RESTRICTED  
  
G/TFA/M/2  
 
14 August 2017  
(17-4357) Page: 1/8 
Committee on Trade Facilitation   
 
MINUTES OF THE MEETI NG 
HELD IN THE CENTRE W ILLIAM RAPPARD 19 JULY 2017 
Chairman :  
H.E. M r. Daniel Blockert ( Sweden ) 
1  INTRODUCTION  
1.1.  The Chairman  welcomed delegations to the meeting of the Trade Facilitation Committee (TF  
Committee /TFC). He recalled that the proposed agenda for the session ha d been circulated in 
WTO/AIR/TFA/2  and that i t contained  three main agenda items : First, delegations were invited to 
consider the proposal by Argentina and Norway on the TFC's rules of procedure and to advance 
Committee wor k on the matter, to the extent possible.  Second, they would b e updated by the 
Secretariat on the state of the ratification and of the notification processes before then  also being 
briefed on activities of the Trade Facilitation Agreement Facility.  Under ot her business, he planned 
to raise the date of the Committee's subsequent meeting. He proposed that Members adopt the 
agenda.  
1.2.  The agenda was adopted .  
2  CONSIDERATION OF PRO POSAL BY ARGENTINA A ND NORWAY (G/TFA/W/2 ) AND 
FINALISATION OF WORK  ON THE RULES OF PRO CEDURE IN THE TRADE FACILITATION 
COMMITTEE  
2.1.  This part of the meeting was conducted in informal mode .  
2.2.  The Committee took note  of the statements made.   
3  UPDATE BY THE SECRET ARIAT ON THE STATE O F THE RATIFICATION A ND OF THE 
NOTIFICATION PROCESS ES 
3.1.  The Chairman  invited the Secretariat to update the Committee on the state of the ratification 
and of the various notification processes , noting that they were crucial for the T rade Facilitation 
Agreement's effective operation and require d regular attention from the T FC. The Agreement’s 
complex implementation architecture ma de it imperative to have a good sense of where Members 
stood with respect to  their respective commitments and what still need ed to be done.  
3.2.  The Secretariat  updated Members on the latest state of the ratification process . Following the 
Trade Facilitation Agreement's entry into force on 22 February, acceptance instruments had 
continued to come in. The mandated threshold of 110 instruments had already been surpassed on 
that very same day when a total of 112 acceptances had been re gistered. The inflow of ratification 
notifications had continued over the course of the weeks and months that  followed. The current 
overall number of acceptance instruments stood at 121, which meant that roughly three quarters 
of all WTO  Members  had already concluded their res pective processes.  
3.3.  Looking a t the notification timeline, one could see that, apart from one big spark - related to 
the moment when the EU had deposit ed – there had been a f airly steady increase. Instruments 
kept coming in and several more w ere at various stages of finalisation.  G/TFA/M/2  
 
