RESTRICTED  
  
WT/COMTD/SE/M/34  
 
3 November 2017  
(17-6002) Page: 1/9 
Committee on Trade and Development  
Thirty -Fourth Dedicated Session    
 
NOTE ON THE MEETING OF 17 MAY 2017  
H.E. Mr Taonga M ushayavanhu  (Zimbabwe)  
A. ADOPTION OF THE AGEN DA ................................ ................................ ....................  2 
B. "CHALLENGES AND OPPO RTUNITIES EXPERIENCE D BY SMALL ECONOMIES  
WHEN LINKING INTO GL OBAL VALUE CHAINS IN  TRADE IN GOODS AND 
SERVICES" (WT/COMTD/ SE/W/31)  ................................ ................................ ................  2 
(i) Outcomes from discussions on the "Challenges and Opportun ities Experienced by 
Small Economies when Linking into Global Value Chains in Trade in Goods and Services" 
(WT/COMTD/SE/W/35)  ................................ ................................ ................................ ........  2 
C. MINISTERIAL DECISION  ON THE WORK PROGRAMM E ON SMALL 
ECONOMIES (WT/MIN(15)/40 – WT/L/975) – "CHALLENGES AND 
OPPORTUNITIES EXPERI ENCED BY SMALL ECONO MIES IN THEIR EFFORT S TO 
REDUCE TRADE COSTS, PARTICULARLY IN THE AREA OF TRADE FACILI TATION" 
(WT/COMTD/SE/W/34)  ................................ ................................ ................................ .. 3 
(i) Presentation by the WTO Secretariat  ................................ ................................ ............  3 
(ii) Presentations by Small, Vulnerable Economies  ................................ ...............................  5 
(iii) Presentation by the Stan dards and Trade Development Facility (STDF) on SPS 
Measures and Trade Facilitation  ................................ ................................ ............................  7 
D. PARAGRAPH 41 OF THE HONG KONG MINISTERIA L DECLARATION: 
MONITORING PROGRESS OF THE SMALL ECONOMI ES' PROPOS ALS IN THE 
NEGOTIATING GROUPS A ND OTHER WTO BODIES  ................................ ...........................  9 
- Work Programme on Small Economies - Compilation paper prepared by the 
Secretariat (WT/COMTD/SE/W/22/Rev.8)  ................................ ................................ ..............  9 
E. OTHER BUSINESS  ................................ ................................ ................................ .... 9 
 
 WT/COMTD/SE/M/34  
 
- 2 - 
 
   
A. ADOPTION  OF THE AGENDA  
1. The draft agenda as contained in WTO/AIR/COMTD/SE/6  was adopted. Nothing was added 
under other business.  
B. "CHALLENGES AND OPPOR TUNITIES E XPERIENCED BY SMALL ECONOMIES WHEN 
LINKING INTO GLOBAL VALUE CHAINS IN TRAD E IN GOODS AND SERVI CES" 
(WT/COMTD/SE/W/31)  
(i) Outcomes from discussions on the "Challenges and Opportunities Experienced by Small 
Economies when Linking into Global Value Chains i n Trade in Goods and Services" 
(WT/COMTD/SE/W/35)  
2. The Chairman  explained that this Secretariat document had been the focus of discussion at 
several meetings in 2015 and 2016. The most recent meeting to discuss the  paper had been held 
in November 2017, and the minutes  of which  had been circulated as document 
WT/COMTD/SE/M/33.  
3. The Secretariat report and the discussions held so far were also the subject of a recent 
document prepared by the Small and Vulnerable Economies ( SVEs) (in WT/COMTD/SE/W/35 ).  
4. The repre sentative of Guatemala  introducing this document recalled that at the Ninth 
Ministerial Conference in Bali, Ministers had reaffirmed their commitment to the Work Programme 
on Small Economies and instructed the WTO Secretariat t o provide relevant informatio n and 
factual analysis for discussion  among Members in the CTD's Dedicated Session  on "The Challenges 
and Opportunities  experienced by Small E conomies  when linking into Global Value Chains in Trade  
in Goods and Services ". At the Tenth Ministerial Conferenc e in Nairobi, Kenya, Ministers had 
instructed the WTO Secretariat to continue its work on this subject.  
5. Following this mandate, the Secretariat had prepared the Background Note contained in 
document WT/COMTD/SE/W/31, and the Committee had discussed that do cument in five meetings 
throughout the years 2015 and 2016. The discussions dealt with the different sectors discussed in 
the paper, mainly: agrifood , seafood, textiles and apparel in the goods value chains; and tourism, 
information technology ( IT), busine ss process outsourcing and trade logistics in the services value 
chains.  
6. The document introduced by the SVEs presented a summary of the discussions, focusing on 
the specific challenges that SVEs faced when linking into Global Value Chains in Trade in Goods  
and Services, and some recommendations on how to mitigate such challenges. The Group 
intended to use this document and its recommendations as a guide to seek action in the 
appropriate committees within the WTO. The Group would work on an action plan to st art applying 
such recommendations and would seek the assistance of the WTO Secretariat as well as other 
organizations such as United Nations Conference on Trade and Development  (UNCTAD ) and 
International Trade Centr e (ITC). 
7. The representative of Sri Lanka recalled that his delegation had made presentations in two 
of the meetings and shared Sri Lanka's  national experiences in the apparel sector and in the areas 
of IT and business process outsourcing ( BPO). He expressed his Government 's willingness to work 
with the Secretariat and other agencies in order to achieve a successful implementation of the 
recommendations.  
8. The Dedicated Session took note of all the interventions.  WT/COMTD/SE/M/34  
 
