G/TFA/W/13  
 
13 June 2019  
(19-4047) Page: 1/4 
Committee on Trade Facilitation  Original: English  
 
DEVELOPING THE ARTIC LE 1.4 NOTIFICATION  
COMMUNICATION  FROM THE UNITED STA TES 
The following communication , dated 12 June 2019 , is being circulated at the request of the 
delegation of the United States for Members' information.  
 
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INTRODUCTION  
The United States submitted its WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) "transparency notification " 
on 13 June 2017. The "transparency notification " consists of notification obligations in TFA Articles 
1.4, 10.4, 10.6, and 12.2 and are key to r eaping the benefits of the TFA. Specifically, Article 1.4 is 
a critical tool for traders seeking trade -related information that is easily accessible and 
comprehensible.  
 
Below we share the US experience in publishing relevant trade -related laws and regulat ions, general 
rulings and procedures, and practical guides for traders. In addition, we examine the US experience 
in drafting the Article 1.4 notification and using its National Trade Facilitation Committee (NTFC) to 
request information from over 20 federa l agencies. First, the United States reaffirms the benefits of 
transparency and good regulatory practices in reducing trade costs. Second, the United States 
shares the legal framework that creates the expectation of transparency and ensures availability of  
trade -related information. Finally, the United States shares a case study of our experience using the 
NTFC to identify relevant trade -related information (Article 1.1) and coordinate government -wide 
clearance of the Article 1.4 notification for submission . 
 
1  BENEFITS OF TRANSPAR ENCY  
Implementing Transparency and Good Regulatory Practices Reduces Trade Costs  
1.1.  TFA Article 1.1 sets out the types of trade -related information that WTO Members must provide 
in an easily accessible manner. The information required b y Article 1.1(a) -(j) is essential for 
governments, traders, and other interested parties to become familiar with before beginning to trade 
with new trading partners. Examples include publication of procedures for importation, exportation, 
and transit; the applied rates of duties and taxes; fees and charges; and procedures for appeal or 
review.  
1.2.  Difficult to find, complex, and overly burdensome trade regulations impair trade and increase 
compliance cost for governments and traders. To increase trade -related i nformation availability and 
predictability, the TFA incorporated good regulatory practices into Article 1 (Publication) and Article  2 
(Notice and Comment). According to the OECD Trade Facilitation Indicators, ensuring availability of 
trade -related information (TFA Articles 1 and 2) has the potential to reduce trade costs between 
2.4 – 2.8 percentage points depending on each country’s level of development.1 
1.3.  In addition to reduced trade costs, regulatory transparency benefits traders, citizens, and 
governments. For traders, transparency provides predictability and uniformity, reduces compliance 
                                                
1 https://www.oecd.org/tad/policynotes/oecd -tfi-implementation -impact -trade -costs.pdf  G/TFA/W/13  
 