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  3.4.  In terms of regional distribution, all parts of the world were represented, some slightly more 
than others . Instruments had been received from all regions. Nine had been deposited since 22 
February.  
3.5.  As far as notifications were concerned, input had been received on many aspects, going 
beyond the category A, B and C notifications. This marked one of the biggest changes compared to 
the previous developments. Submissions were now also available regarding article 22  of the Trade 
Facilitation Agreement (TFA) , as well as regarding various provisi ons under s ection I of the TFA 
(such as articles 1:4, 10:4 :3, 10:6 :2 and 12:2 :2). 
3.6.  With respect to the category A, B and C designations, a total of 96 Members had provided 
notifications so far. Some of them covered all three boxes  (A, B and C ), some had only provided 
input on category A, and some had notified category A and B commitments, informing that nothing 
would be placed under category C. Analysing  the regional distribution of those notifications , one 
found that they originated from d ifferent parts of the world. As far as coverage was concerned, 
more than 40  per cent of all notifiable items had already been designated as category A 
commitments. In l ight of the fact that the TFA had already entered into force, that implied that a 
substantive part of the Agreement sho uld already be applied  by develo ping and least developed 
countries (LDCs) . The overall application level was even higher since all develo ped Members were 
obliged to implement the entire Agreement from the moment it had entered into force without 
being entitled to any delays.  
3.7.  The corresponding numbers for category B and C designations were  much smaller . There was 
a fairly large amount of it ems that had not yet been  notified . When looking at those figures , one 
had to keep in mind, however, that LDCs were not yet obliged to notify since the TFA awarded 
them more time. Despite benefitting from those additional flexibilities, several LDCs had al ready 
notified.  
3.8.  Broken down by level of development, one found that roughly one quarter of all developing 
Members had provided notifications on all three categories: A, B and C . In most cases, input had 
only been received  on category A. Around nine per ce nt of developing Members had not yet 
provided any notification. For LDCs , the numbers were somewhat different . Around 14 per cent of 
those Members had already provided their A, B, and C notifications, which was quite remarkable in 
light of the fact that th ey were not yet required to notify. Slightly less than a third ha d given a 
partial notification (which, in virtually all cases meant a category A notification). Slightly less than 
60 per cent were yet to hand in their notifications. The difference in notif ication rates was to be 
expected when considering the divergent time frames for providing input.  
3.9.  The statistics on the most and least frequently notified items had remained stable  over time . 
The numbers were largely identical to what they had been at the time of the previous report. 
Article 10:4  (single window) remain ed the provision least frequently designated as category A. In 
the area of category B, article 11 ( transit ) had received a  particularly considerable number of 
related notifications . The items least frequently given a category B designation included provisions 
on the use of customs brokers  and pre -shipment inspection (PSI). With respect to category C, 
article 10:4 had received particularly high designation rates – which was to be expected since it 
was least frequently classified as falling under category A . Details on the specific numbers for all 
categories could be found on the screen and would also be communicated to Members in the form 
of a copy of the visual aids used for the report.   
3.10.   As far  as implementation periods  were concerned, one could see that article 10:4 (single 
window) had received the longest average time estimates. When calculating the periods for all 
three categories , it pointed to J anuary of next year  (2018) . When focussing onl y on the category B 
and C designations, it was April 2022. The shortest average time -period had been selected for 
article 10.7 (common border procedures and uniform documentation requirements). It had already 
expired when looking at the date for all three categories since it was March 2017 . When focussing 
only on categories B and C, the average date was June 2018.  
3.11.   Turning to the article 22 notifications, it was worth recalling that there were two separate 
elements. The first related to paragraph 1, which called on d onor Members to notify what they ha d 
been providing in terms of assistance and capacity building . The first notification was meant to 
give information on what th ose countries ha d been doing over the past months. The second G/TFA/M/ 2 
 