- 3 - 
 
  C. MINISTERIAL DECISION  ON THE WORK PROGRAMM E ON SMALL ECONOMIES  
(WT/MIN(15)/40 – WT/L/9 75) – "CHALLENGES AND OPPO RTUNITIES EXPERIENCE D BY 
SMALL ECONOMIES IN T HEIR EFFORTS TO REDU CE TRADE COSTS, PART ICULARLY IN 
THE AREA OF TRADE FA CILITATION" (WT/COMT D/SE/W/34)  
(i) Presentation by the WTO Secretariat  
9. The Chairman  said that at the last meeting  of the Dedicated Session, Members had agreed 
to a proposal submitted by the SVEs to move forward on the Nairobi Ministerial Decision and tackle 
small economies' efforts to reduce trade costs, particularly in the area of trade facilitation. The 
proposal, w hich had been circulated in document WT/COMTD/SE/W/33/Rev.1, called on the 
Secretariat to prepare a background note. This note had since been finalized and  had been  
circulated on 18 April 2017 as WT/COMTD/SE/W/34. He asked the Secretariat to introduce the 
document.  
10. A representative from the Secretariat  introduced document WT/COMTD/SE/W/34, 
"Challenges and Opportunities Experienced by Small Economies in their Efforts to Reduce Trade 
Costs, particularly in the Area of Trade Facilitation". He explained that th e idea of the paper was to 
give an overview of the parameters of these issues. It analysed best practices and policy 
approaches to enhance productive capacity and export competitiveness. It drew on the 
Aid-for-Trade Monitoring  and Evaluation (M&E) E xercise  of 2015. He said that trade costs were 
derived from economic fundamentals such as technology, labour and capital costs, and from 
geographic, physical and location factors that could not be easily changed, such as size of market 
and population, economies o f scale  and distance to markets , etc. 
11. Cost in trade could be defined as the cost incurred in getting a good to a final user. It was 
not the cost of producing the good. These were costs relating to transportation, freight, tariffs, 
non-tariff measures ( NTMs ), etc. This was consistent with a study by the G20 that used the term 
"thickness of border" to refer to tariffs, NTMs, trade policy uncertainty, logistics performance and 
trade facilitation bottlenecks. The thicker the border, the higher the trade costs. There was also 
the issue of international connectivity, such as the existence of maritime, air or terrestrial 
infrastructure and services.  
12. The representative of the Secretariat  went on to explain that there were fixed and variable 
trade costs. For goods, fixed costs were generally related to the acquisition of infrastructure and 
were one -time costs. Variable costs applied to shipping, processing, loading and unloading of 
ships, etc. These costs depended on the infrastructure at hand, the type of transportat ion being 
used and other factors. For services , fixed costs were related to network infrastructure in 
information and communication technology ( ICT) and to transport infrastructure. Variable costs 
were skills, regulatory environments, labour and commercial  presence restrictions as well as  
certain tariffs on inputs. He added that out of the 17 SVEs that responded to questionnaire in the 
2015 Aid-for-Trade M&E Exercise, 15 indicated that transport infrastructure was the most 
important source of trade costs fo r goods. In the case of services, 15 SVEs cited network 
infrastructure.  
13. After presenting statistics on trade cost indicators from the World Bank, The World Economic 
Forum and the International Telecommunications Union ( ITU), the representative of the 
Secretariat proceeded to talk about NTMs. He referred to a Secretariat study that was done in  
2013 for the Dedicated Session which showed that technical barriers to trade ( TBT) and sanitary 
and phytosanitary  (SPS) measures were very important for small economi es because many of 
their exports were food and other agriproducts. On average, over 30% of those exports had to 
meet TBT and SPS measures. The paper also looked at policy measures for trade in goods at the 
border, between borders and behind the border. In the Aid-for-Trade M&E Exercise , 87% of 62 
developing and LDC respondents had recognised the importance of trade costs. Of those 
respondents, 62% indicated that trade costs were addressed in their national development 
strategies, 60% said they were included  in their national trade strategies and 53% said they were 
part of their sector -specific strategies. However, only 35% said that trade costs were part of their 
infrastructure strategies, even though infrastructure has considerable potential to influence tr ade 
costs and performance. Regarding services, he said that ICT infrastructure was key for the 
reduction of trade costs and for the exchange of goods and services. Goods were needed in 
services and vice versa, so an increase of costs in either one would ma ke products more 
expensive.  WT/COMTD/SE/M/34  
 
