G/TFA/W/25/Rev.2  
 
18 December 2020  
(20-9185) Page: 1/3 
Committee on Trade Facilitation  Original: English  
 
SUPPORTING THE TIMELY AND EFFICIENT RELEASE OF GLOBAL GOODS  
THROUGH ACCELERATED IMPLEMENTATION OF THE  
WTO TRADE FACILITATION AGREEMENT  
COMMUNICATION FROM AUSTRALIA ; BRAZIL ; COLOMBIA ; EUROPEAN UNION ; ICELAND ; JAPAN ; 
NORWAY ; THE SEPARATE CUSTOMS TERRITORY OF TAIWAN, PENGHU, KINMEN AND MATSU ; AND 
THE UNITED STATES  
Revision  
The following communication, received 15 December  2020, is being circulated at the request of the 
delegations of  Australia ; Brazil ; Colombia ; European Union ; Iceland ; Japan ; Norway ; the Separate 
Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu ; and the United States . 
 
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1. Communication, cooperation, and automation are three essential elements to ensure the 
functioning of modern border operations. The WTO is working to support the global response to 
COVID -19 by providing a roadmap for countries to access and trade medical and health supplies and 
equipment across borders. The COVID -19 pandemic is a global issue that requires a global resp onse. 
Cross -border trade is a critical channel for getting essential products to those who need them. As 
WTO Members, we are called to demonstrate leadership by committing to ensure the smooth and 
continuous trade in goods.  
2. To this end, we urge all WTO Mem bers to accelerate implementation of the WTO Trade 
Facilitation Agreement (TFA). The TFA provides predictability, simplicity, and uniformity in customs 
and other border procedures. Ongoing implementation of the TFA is already resulting in greater 
customs e fficiency, more effective revenue collection, and better access for Micro, Small, and 
Medium Enterprises (MSME) to new export opportunities. Measures that improve transparency in 
customs practices, reduce documentary requirements, and allow for processing of documents before 
goods arrive have had an immediate impact on traders. The TFA holds within its mandate the 
regulatory infrastructure to support global supply chains. Now more than ever is the time to harness 
and capitalize on the benefits of the TFA th rough its accelerated implementation.  
3. For example, many WTO Members at all levels of development have already fully implemented 
Article  23.2 to establish, maintain, or designate an existing mechanism as a National Trade 
Facilitation Committee (NTFC). A key  responsibility of an NTFC is to institutionalize domestic 
coordination among all customs -related agencies and stakeholders. As such, the role of an NTFC is 
paramount in these fast -moving times because it ensures a whole -of-government approach to allow 
the efficient movement of goods. An NTFC is the best mechanism to ensure communication, 
coordination, and automation of border processes. This is only one example of how the TFA is playing 
a crucial role to help traders respond to the COVID -19 pandemic. There  is room for the TFA to 
contribute more.  
4. As WTO Members, we commit to the accelerated implementation of the Trade Facilitation 
Agreement, in particular:  G/TFA/W/25/Rev.2  
 
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  Article 1: Publication  
5. Today it is vitally important to improve transparency and information sharing between 
governments and the private sector by publishing on a single, free, and publicly available website 
the information in Article 1.1.1 and Article 1.2.1,  highlighting where possible those areas that enable 
traders to access timely guidance about COVID -19 and customs border operations. We urge all 
Members to utilize electronic means to disseminate this important information, including through 
accelerated implementation of Arti cle 1.4.  
Article 7.1: Pre -Arrival Processing  
6. Those countries that already provide for advance filing of electronic import declarations and 
information are better able to release critical medical supplies and personal protective equipment 
for home use or co nsumption. We urge all Members to accelerate their implementation of Article 7.1 
in order for all goods to move to their final destinations upon arrival at a port of entry, without hours 
and days being lost during the border clearance process.  
Article 7.3:  Separation of Release from Final Determination of Customs Duties, Taxes, 
Fees, and Charges  
7. We urge all Members to accelerate implementation of Article 7.3 in order to release imported 
goods, which meet regulatory requirements, for home use or consumption - even when uncertainty 
exists over the classification of those goods or the duties owed. Article 7.3 also provides that a 
country may utilize a range of procedures to ensure the payment of customs duties.  If the goods 
are safe and meet regulatory require ments, the issue of tariff uncertainty should not delay delivery 
of goods, especially critical medical supplies and personal protective equipment.  
Article 7.8: Expedited Shipments  
8. Implementation of Article 7.8 is also essential at this time. Those countrie s that already 
provide for expedited release of goods carried by persons who apply for such under Article 7.8.1 
while maintaining customs controls are in a much better position to pivot during the current 
pandemic and at other critical times. Expedited shi ppers already have supply chains in place 
designed to handle important medicines and medical supplies, including temperature -controlled 
holds and storage. Expedited shippers have point -to-point visibility into the movement of crucial 
medical supplies and p ersonal protective equipment as well as the automation to provide advance 
manifest and customs information and handling systems. These closed -loop delivery services are 
operating and delivering essential medical supplies and personal protective equipment w hile most 
commercial airlines are not operating at full capacity.  
Article 8: Border Agency Cooperation  
9. Coordination of efforts among regulators to smooth border operations is imperative at this 
time. We call upon each regulator to make necessary modificati ons to its operations whenever 
possible to respond to the needs of its people and traders. We further call on all Members to 
strengthen cooperation between authorities responsible for the regulation of trade, including 
customs -to-customs by implementing Ar ticle 12.2.2 without delay.  
Article 10.1: Formalities and Documentation Requirements   
Article 10.2: Acceptance of Copies  
Article 10.4: Single Window  
10. This is the time and opportunity to tackle formalities such as consularization requirements. 
There is no le gitimate trade enforcement purpose served by requiring that traders have invoices, 
bills of lading, or certificates of origin stamped or signed by foreign ministries and consulates as part 
of a Member 's import process. These formalities add cost and time t o imported goods. At a time 
when countries are desperate for free and fair access to personal protective equipment and medical 
supplies, requiring that importers visit or mail documents to foreign ministries and consulates is an 
egregious waste of resource s. Noting that our response to the pandemic has required many G/TFA/W/25/Rev.2  
 
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  governments to restrict or close access to many offices and ministries and the continuing need to 
limit our person -to-person interactions, we encourage all Members to reconsider the need to 
maintain such formalities.  
11. COVID -19 has caused us all to take social distancing seriously and limit our person -to-person 
interactions. Customs and border operations that are automated and use data and digital images 
rather than paper documents and document run ners make traders, border officers, and citizens 
safer.  What is critical is the information. This is the time and place to pivot away from putting 
importance on paper, stamps, or the colour of ink used to sign a document.  
12. Today, when social distancing is essential to stop the spread of COVID -19, we urge all 
countries to take pro -active steps to automate customs processes and remove unnecessary 
interactions among its people. These actions allow the release of goods for home use or consumption 
without requir ing routine paper documents and stamping of documents. We urge all Members to 
accelerate the implementation of these three articles to reduce documents, formalities, and paper -
based processes with a view to automating their operations and processes.  
13. There is no doubt that the tools available to implement the TFA are available and there is 
strong technical assistance and capacity building available to developing countries to help them 
implement and make these critical changes. COVID -19 highlights why impleme ntation of the TFA is 
so important and should be part of each Member's plan to achieve the 'new normal '. We look forward 
to continued dialogue and experience sharing in the Trade Facilitation Committee to further realize 
the benefits of this Agreement, whi ch supports our shared global response to the COVID -19 
pandemic.  
 
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