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  paragraph called on d onor Members to provide information on contact points as well as on the 
process and mechanisms for requesting technical assistance and support for capacity building. So 
far, six notifications had been received for both aspects  (counting the EU and its 28 Mem bers as 
one). When considering that the EU provided information on many of its Member states, the 
number of article 22 notifications was higher . 
3.12.   As far as the transparency notifications under section I of the TFA were concerned, it was 
worth recalling that  they had to be provided by all WTO Members irrespective of their level of 
development . There were four particular areas. The first was article 1: 4. It had received a total of 
eight notifications so far. The second  was article 10: 4:3, where Members had to provide the d etails 
of operation of their single w indow . Six related notifications had been received so far. That was 
also the number for the third and the four th areas, articles 10:6:2 and 12:2:2. More information 
could be found on the Trade Facilitation Agreement Database (www.tfadatabase.org ).  
3.13.   The Chairman  welcomed the positive news on the ratification front  as well as the progress 
on the notification side. At the same time, he noted that there was still room f or improvement, 
especially with respect to the category B and C notifications, and with regard to the notifications 
under section I  of the TFA . He noted that the TF Committee was also yet to receive a few 
submissions under article 22. He propose d to revisi t the issue of notifications when the TF 
Committee next me t and invite d all delegations seeking technical assistance with the preparation 
of their input to contact the Secretariat.  
3.14.   The representative of the United States  thank ed the Secretariat for the up date. It was very 
exciting what was coming in. As the notifications ca me due, it brought to light what the TF 
Committee had been  formed for and what Members wanted to do going forward. He hoped that 
there would be an opportunity to consult with the Chair a bout the agenda for th e fall and for the 
Committee's work. Regular updates by the S ecretariat had been useful thus far, but the moment 
had come to turn it over to Members. The United States hoped to see the notifications on the 
agenda of every Committee me eting. That could really drive Members' work. The United States 
would welcome the opportunity to present notifications and to respond to questions . The category 
B and C notifications were a two-step process and it was for the C ommittee to help and guide 
Members as they prepared their notifications and ask ed for donor assistance . The TF Committee 
had a real rol e in contributing to problem -solving  and to making connections. It was standard that 
notification s to the WTO were agenda items and up for discussion . That was the direction t he TFC 
should be heading towards. Members were behind the curve. A lot of work had to be done. The 
Committee c ould assist in meeting timeframes , especially for category C . That could be the 
begin ning of an experience sharing proces s. Members who had not yet handed in their notifications 
could ask questions about what work ed and what did not, and  on how to handle matters. The 
United States had had many bilateral exchanges where questions had been posed on how the US 
had done certain things. That kind of exchange should happen in the TFC.  
3.15.   The United States commend ed the Secretariat for its work on the Global Aid For Trade 
Review.  Much of the discussions had had a trade facilitation angle and there had been f ascinating 
conversation s, such as on border cooperation . Such  exchanges should form the back bone of the TF 
Committee.  
3.16.   The US acknowledge d the hard work that ha d gone into the TFA notification database . It 
really added value to traders and external stakeholders in a way that previo us too ls had been 
unable to  achieve . He commended the Secretariat for the work that ha d gone into it , which was 
excellent. It would be interesting to do informal demonstrations  as the database was a very useful 
source of information .  
3.17.   On a technical note, he had not seen links from the general WTO website to the TFA 
database . The control buttons across the top were a bit difficult to find. He also wanted to know 
whether information would be provided on notifications that were not related to categories A, B 
and C.  
3.18.   The representative of China  thank ed the Secretariat for the update . Out of the  164 WTO 
Members, 12 1 had completed their ratification process so far. China suggested that the Secretariat 
carried out publicity activities and provide d help in terms of  technical assistance and capacity 
building for all Members to ratify and implement TFA at an early date. China had notified its G/TFA/M/2  
 
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  category A measures in June 2014, as one of first WTO Members to have done so. Out of a total of 
40 trade facilitation measures , only 4 measures had been designated as category B . They related 
to provisions on the establishment of a single w indow, the establishment and publication of 
average release times, outward processing and customs c ooperation. Those category B measures 
would be implemented within the time -frame of the indicated period. In May 2017 , China had 
notified the indicative dates for implementing those category B measures. The provisions on  
outward processing  had already been implemented in November 2016,  ahead of tim e. China call ed 
on other developing and least -developed Members  to notify the implementation dates for category 
B and C  commitments as soon as possible.  
3.19.   The representative of the European Communities  thanked the Secretariat for the useful 
update on the st ate-of-play. The EU h ad submitted its article 22 notification , which covered 
assistance provided by the EU and by EU Member states that w ere active in th e field. A notification 
had also been provided on a rticles 1.4, 10.4.3, 10.6.2 and 12.2.2  of the TFA . Further updates 
would be provided after the summer break .   
3.20.   It was important to receive the outstanding ratifications. It would perhaps also be useful for 
Members in forth coming C ommittee meetings to report on where they st ood with respect to th eir 
internal  procedures. The WTO Ministerial Conference in Buenos Aires w ould provide a good target 
point and a good incentive for th e outstanding ratifications to come in. The EU looked forward to 
engaging further in more interactive discussions on notifications at t he forthcoming TFC meeting.  
3.21.   The Secretariat  informed that it offered assistance on matters related to the ratification  
process. Everybody interested in receiving support was welcome to get in touch. A model template 
had been developed and was ready for us e.  
3.22.   One frequent challenge was that ratification was essentially a domestic process, guided by 
whatever rules and procedures a Member had in place . In many cases, it involved national 
parliaments. Those were matters the WTO Secretariat could not get involv ed in. What the 
Secretariat could do was help with the first part of the process – the awareness raising – as well as 
with the last segment , when work had essentially been concluded in capitals and the results had to 
be notified to Geneva. The Secretariat was happy to help with p reparing the acceptance 
instrument and to review related drafts. The turnaround time was very short. It was usually 
possible to get back to the Member within 24 hours. Members were encourage d to provide the 
Secretariat with an advan ce copy  of their draft instruments .  
3.23.   As far as the TFA database was concerned, the Secretariat was in the process of updating 
and redesigning it to incorporate information about transparency notifications as well as 
notifications from donor s.    
3.24.   The repres entative of Japan  informed the TF Committee o f Japan's implementation process. 
Japan ha d already submitted notifications o n sections I and II  of the TFA . The notification on 
section I was being form atted by t he Secretariat . The notification on  section II h ad already been 
issued. Japan encourage d Members that ha d not yet submitted notifications to hand them in as 
soon as possible.   
3.25.   The Committee took note  of the statements made.  
4  UPDATE BY THE SECRET ARIAT ON ACTIVITIES OF THE TRADE FACILIT ATION 
AGREEMENT FAC ILITY  (TFAF)  
4.1.  The Secretariat  reported on events under the TFAF, focussing on the advance d courses, a 
brochure and work on the grant program.  
 
