RESTRICTED  
  
WT/PCTF/M/11  
 
1 July 2015  
(15-3377)  Page: 1/4  
Preparatory Committee on Trade Facilitation    
 
 MINUTES OF THE MEETING 
HELD IN THE CENTRE WILLIAM RAPPARD 11 JUNE 2015 
Chairman: HE Mr Esteban Conejos (Philippines) 
1  INTRODUCTION 
1.1.  The Chairman welcomed delegations and recalled that the proposed agenda had been 
circulated in WTO/AIR/PCTF/2. As Members would have seen from the airgram, there were several 
items to address: First, the Preparatory Committee (PCTF) would formally receive the notifications 
of category A commitments that Members had submi tted since the last meeting. That was going to 
be followed by an informal working session where delegations would be briefed on the state of additional work, both on the ratification of the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) and on activities 
provided by the Secretariat, especially with respect to the notifications database and the operation 
of the Trade Facilitation Agreement Facility. Members would also be invited to share their experiences with the establishment of a national Trade Facilitation Committee. 
1.2.  Two delegations wished to add an item under other business: The Philippines requested to 
report on the outcome of the recent APEC Trade Ministers meeting. The United States of America 
wanted to make an announcement about a session at the Global Aid for Trade Review that the 
United States and others were hosting. 
1.3.  The agenda was adopted with the requested additions. 
2  RECEIPT OF CATEGORY A NOTIFICATIONS 2.1.  The Chairman informed that the Committee had received ten new submissions since it last 
took action on the matter. 2.2.  The list of new notifications covere d submissions from the following Members: 
Rwanda (WT/PCTF/N/RWA/1), Dominica (WT/PCTF /N/DMA/1), Burundi (WT/PCTF/N/BDI/1), Kenya 
(WT/PCTF/N/KEN/1), Tanzania (WT/PCTF/N/TZA/1),  United Arab Emirates (WT/PCTF/N/ARE/1), 
St. Kitts and Nevis (WT/PCTF/N/KNA/1), St. Vi ncent and the Grenadines (WT/PCTF/N/VCT/1), 
Antigua and Barbuda (WT/PCTF/N/ATG/1 ), and Grenada (WT/PCTF/N/GRD/1). 
2.3.  The Committee received those notifications. 
2.4.  The Chairman reported that the overall num ber of category A notifications had grown to a 
current total of 65, which was an encouraging sign of Members' continued engagement. He was 
particularly heartened to see the number of LDC notifications on the rise with three additional 
submissions from their side, for which they were to be congratulated. 
2.5.  More notifications were expected to follow and the Secretariat also continued to receive 
queries about the ones already handed in. Respondi ng to these requests, they had started to set 
up a notification database as Members would remember from the report at the last Committee 
meeting. At that session, Members had been prom ised an update on further developments, which 
would now be provided by the Secretariat as the first agenda item of the informal open-ended 
working session. WT/PCTF/M/11 
 
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  2.6.  The Committee took note of the Chairman's report. 
3  INFORMAL OPEN-ENDED WORKING SESSION 
3.1.  This part of the meeting covered (i) a pr esentation by the Secretariat on the launch of a 
notifications database, (ii) a brief on the state of the acceptance of the amendment protocol, 
(iii) the exchange of experiences on the establishm ent of national trade facilitation committees and 
(iv) an update by the Secretariat on the operation of the Trade Facilitation Agreement Facility. It was conducted in informal mode. 
3.2.  The Committee took note of the statements made. 
4  OTHER BUSINESS 
4.1.  The Philippines reported on the outcome of this year's meeting of APEC Trade Ministers in 
Boracay as it related to the discussions in the PCTF. 
4.2.  On 24 May 2015, APEC Ministers had issued a statement supporting the multilateral trading 
system, which reaffirmed the value, centrality, and primacy of the multilateral trading system under the auspices of the WTO. They showed them selves encouraged by the progress made at the 
Ninth WTO Ministerial Conference towards the full implementation of the Bali Package and 
welcomed the adoption of the Protocol of Am endment for the Trade Facilitation Agreement. 
4.3.  APEC economies had shown leadership th rough the timely notification of category A 
commitments, and, in the same spirit, they had committed to ratify the TFA as soon as possible, 
ideally by the Nairobi Ministerial Conference, in  order to express strong APEC support for a 
successful Ministerial. 
4.4.  APEC Ministers had also endorsed the Boracay Action Agenda and recommended its adoption 
to APEC leaders. The agenda aimed at globalizing micro, small, and medium-enterprises (MSMEs) 
and was being advanced in recognition of the fact that for many countries, MSMEs were an important force in economic activity, growth, job creation, community resilience and innovation. 
4.5.  To promote the internationalization of MS MEs and integrate them into global value chains, 
APEC Ministers had agreed to address the barriers to trade and investment that disproportionately impacted MSMEs in comparison to larger businesses. 
4.6.  APEC had identified trade facilitation, trad e finance, e-commerce and institutional support as 
priority areas of cooperation. APEC Ministers noted that efforts to reduce and eliminate tariffs and non-tariff barriers in the region would produce significant benefit for MSMEs. One of the best ways in which APEC could help MSMEs enjoy a more trade facilitating environment was to support the 
implementation of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement. Key areas that related to the 
TFA involved streamlining of customs-related rules and regulations, compliance assistance, providing timely and accurate information on expo rt and import procedures and requirements, and 
widening the base of the Authorized Economic Operators Entrusted Trade Programme to include 
MSMEs in order for them to contribute to the security, integrity, and resiliency in supply chains. 
4.7.  Other areas of work included the streamli ning of procedural and documentary requirements 
for rules of origin, support measures to widen financing options for MSMEs, the expansion of 
internationalized opportunities for MSMEs thro ugh ICT and e-commerce, the strengthening of 
institutional support for MSMEs and an increased focus on MSMEs led by women. Those initiatives aimed at contributing to addressing the cross-cu tting concerns of MSMEs and to ensuring that 
policy discussions and interventions were felt and appreciated by the common people. 
4.8.  Copies of the Action Plan were availabl e at the back of the meeting room. The document 
could also be easily searched and downloaded from the internet. 
4.9.  The representative of Chinese Taipei agreed on the importance of national Trade Facilitation 
Committees, of the TFA Facility and of related dona tions for the implementation of the TFA. While 
Chinese Taipei's contribution to the Facility might seem relatively small, compared to others, its 
customs administration was also interested in extending technical assistance and capacity building WT/PCTF/M/11 
 