- 4 - 
 
  14. Regarding trade facilitation, he said that the implementation of the Trade Facilitation 
Agreement  (TFA)  would have a significant impact on reducing trade costs. According to the 
Organisation for Economic Co -operation and Develop ment (OECD)  it would reduce trade costs by 
15% in lower middle -income countries. Border procedures, transport and policies governing 
maritime, rail and air gateways affected trade costs. This was all part of the trade facilitation mix.  
15. The representative c oncluded by highlighting the main points of the document, which were 
that trade costs mattered at the border, between borders and behind the border for both goods 
and services; small economies were more impacted by SPS and TBT measures than the average of 
developing countries; infrastructure was key, whether it was in roads, air and sea ports; in the 
area of policy and reforms there were a wide range of options, including the TFA; in services, ICT 
infrastructure, regulations and logistics and competition el ements helped to bring down prices.  
16. The representative of Guatemala  took the floor to say that the paper presented the current 
status and analysis of the existing statistics and data available for SVEs with regard s to the trade 
costs they faced. It highlig hted the importance of reducing trade costs, and their influence in trade 
flows, in particular for SVEs. The paper also recognized that keeping trade costs at reasonable 
levels and reducing them was key for SVEs to enjoy comparative advantages and gains fr om 
trade. In goods, the main challenges were transport infrastructure, NTMs, border procedures, 
tariffs, fees and other charges and access to trade finance. In the case of services, the main 
drivers of high costs were network infrastructure, transport infr astructure, non -recognition of 
professional qualifications and the restrictions of movement of natural persons.  
17. With respect to trade facilitation,  she said that many of the SVE countries saw this as an 
opportunity to reduce trade costs in their commercial  transactions. Nevertheless, although their 
countries were currently working on the implementation of the T FA, it was also important to note 
that SVE s needed the technical assistance offered under the TFA in order to fully comply with their 
obligations und er this agreement. She added that SVEs hoped that with the entry into force of the 
agreement, international organizations, regional financial institutions and other donors would 
materialize their offer of technical assistance to their countries.  
18. The repres entative added that the note also considered the issue of product standards and 
mentioned that although many of these standards might not be protectionist in intent, in practice 
they could be, due to the competitive advantage it created for national firms.  In the case of SVE 
exporters outside of these standard creating markets, they needed to certify their products and 
production processes to meet foreign norms. Sometimes the increase of these costs was so 
significant that it could result in the complete ex it of SVE firms from the market.  
19. Regarding NTMs, the representative said that the paper  noted that small economies were 
more specialized in products that were significantly exposed to NTMs, especially SPS measures. 
SVEs believed  that in this sector, many a ctions could be taken, including through the provision of 
technical assistance on targeted subjects of the TBT and SPS implementation of measures. In this 
sense, the Group believed that appropriate Aid for Trade and WTO capacity -building program mes 
were of  outmost importance and should be enhanced.  
20. The representative of Sri Lanka  said that the implementation of the TFA as a means to 
reduce trade costs was particularly important for small economies. Nevertheless, complying with 
the requirements of all catego ries would not by itself provide opportunities to reduce costs. As an 
example , he cited the case of countries that could process SPS requirements electronically, thus 
complying with the TFA, but shipments from tropical countries like his, which exported fr uits, 
vegetables and seafood but lacked cold storage infrastructure to preserve them, might be rejected 
by the time they reached their destination. So even if they complied with the TFA they would not 
benefit from it if the necessary infrastructure was not  made available to their countries. He added 
that apart from the costs mentioned in the Secretariat's paper, exporter associations in Sri Lanka 
had brought to his attention hidden trade costs, such as those from freight service providers, 
which once a ship ment landed would add various other charges for processing of documents and 
interaction with customs officials. After those costs were added, products were no longer 
competitive. The CTD might consider looking into this matter because the TFA was supposed to 
bring all these charges to the attention of exporters and importers. The problem was that these 
freight services charges were not controlled by the government, but fixed by the private sector. 
The Secretariat could look into this to see whether a kind o f mechanism to bring all the charges to WT/COMTD/SE/M/34  
 