4.2.  An add-on event to the Global Aid f or Trade Review had been organised with the World Bank 
the week before  on borde r agency co -operation. Presentations a nd experience sharing had been 
provided by Albania, Guatemala, Honduras, Zambia, the World Bank Group and the Standards and 
Trade Development Facility . There had been an extremely informative exchange of information 
during the last hour  of the event. In a question and answer period , people had asked questions 
and people in the audience had jumped right in and add ed their own experience . It had been a G/TFA/M/ 2 
 
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  moderator 's dream . She expressed thanks to everyone who had co me and l istened and those who 
had jumped in spontaneously , adding their experiences.  
 
4.3.  As part of the Global Review, the TFAF and the World Bank Group had also hosted an event 
featuring presentations from the six finalists in the Smart  Lessons case study competitio n. It was a 
competition that had been announced early last year, the case studies had been submitted by the 
end of last year. The finalists had made their presentations from a stage in the Atrium in TED talk 
style. The presentations had been live streamed on Facebook.  Botswana and Malawi reported on 
their national trade portals , Jamaica on Public/Private Sector work through the national Committee 
to improve competitiveness , Montenegro on the National Committee , Rwanda on their Single 
Window and Zambia on ri sk management. She congratulate d the winners , Jamaica and Zambia. 
They had been tied and both won. If Members w anted to know more about the event , they could 
find information on the Trade Facilitation Agreement Facility website, TFAfacility.org, with a lin k to 
the winning case studies. She was sure that one could find full  news on the World Bank and 
general WTO website s as well. The other case studies c ould be found on the TFAF website under 
resources under the relevant TFA article number.  It was planned to  prepare a publication with 
these case studies  as well as Trade Facilitation -related case studies that had been submitted for 
the Global Review. There were s ome 40 Trade Facilitation components, so it had been necessary to 
narrow th em down a bit.  
 
4.4.  As far as other events the Facility had been i nvolved in in recent months  were concerned, 
some of them were funded and organised by the TFAF, often with other organisations, and some 
where organised by other organisations with the WTO just participat ing. They wer e promoting the 
TFA and explain ing ratification and the ABC notifications . In March , the Facility participated in a 
workshop on promoting connectivity organized by Korean c ustoms and the Asian Development 
Bank. I n May , there had been a single window confer ence in Ghana organized by the g overnment 
of Ghana with the International C hamber of Commerce. There had also been an event in Cuba for 
director generals of customs and the private sector from Latin Americ a and the Caribbean. T he 
bulk of the events had bee n organized by the WCO and the r egional conference for customs 
director g enerals.  An event had also been  conducted  in Miami for senior customs officials  from the 
Caribbean . It had been co-funded by the TFAF, the Inter -American Development Bank a nd the 
Caribbean Customs Law Enforcement Council.  
 
4.5.  In June, Mongolia conducted a national needs assessment.  The next big TFAF co -funded 
event w ould be in Indonesia in early September. It w ould be on Trade Facilitation innovations for 
sustainable development in Asia and the Pacific and it was co -organized by the F acility, the Asian 
Development Bank, the United Nations Economic and Social Com mission for Asia and the 
Government of Indonesia.  
 
4.6.  Looking further into the future , the Facility was pleased to announce that it will ho ld an event 
at the Ministerial C onference in Buenos Aires. It w ould probably be similar to the event held in 
Nairobi . Information would be made available as soon as plans progress ed. 
 
