Norway 18 July 2000 Norway’s experience on trade
facilitation – Electronic customs
procedures
G/C/W/80/Rev.1 WTO Secretariat 22 September 2000 Background Note by the Secretariat
on work carried out byintergovernmental organizations
G/C/W/230 UNCTAD Secretariat 17 October 2000 Transit problems for landlocked
developing countries
G/C/W/231 Hong Kong, China 19 October 2000 Import and export procedures and
requirements, and facilitation measures
G/C/W/232 Maldives 20 October 2000 Recent trade facilitation measures taken
by the Maldives' Customs Service
G/C/W/233 Australia 23 October 2000 Australia’s experience with customs
facilitation
G/C/W/234 Switzerland 23 October 2000 Simplifying customs procedures and
cutting red tape for SME’s
G/C/W/235 European Communities 24 October 2000 Technical assistance and capacity
building in relation to tradefacilitation
G/C/W/236 Japan 24 October 2000 Trade facilitation and customs
procedures
G/C/W/237 Paraguay 25 October 2000 Presentation concerning landlocked
countries
G/C/W/238 Canada 31 October 2000 Canada’s national experience
G/C/W/239 Chile 31 October 2000 Chile’s experience with the
modernization of customsadministration under use ofinformation technology
G/C/W/240 Costa Rica 31 October 2000 Costa Rica’s position on trade
facilitation
G/C/W/221/Add.1 Norway 31 October 2000 Norway’s experience on trade
facilitation – Electronic customs
procedures; Addendum
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