RESTRICTED  
  
G/TFA/M/2 0 
 
22 December  2022 
(22-9716) Page: 1/3 
Committee on Trade Facilitation  Original: English  
 
 
MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE COMMITTEE ON TRADE FACILITATION  
26 NOVEMBER 2021  
CHAIRPERSON: MR CHRISTOPHER O 'TOOLE (CANADA)  
Contents  
1   INTRODUCTION  ................................ ................................ ................................ .........  1 
2   REVIEW OF THE OPERATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE AGREEMENT IN 
ACCORDANCE WITH ARTICLE 23.1.6 OF THE TRADE FACILITATION AGRE EMENT AS 
CONTAINED IN DOCUMENT G/TFA/W/41/REV.10  ................................ ..........................  1 
3   OTHER BUSINESS  ................................ ................................ ................................ ....... 3 
 
1  INTRODUCTION  
1.1.  The Chair welcomed delegations and recalled that the agenda for the meeting had been 
circulated in documents WTO/AIR/TFA/ 20 with only one agenda item, the review of the operation 
and implementation of the Trade Facilitation Agreement in accordance with Article 23.1 .6 (the 
Review), as reflected in document G/TFA/ W/41/Rev.10.  
1.2.  The meeting had been convened under Article 2 of the Rules of Procedure of the General 
Council, which the Committee on Trade Facilitation (the Committee) had agreed to apply 
mutatis  mutandis , in accordance with its own rules of procedure. This allowed the meeting to be 
convened at short notice in order to  comply with the Committee's desire to conclude the Review 
before the 12th Ministerial Conference  (MC12) .  
2  REVIEW OF THE OPERATION AND IMPLEMENT ATION OF THE AGREEMENT IN 
ACCORDANCE WITH ARTICLE 23.1.6 OF THE TRADE FACILITATION AGREEMENT AS 
CONTAINED IN DOCUMENT G/TFA/W/41/REV.10  
2.1.  The Committee agreed  to adopt the Review Report contained in G/TFA/W/41/Rev.10 . The 
report would be issued as document G/TFA/2.  
2.2.  The Chair congratulated the Committee on the milestone achievement of successfully 
concluding the first Review. The Review had been  the result of inte nsive work since the beginning 
of the year, taking nine months from start to finish. The procedure had started with a roadmap, 
followed by ten informal meetings, in addition to its inclusion on the agenda of five formal meetings 
of the Committee.  
2.3.  He recalled that t he Secretariat had first circulated a factual report in May 2021, reflecting the 
first four years of the implementation of the Agreement. The substance of the Review was driven by 
Members' submissions and active discussions, with a total of 43 communications and 
13 future -looking  proposals feeding into the Review. This resulted in 17  decisions and  
recommendations for future work of the Committee. The Review also recognized how work of the 
Committee had been impacted by the COVID -19 pandemic  and how the Committee had taken steps 
to allow Members to share their experiences on the trade facilitating measures they took to face the 
pandemic. The update to the 2015 Trade Monitoring Report, commissioned to the WTO Secretariat 
through the Review, woul d be an important tool to conduct the next assessment of the Agreement, 
showing new data on the benefits of TFA implementation.  G/TFA/M/20  
 
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  2.4.  He concluded  his remarks  by thanking Members for their constructive engagement in the 
review process, for their time and effort s to reach the conclusion of the Review in a way that could 
make all participants proud. He also thanked the Secretariat for their support.  
2.5.  The delegate of Ecuador  recognized and emphasized the effort from the Chair and from the 
WTO Secretariat team. The process had been difficult, and he appreciated the contributions from 
Members and the constructive dialogue  that ensued . The exercise had helped to clarify many aspects 
of the Agreement and brought together new ideas of how to work together in the future. He 
expressed deep appreciation for all the work done.  
2.6.  The delegate of the United States  echoed the previous intervention and thanked the Chair for 
his leadership in guiding a diverse group of Members into a consensus document which was a 
tremendous succes s. She also thanked the WTO Secretariat for the work that went into the Review  
— the research, the drafting, circulating the documents promptly. This was a tremendous task, and 
the effort was recognized.  
2.7.  The delegate of Japan  expressed Japan's appreciatio n for the hard work by the Chair and the 
Secretariat.  
2.8.  The delegate of United Kingdom  supported the previous remarks of appreciation and gratitude 
to the Chair and the Secretariat for their dedication throughout th e process, without which the 
completion of  the Review would not have been possible. He also thanked Members of the Committee 
for enabling a successful outcome just ahead of MC12 .  
2.9.  The delegate of Switzerland  also supported the sentiments expressed in previous statements 
in thanking the Chair and t he Secretariat for the tremendous work done. She appreciated that the 
process had been a platform to exchange the status of implementation and that it was a very helpful 
exercise.  
2.10.  The Chair indicated that the Committee would resume its meetings in 2022 an d would start 
implementing the decisions and recommendations stemming from the Review.  
2.11.  The delegate of Nepal  on behalf of the LDC Group congratulated the Chair and appreciated 
for the work and the effort that it took to lead the Committee to produce a bro ad and 
consensus -based document. This should be an example in the WTO functioning in other review 
processes. He thanked the WTO Secretariat team for their hard work and appreciated Members' 
flexibility and constructive contribution in the process. He apolo gized as sometimes the LDC Group 
was not always able to meet in accordance with the schedule, but they tried to engage and contribute 
to the process. He appreciated the support from Members in this process.  
2.12.  The delegate of Mongolia  on behalf of the LLDC group congratulated the Chair and the 
Committee for the adoption of the Review document, and appreciated the dedication and leadership 
form the Chair to achieve consensus in this process. He thanked the constructive engagement by 
Members and the support from the WTO Secretariat.  
2.13.  The delegate of Mexico  thanked the Chair and the WTO Secretariat for the hard work of the 
last months and highlighted how it was possible to reach consensus when constructively working 
together and hoped this  was kept in mind during discussions at the upcoming Ministerial Conference.  
2.14.  The delegate of Hong Kong, China  joined others in thanking the Chair for leading the Review 
process and the WTO Secretariat for their support. At the start, he did not think it w ould be possible 
to conclude the Review this year, but he was pleased with the timely and substantive result.  
2.15.  The delegate of Ukraine  thanked the Chair and the WTO Secretariat for the support throughout 
the Review process and congratulated the successful outcome .  
2.16.  The delegate of the European Union  thanked the Chair, the WTO Secretariat, and the Members 
for their constructive engagement. The beginning was a bit slow, but the process had been sped up 
with the roadmap proposed by the Chair, his leadership, h is proposals and now the Committee had 
a robust document that would set the tone of future work in the Committee.  G/TFA/M/20  
 
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  2.17.  The Chair thanked for the kind words and reminded Members that 2022 would be a year full 
of positive work for the Committee.  
3  OTHER BUSINESS  
3.1.  The Chair recalled that he had suggested at the October meeting of the Committee to hold an 
event in the first half of 2022 to mark the 5th year anniversary of the entry into force of the TFA.  He 
reminded Members that he would explore this idea further and  would be reaching out mid -December 
to seek out Members' views on the suggestion.  
3.2.  The meeting was adjourned . 
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