4.7.  Information about F acility events or events by other organization s were often post ed on the 
Facility website on the bot tom under news and events. I f Members were holding an event and 
wanted to advertise it on the Facility website, the Facility was happy to do that.  
 
4.8.  Advanced Courses  had been held for the chairs or secre taries of the national trade Facilitation 
committees. Two had been offered in English last year. The course had also been offered in French 
and Spanish.  All courses were conducted with the co -operation of the WCO, the World Bank and 
other A nnex D organizat ions and private sector associations.  The goal of the courses was to build 
the capacity of the committee chairs . They included sessions on issues such as how to conduct a 
meeting  and get stakeholder engagement . They also contained sessions on the Trade Fac ilitation 
Agreement and notifications. Over 90 participants had taken part in the four courses.  
 
4.9.  As a result of an experience sharing workshop  in June, some delegations had been able to 
answer a survey. This had led to a publication titled " National Commi ttees on Trade Facilitation : 
Current Practices and Challenges. " It was available on the TFAF website under "resources ".  
 
4.10.   The Facility was in the process  of posting an annual report from 2016. It w ould be made 
available on the F acility website under the ta b called "About the Facility" .  
 G/TFA/M/2  
 
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  4.11.   As for the grant program, the operational rules were close to completion. They would be 
share d with Members as soon as they were ready. The Facility was currently in the process of 
hiring an additional person whose primary responsibility would be to oversee the operation of th e 
grant program.  Information on the grant program would be provided at the next meeting of the 
TFC, and once all documents were ready, they w ould be posted on the website.  
 
4.12.   Responding to what China had  remarked, she said that workshops had been conducted on 
ratification  issues last year. A ssistance was continued to be offered on the ABC categories .  
 
4.13.   The representative of Senegal  raised two questions.  The first relate d to training activities. 
Did the Se cretariat intend  to make available an online training program for Trade Facilitation ? It 
might allow several stakeholders to benefit from the upscaling activities that were being carried 
out. Courses were subject to specific criteria and no t everyone was able to attend them.  
 
4.14.   Regarding country case studies , he wanted to know if there were plans to update them. 
Looking at a case study from Senegal he had noticed that the report dated back to 2011. Many 
developments had taken place since. For instance, there was an ongoing project for customs 
clearance in the context of implement ing the TFA. Senegal could provide more up to date 
information on th at issue.  
 
4.15.   The representative of the United States  acknowledge d the huge amount of work that ha d 
gone on since the beginning, which had intensified further since the TFA had entered into force . 
The TFAF website highlight ed a lot of the innovative aspects that had been put into the Trade 
Facilitation Agreement.  
 
4.16.   Looking forward to the f all, the United States saw that as an agenda item to be addressed 
to allow all Member s who wanted to come to present their technical assistance and capacity 
building work. That was important as the F acility had been designed for a specific purpose. One 
should not lose sight of that purpos e. All Members had obligations under section II  of the TFA , 
even those who d id not have the ability to use the flexibilities contained therein. The TF Committee 
was moving into a new phase . It should be an active Committee and it was time to have a 
Committ ee-driven program where what donors needed was achieved through a discussion . The 
United States was looking forward to learning a lot about the notifications and letting that drive 
how to work together from a donor perspective. The US was also looking forward to hav ing 
additional consultations in the coming months to get a better understanding of the inst itutional 
division between the WTO S ecretariat and the TFAF now that there was a TF C ommittee structure 
as well. The United States wanted to make sure that  Members underst ood who was doing what 
and how conflicting interests were being addressed as they ca me up.  
 
4.17.   The United States saw the TF Committee discussions driving activities for donors and for  the 
TFAF so that Members could ensure th at there was a dem and-driven approach with an appropriate 
focus for the Facility on last resort funding . One had to remember why the Facility had been 
created and what for. It was important to make sure that there was space for bilateral and 
multilateral donors in th e conve rsation and that everybody was it in as a team.  
 
4.18.   On the TFA F acility website , points of contact were only for developing countries and LDCs. 
It was important that contact points for developed countries were included as well. At the moment, 
one had to go t o a different database to get a donor contact point . The United States did not like 
the division between section I and s ection II of the TFA. It was necessary to transcend that . The 
division between who was in one area and who was in another was going to b e a problem .  One 
had to think of it from a user perspective . Some of those matters were multidimensional and 
should  not be divided the way th ey had been divided.  
 