- 5 - 
 
  the attention of traders could be developed, without depriving small economies of market 
opportunities. This happened particularly in South -South trade.  
21. The representative of Vanuatu  said that her country would gradu ate from least developed 
country ( LDC) status in 2020 but they were looking ahead in terms of what was being discussed 
vis-à-vis SVE issues. She said that they were no different to what her country faced as an LDC and  
a small island state with 100 islands.  The issue of maritime transport infrastructure was 
particularly important for Vanuatu and other islands in the Pacific in their domestic and foreign 
trade. Another key element was related to trade costs that had to do with ICT. In this respect, 
their conc ern was the increasing role being played by large foreign international companies that 
were taking over national telecommunications companies, which impeded competition.  
22. The representative of Jamaica  said that as an SVE and a small island developing state in the 
Caribbean region, her country was constantly grappling with trade costs associated with 
transportation, NTMs, trade finance, mutual recognition of professional qualifications, and the 
movement of natural persons. She pointed out that this was partic ularly exasperating because 
Jamaica's  economy comprised mostly SMEs. While Jamaica  had well established transport 
infrastructure for historical or traditional trade routes, but not for other destinations, notably 
transportation of goods to its closest neig hbours incurred greater costs than transportation to 
traditional trading partners. She added that based on a study by the ITC, NTMs had been identified 
as particularly creeping to many of their exporters and importers. With respect to trade costs 
related t o services, Jamaica had similar concerns regarding transportation and network 
infrastructure. Jamaica  had also grappled in the past with mutual recognition of professional 
qualifications with some of its traditional trading partners. This had impeded local  services 
suppliers to enter the market of traditional and non -traditional trading partners.  
23. The representative of the United States  said that her delegation agreed with a number of the 
conclusions in the report, including that the WTO's TFA  was a key inst rument which helped small 
economies in particular with their domestic trade cost reform program mes. Also, her delegation  
took note of the statement that countries could build upon TFA implementation, and undertake 
additional reforms which went well beyond TFA measures. Her delegation also flagged that 
paragraph 5.12 noted that the full implementation of the TFA could reduce trade costs from 
between 9.6 to 23.1 % across the globe, and that the paper also noted that proper implementation 
of the WTO SPS Agreeme nt could also reduce SPS transaction costs. She added that the policies 
undertaken by small economies were important, and could play a large role in reducing trade costs 
and enhancing competitiveness, and underscored that the use of trade facilitation meas ures was 
important and implementation of the TFA was a key step.  
24. The representative of  the European Union  said that they welcomed the focus on trade 
facilitation and the link with the implementation of the TFA, which was an important element for 
reducing t rade costs. T he EU  looked forward to supporting all Members in this endeavour.  
(ii) Presentations by Small and Vulnerable Economies  
25. The Chairman  recalled that the next item in the agenda related to presentations by 
representatives of SVEs about their natio nal experiences with reducing trade costs. He opened the 
floor for representatives to intervene under this item.  
26. The representative of El Salvador  requested that the Secretariat's paper  be translated into 
Spanish. She said that her delegation would like to  share some observations and experiences in 
respect of the paper 's findings, particularly as regarded balancing the implementation of measures 
to facilitate trade flows through their borders with an appropriate level of risk management. Her 
country was cur rently implementing the "Central American Trade Facilitation Strategy with 
Emphasis on Coordinated Border Management", the aim of which was to enhance the region's 
competitiveness by streamlining trade flows across land borders, specifically in the region' s main 
trade corridor, known as the "Pacific Corridor". These efforts contrasted, however, with the 
detailed information in Table 2 of the Secretariat's paper . For instance, regarding the time taken 
for export procedures, small economies in Central and Sou th America could take 71  hours to 
complete the export process, which far exceeded the world average of 57  hours; the time taken to 
import, however, amounted to 56  hours, which was less than the world average of 75  hours. She 
said that her El Salvador  still had a lot to do to improve goods clearance procedures and WT/COMTD/SE/M/34  
 