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  for best practices regarding certain trade facilitation measures in the future. 
4.10.  This being his last PCTF meeting, he wanted to take the opportunity to express his 
congratulations to the entire Membership. After havi ng worked together for a long period of time, 
it had finally been possible to agree on the Trad e Facilitation Agreement and the related Protocol. 
Compared with other fronts of the DDA negotiation which were still under recalibration, the 
TF family was very lucky. While Members were standing on the summit waiting for the full implementation of the TFA, he cherished not only the reaching of the peak but also the journey of 
getting there, especially the support and friendship offered by other Members and the 
WTO Secretariat. 
4.11.  The representative of the United States of America made an announcement about a session 
at the Global Aid for Trade Review that the United States and others were hosting. It was 
something that had been exciting and invigorating fo r the US to work on and that realized the goal 
of approaching trade facilitation support and donor support from an entirely new perspective, namely by forming an alliance with the private se ctor and by trying to think about creative new 
ways of delivering assistance. It also implied tapping into the massive resources and expertise that 
the private sector had, combined with what the public sector could contribute. 
4.12.  The event was tentatively called "Driving Forward Together: Stakeholder Engagement for 
Effective Implementation of the TFA" and would be  held on Wednesday, 1 July, in Room W. There 
would be presentations that highlight the thinking  that the US had gone through regarding how to 
energize support for trade facilitation. For the US, private sector involvement had been a missing element. Together with a number of other dono rs, they had engaged the private sector and 
formed a partnership called "The Trade Facilitation  Implementation Alliance". A number of business 
groups were already part of that, including the International Chamber of Commerce, the World Economic Forum and the US Chamber of Commerce.  They were looking for additional worldwide 
partners and had a number of corporations that were also interested in engaging. 
4.13.  It was useful to think about how to leverage private sector expertise as it involved people 
and companies that were actually engaged in movi ng the goods, and in figuring out what worked 
best and how one could support trade facilitation implementation from different angles. The event 
would include an engaging and interesting set of panellists to discuss the new approach that was being launched. There would also be new money brought to the table to support trade facilitation implementation. 
4.14.  The representative of the European Union supported the intervention by the United States. 
It was a truly novel approach and promising in terms of involving private sector actors along with 
their public sector counterparts in mobilizing re sources to help with the implementation of the 
TFA worldwide. It was a good event to get familiarized with the initiative. 
4.15.  The representative of Canada echoed the comments from the United States and the 
European Union. Private sector involvement in the implementation of the Trade Facilitation 
Agreement was essential in putting in place the appropriate reforms to facilitate cross-border 
trade. 
4.16.  It was for that reason that he was very encouraged to hear about the private sector 
involvement in the national committees on trade facilitation during the excellent presentations 
Members had given earlier in the meeting. 
4.17.  The government of Canada and the Canadian private sector saw merit in uniting the efforts 
of both the public and private sector for mutual benefit. They were completing their own formal 
review of membership in the initiative the US had mentioned. Canada looked forward to seeing 
everybody at the event on the margins of the Aid-for-Trade Review. 
4.18.  The representative of India bid farewell to the colleagues who were leaving, such as the 
representatives from Korea, Chinese Taipei and the European Union. He had learned a lot from 
their interventions. It was sad to see that the trade facilitation family, as one had known it, was breaking up. He wished the parting colleagues all th e very best in whatever they were going to do 
in the future. WT/PCTF/M/11 
 
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  4.19.  The representative of Guinea said that she was delighted to be part of the trade facilitation 
family. It was a real African family because there were so many members. She thanked the 
Secretariat for having brought the good news about it being possible to come to Guinea to carry out a needs assessment. She had not been certain of that before due to various aspects, especially 
the health issues experienced in Guinea. 
4.20.  She also wanted to thank colleagues wh o had shared their experience on implementing 
trade facilitation measures, particularly on how the different trade facilitation committees 
operated. 
4.21.  The Chairman proposed 7 October as the date of the subsequent Preparatory Committee 
meeting. Details on the meeting and its agenda would be communicated in due course. 
4.22.  It was so agreed. 
4.23.  The Preparatory Committee took note of the statements made. 
4.24.  The meeting was adjourned. 
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