4.19.   The representative of China  welcome d the update and suggest ed that the TF Committee 
strengt hened the coordination with the F acility, especially in terms of information sharing , in order 
to make the technical assistance and capacity building more targeted  and to improve the capacity 
of developing Members to implement  the TFA. China was actively c onsidering making  contributions 
to the TFAF to improve the capacity of developing and least-developed M embers to implement the 
TFA in order for all Members to benefit from it at an early date.  
 G/TFA/M/ 2 
 
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  4.20.   The representative of Canada  thanked the Secretariat for the u pdate . Canada a ppreciate d 
the opportunity get such a report in TF Committee meetings because it was difficult to keep track 
of all the various lines of work that were going on.   
 
4.21.   It was very good to hear of such events to keep the momentum going on the 
implementation of the TF Agreement  and to remind Members and the outside world of the positive 
developments occurring at the WTO more generally. Some of the work was very relevant to the 
Committee . Canada foresaw the Committee to be a forum to share positive  developments, 
experiences, chall enges faced, best practic es and lessons learned . At the same time, it was useful 
to benefit from the contributions from all Members and international organizations , when 
appropriate, as decided by consensus . The TF Committe e should be the venue for some of th ose 
conversations so that everyone  could benefit. Those are some of the exchanges that could be 
taking place in the Committee once the rules of procedures had been sorted out.  
 
4.22.   The Secretariat  responded to the question r aised by Senegal by informing that there was a 
WTO e -learning course . She was not sure when it would be ready but many of the partner 
organisations had e-learning courses  as well. The Secretariat was trying to compile a list of all 
those courses and to have a page where one could look at them. As far as case studies  were 
concerned , the Secretariat welcome d update s and new additions. There had often been e xperience 
sharing in the past and that would continue.  
 
4.23.   As far as contact points  were concerned, it was a big job to contact people. The Secretariat 
had started with the countries that had carried out n eeds assessments and taken part in the 
Advanced C ourses because they already had the right contact information for them. Th e 
Secretariat wished to expand it t o all Members and Observers .  
 
4.24.   The Secretariat welcomed suggestions on how to improve information sharing. A new 
person would be brought in to work full time on the Facility website  which should allow the 
Secretariat to update information more frequently .   
 
4.25.   The Committee took note  of the statements made.  
5  OTHER BUSINESS  
5.1.  The Chairman  took up the date of the next Committee meeting. He was aware of the fact 
that the autumn was going to be a particularly busy period for everyone as the upcoming 
Ministerial w ould require much time. At the same time, he consider ed it important have another 
meeting before heading to Buenos Aires, and was therefore thinking of convening a session 
sometime in October. This would still allow the Committee to prepare the annual report  it had to 
give to the Council  for Trade in Goods , which w ould hold its last meeting for the year on November 
9. Details about the exact time and the agenda of our next TFC meeting would be communicated 
in due course.  
 
5.2.  What could already be said was that Me mbers would have to revert  to the issue of the 
Committee's rules of procedure. He also foresaw that the Committee would come back to the 
issues discussed regarding notifications , ratifications and technical assistance. His door was 
completely open for all delegations that ha d suggestions on issues they would like to put  on the 
agenda. His personal view on what the delegation of the United States had suggested was that 
information sharing was going to be an important part of th e TFC's work. If delegations – both 
donors and recipients – were willing to share their experience s on how they worked and what 
lessons they learnt, it would be very helpful . He hoped that this was going to be a part of 
Committee meetings in the future . He invited delegations prepared f or such experience sharing to 
get in touch with him.  If there were no objections to what he had suggested and no requests for 
the floor, he would like to move to closing the meeting. He thank ed all delegations for their 
statements  which had allowed for an interesting debate – both in the morning and in the 
afternoon. Part of the exchanges in the morning had to be repeated in the afternoon, but this 
sometimes happened and one would see how Members could take work forward. He encouraged 
delegations to talk to  each other on the issue of the Committee's rules of procedure. His door 
remained wide open for that as well. Anybody wishing to talk to him would be warmly welcome to 
contact him – either directly or through the WTO Secretariat.  G/TFA/M/2  
 
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5.3.  The Committee took note  of the statement made.    
5.4.  The meeting was adjourned . 
 
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