- 6 - 
 
  infrastructure at border crossings. She pointed out that according to studies by international 
cooperation bodies, transport travelled through the entire Central American region at a speed of 
17 km/h, which reduced the region's competitiveness.  
27. One of the current measures her delegation wanted to highlight was the new export 
procedure developed in El Salvador, which was based on the notion of early compliance with 
requirements. This  measure represen ted a significant challenge, as computer interconnectivity did 
not yet exist in all government agencies, and yet it had converted internal customs (free zones, 
general deposit warehouses) into declaration -processing customs. This and other efforts resulted  
in El Salvador being ranked the first country in Latin America in the Trading Across Borders 
indicator of the 2017  Doing Business report. This measure had also succeeded in reducing border 
crossing times by 45%. There was still much room for technological  improvement – which was 
needed to enhance this type of measure – and El  Salvador continued actively working to update 
computer systems in control agencies.  
28. She also mentioned that, in compliance with the TFA, El Salvador now had a National Trade 
Facilitat ion Committee. This Committee was established by Executive Decree and was chaired by 
the Minister of Economy. The Committee was created with a view to reducing the dispersal of 
trade facilitation measures among the various control agencies, instead concent rating them into a 
single body so as to improve the coordination of the work that was to be carried out. All these 
efforts sought to facilitate trade in the country, while ensuring compliance with its international 
commitments.  
29. The representative of Guatem ala stressed the significance of trade costs arising from 
exogenous factors. In the case of Guatemala, the very nature of its terrain, geographic location 
and climate made the country highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Guatemala was 
affect ed by natural phenomena such as earthquakes, volcanic activity, landslides, hurricanes, 
floods, droughts and forest fires. According to data from the United  Nations Office for Disaster Risk 
Reduction, Guatemala ranked fifth in the world in terms of number of deaths caused by natural 
disasters. The effects of such disasters on the economy and domestic production were huge and 
the costs often so high that they kept the country and in particular its economy in a permanent 
state of vulnerability, which was why Guatemala was considered not only a small economy, but 
also a vulnerable one. In accordance with the data contained in the annex of the Secretariat's 
paper , Guatemala had identified transport infrastructure as the main trade cost in both goods and 
services . The Guatemalan Government had been constantly striving to develop and improve its 
transport infrastructure, and while it was true that its comprehensive risk management 
preparation and response capabilities had significantly improved in recent years, nat ural disasters' 
negative impact on infrastructure was a hindrance that could not be avoided.  
30. The representative also referred to the problems faced by Guatemala due to maritime 
transport costs. She noted that the maritime cargo moved by Guatemalan ports ha d experienced a 
year-on-year increase of approximately 17%. The existing port infrastructure was unable to 
absorb this increase, resulting in high operation costs in ports and driving up the prices of 
Guatemalan exports. In practice, foreign vessels were a uthorized to offer national cabotage 
services, and there were no restrictions on the participation of foreigners in the operation of ports 
put out on concession or on the provision of auxiliary port services such as towing, handling and 
storage. Despite th ese provisions, foreign direct investment  (FDI)  in this sector had still fallen 
short of domestic needs.  
31. She further discussed the issue of NTMs . According to the Secretariat's study, small 
economies specialized in products that were often subject to NTMs . Guatemalan goods were 
particularly affected by SPS measures, as well as TBT. While Guatemala  understood that such 
measures had important objectives such as human, plant and animal health, Guatemalan 
producers struggled to stay abreast of new measures, to understand such measures and to 
implement them. This was why technical training was crucial for SVEs, as it would not only 
contribute to the proper implementation of such measures, but also enable domestic products to 
be exported.  
32. The representative of Dominica , on behalf of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States 
(OECS) , said that the six island states of the OECS faced all of the challenges but also had all the 
opportunities identified in the report. In the responses to the questionnaire, among them , the six 
OECS states had identified all of the sources of trade costs in goods and services in the report. WT/COMTD/SE/M/34  
 