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  costs, and reduces delays at the border. For citizens, transparency contributes to rising standards 
of living and provides new opportunities for small and mediu m-sized enterprises (SMEs).  
1.4.  For governments, being transparent about laws, regulations, and requirements facilitates 
compliance and improves efficiency. When there is one set of consistent rules for all ports, customs 
officers, and traders, the long -term g overnment enforcement costs decrease and revenue collection 
improves. Several Least Developed Country Members of the WTO (LDCs) have expressed concerns 
that informal trade remains an obstacle to enforcement and revenue collection. Consequently, it is 
vital for customs administrations to clearly communicate trade rules with the "informal sector " in a 
way that can be easily understood and, as a result, invites and facilitates compliance. By emphasizing 
transparency, accountability and predictability are impro ved for both traders and governments.  
2  THE US APPROACH TO I NSTITUIONALIZING TRA NSPARENCY  
Creating the Expectation and Legal Framework for Publication  
2.1.  The United States implements key aspects of TFA Article 1 (Publication) and Article 2 (Notice 
and Comment) through a coordinated legal framework that ensures federal agencies publish 
government and rulemaking information. The Federal Register Act (1935), the Administrative 
Procedures Act (1946), and the E -Government Act (2002) established the expectation of inf ormation 
publication for federal agencies. The US Article 1.4 notification cites several publication methods 
used to deliver the trade -related information to the public. The United States relies upon 
www.govinfo.gov ; the Fed eral Register; the Code of Federal Regulations; Regulations.gov; and each 
federal agency to make available the trade -related information required by Article 1.1. The detailed 
descriptions below provide more information about each method of publication, as well as 
information on the main US laws that support these methods.  
2.2.  www.govinfo.gov : Previously known as the US Government Publishing Office Federal Digital 
System, this website provides free public access to official public ations from the executive, 
legislative, and judicial branches of the US Federal Government. Users can easily access or search 
for official documents on the website including laws, regulations, congressional records, presidential 
memoranda, and court opinio ns.  
2.3.  Federal Register : The Federal Register Act (1935) established the Federal Register, which is 
the official daily publication for rules, proposed rules, and notices of federal agencies and 
organizations, as well as executive orders and other presidentia l documents.2 The Office of the 
Federal Register of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) publishes the Federal 
Register in conjunction with the Government Printing Office (GPO). For each regulation, the Federal 
Register includes a title,  unique identifier, brief description, an explanation of why the regulation is 
being proposed, and a point of contact in case of any questions. Since July 2010, the Federal Register 
is also available in an online format ( www.federalregister.gov ). The Federal Register keeps other 
federal agencies, Congress, and the public informed about the regulatory process.  
2.4.  Code of Federal Regulations : The Code of Federal Regulations is an annual supplement to 
the Federal Register that aggregates all operative agency regulations. It is divided into 50 titles that 
represent broad areas subject to federal regulation and can be found online at 
https://www.govinfo.gov/app/collection/cfr . The US notification frequently references Title 19 of the 
Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) – Customs Duties because it is the most relevant title for trad ers 
who want to become familiar with US customs regulations.  
2.5.  Access to the Regulatory Process : The United States implements key aspects of TFA Articles 
1 and 2 through the Administrative Procedures Act (APA). Enacted in 1946, the APA mandated public 
access  to information of all proposed federal regulations while also ensuring that all comments and 
agency responses are public. The publication methods described above help implement the APA by 
informing the public of potential regulatory changes, while Regulat ions.gov allows an interested 
stakeholder to submit comments on any proposed changes. Regulations.gov is a centralized, 
government -wide rulemaking portal for the public, which allows users to search for rules and submit 
comments electronically on the text of proposed rules. For example, the most recent US notice and 
solicitation for comments related to US customs and trade facilitation objectives is available at US -
                                                
2 https://www.archives.gov/federal -register/the -federal -register/about.html#whatis  G/TFA/W/13  
 
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  Japan Trade Agreement Requests for Comments on Negotiating Objectives 
https://www.regulations.gov/docket?D=USTR -2018-0034. The United States has found the final 
regulations that result from this process are clearer and more effective when stakeholders have had 
an opportunity to ta ke part in the rulemaking dialogue and to provide regulators with data on the 
potential impacts of a proposed rule.  For additional discussion on "notice and comment " procedures, 
please refer to the US paper, "The Role of 'Notice and Comment ' and Related A dministrative 
Procedures in Trade Facilitation Implementation ", G/TFA/W/6 . 
2.6.  Federal Agency Online Publication : The United States notification includes specific URL 
locations to direct traders to additio nal relevant trade -related information published by a federal 
agency in addition to that published on www.govinfo.gov . For example, the notification includes the 
URL location for basic importing and exporting procedures main tained by US Customs and Border 
Protection (CBP).  
2.7.  A Key Step to Online Publication : For the United States, a key to facilitating the publication 
of government information online was the E -Government Act of 2002.3 The Act established a broad 
framework of le gal measures requiring federal agencies to use internet -based information 
technology to enhance citizen access to government information and services. The Act established 
the Office of Electronic Government to ensure that federal agencies are successful in  developing 
online information portals (webpages) that contain relevant agency information or services. The 
result was a concerted effort by all federal agencies to ensure government information was published 
in an online format and ensured the United Stat es was able to comply with TFA Article 1.2 
(Information Available Through Internet). The Act also required agencies to begin accepting public 
comments on proposed rules electronically, which evolved into Regulations.gov.  
3  CASE STUDY: HOW THE UNITED STATES D EVELOPED ITS ARTICLE  1.4 NOTIFICATION  
3.1.  In 2017, the United States used its NTFC to develop the transparency notification (TFA Articles 
1.4; 10.4.3; 10.6.2; and 12.2)4, which was circulated as G/TFA/N/USA/1 . The Office of the United 
States Trade Representative (USTR), which is responsible for developing and coordinating US trade 
policy, took the lead in drafting an outline for the notification. The outline was divided into four 
sections: notif ied under Article 1.4; notified under Article 10.4; notified under Article 10.6; and 
notified under Article 12.2. This case study will focus on the development of the Article 1.4 
notification.  
3.2.  In preparation for the Article 1.4 notification, USTR first ou tlined each provision of Article 1.4 
that required information. For example, USTR 's draft transparency notification outline listed each 
subparagraph of Article 1.1(a) -(j) in need of an official publication location. USTR circulated the 
notification outline  to the NTFC and solicited input from each of the NTFC 's over 20 federal agency 
representatives. The NTFC representatives subsequently circulated the draft transparency 
notification outline within their agency seeking review and comment. The NTFC Secretary  compiled 
the comments received from each federal agency into one comprehensive notification and 
recirculated the comprehensive notification to NTFC representatives, seeking each agency 's final 
approval. After receiving approval from all 20 federal agencies, the United States submitted its 
Article 1.4 notification to the WTO Secretariat on 13 June 2017.  
3.3.  The United States incorporated three strategic good practices into its Article 1.4 not ification. 
These practices are easily replicable and designed to ensure that a notification is easily 
comprehensible to traders seeking information.  
• Easy to Read Format : use headings to ensure that traders, even those new to international 
trade (including importing, exporting, and transit) can find the information necessary to 
engage in trade  
• As Specific as Possible : identify specific URLs for relevant information rather than providing 
a generic location for official publications  
                                                
3 https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/PLAW -107publ347/pdf/PLAW -107publ347.pdf  
4 For additional information on the US NTFC, please refer to the US experience sharing paper titled, 
"Structure and Role of the US National Trade Facilitation Committee ", G/TFA/W/5 . G/TFA/W/13  
 
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  • Provide Details : include de scriptions for the information a trader will encounter for each 
official publication location  
3.4.  Easy to Read Format : The United States structured the transparency notification to include 
each subparagraph listed in Article 1.4(a) as a heading and listed the  relevant websites below the 
subparagraph. By separating the requested information into headings, the notification became an 
easy-to-read tool to find specific information for a trader. For example, if a trader is searching for 
the applied rates of duties and taxes, the trader can easily find the website 
http://www.hts.usitc.gov/current , where up -to-date tariff and tax information is published, in 
accordance with subheading Article 1.4(b).  
3.5.   As Specific as Pos sible: The United States identified direct links to relevant information 
when available rather than simply providing generic location for official publications. For example, 
in Article 1.4(a) the United States provided the location for general information regarding import, 
export, and transit procedures located on the CBP website: http//www.cbp.gov . The United States 
went a step further and included specific URLs to CBP information on importing and exporting basics, 
advanced  rulings, and informed compliance publications. The United States provided similar 
information for the US Department of Agriculture, including a general information website, 
http://www.usda.gov , and additional direct lin ks to USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service 
product specific factsheets that address import and export information for traders.  
3.6.   Provide Details : The U S notification provides additional information that may be helpful to a 
trader searching for tr ade information for the first time. The US notification offers simplified 
explanations for each official publication location for additional context. Under Article 1.4(a), the 
United States listed as an official publication location the CFR and its website . While this information 
is accurate, to be even more helpful, the United States provided context about the CFR by explaining 
that Title 19 – Customs Duties is the relevant chapter.  
4  CONCLUSION  
Notifications, and the transparency they provide, are essential  to the proper functioning of the TFA, 
the Committee on Trade Facilitation, and the WTO. The United States encourages Members to submit 
their transparency notifications (Articles 1.4; 10.4.3; 10.6.2; and 12.2) to the WTO Secretariat, and 
if needed, seek te chnical assistance to support the development of these notifications. It is important 
to note that these notifications serve as an invaluable source information for current and future 
traders. The United States remains committed to reviewing Members’ notif ications to ensure they 
meet the terms of the TFA.  
 
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