- 7 - 
 
  This was important to them from a policy imperative standpoint. He recalled that the OECS was in 
the process of becoming a customs union and , as par t of that effort , there was a project to have 
free circulation of goods. This would lead to the creation of a single economic space that would 
promote economic growth and international competitiveness of the region as articulated in the 
Eastern Caribbean U nion Protocol of the revised Treaty. A number of steps had already been 
undertaken which involved , for example , the harmonization of OECS border taxes, which included 
the application of a common external tariff, as well as the harmonization of other duties  and 
charges. There were other elements related to SPS and port management. He added that the 
OECS members were involved in efforts to implement the agreement. Five members had already 
ratified it and one would follow shortly. The Group was also looking at  the Caribbean Community  
(CARICOM ) for a regional approach to the implementation of the TFA. A number of priority areas 
had already been identified for regional implementation.  
33. The Dedicated Session took note  of all the interventions.  
(iii) Presentation by  the Standards and Trade Development Facility (STDF) on SPS Measures and 
Trade Facilitation  
34. The representative of the Standards and Trade Development Facility (STDF)  said that the 
Fund was a global partnership which helped developing countries to build SPS capacity. It was 
established by five organizations : the World Organisation for Animal Health  (OIE), the Food and 
Agriculture Organization  (FAO), the World Bank, the World Health Organization ( WHO) and the 
WTO. It was supported by voluntary contributions f rom donors to a trust fund. The STDF worked 
as a knowledge platform . It was a coordination mechanism which tried to identify good practice, 
additional resources for Aid for Trade, but also to ensure that capacity building is coherent and 
effective. The STD F was also a funding mechanism for project preparation, seed funding to help 
developing countries turn ideas into sound sustainable project proposals, and also a number of 
SPS projects globally that involve the public and private sectors, and are sometimes  regional in 
scope.  
35. Regarding trade in agricultural products, it had tripled over the last 15 years. The 
agricultural sector was vital for many developing countries and small economies. Investment in 
this sector would have a strong impact on poverty reduct ion. However,  he also noted that trade 
costs in agriculture were much higher than in manufacturing, which affected competitiveness. This 
was due to factors like infrastructure, transport, access to credit but also to cumbersome 
procedures. In some countrie s, outdated border procedures and red tape were a bigger concern 
than tariffs themselves.  
36. The representative said that there was a performance gap between the health and SPS 
authorities at the border on the one hand, and some other border agencies, such as  customs, on 
the other hand. In lower performing countries , there tended to be more physical inspections and 
longer import and export lead times.  
37. In 2012 , the STDF started research on how SPS measures were implemented in practice. 
The STDF looked at SPS co ntrols for specific products like fruit, vegetables, fish and meat in 
several African and Asian countries. The focus was on Annex C of the SPS Agreement which 
contains provisions on control, inspection and approval procedures. The question that the STDF  
wanted to answer was if there were transaction costs that could be reduced without compromising 
health objectives, and whether there were any good practices in this area. At that time there was 
no direct link to the TFA, but now it was viewed as an opportuni ty to enhance dialogue and 
leverage additional funds to improve SPS border management.  
38. The representative mentioned several examples of the research findings by the STDF . 
Among the challenges, there were complex and lengthy procedures, excessive document 
requirements, limited information, multiple inspections, little coordination between border 
agencies, no complaints or appeal procedures, and a high degree of arbitrariness. The 
consequences of this were more controls than justifiable, longer than necessary  waiting times, 
uncertainty and increased costs for traders and sometimes also for governments. The conclusion 
that was  reached was that SPS measures could result in justifiable transaction costs based on the 
need to protect human, animal and plant health,  but that ineffective and inefficient SPS controls 
resulted in poor health protection and disrupted trade more than necessary. The question was, WT/COMTD/SE/M/34  
 
- 8 - 
 
  then, what could small economies do. The conclusions of all the work done by the STDF in this 
area were that co untries could improve transparency, streamline, simplify and regularly review 
regulations and procedures, implement risk -based approaches for inspections, improve 
coordination between SPS authorities and customs, include SPS controls in national single win dows 
and in the future move towards SPS e -certification.  
39. Regarding the TFA, he noted that the SPS Agreement was a trade facilitation agreement as 
well. It tried to strike a balance between health protection and unjustified barriers to trade. The 
TFA added a number of "SPS -plus" obligations, so by no means did it diminish the rights and 
obligations of Members already had under the SPS Agreement as some feared initially. On further 
consideration of the TFA, it would be a good thing to strengthen awareness of SPS and customs 
officials of rights and obligations under all relevant WTO Agreements. It would also be useful to 
involve SPS officials in trade facilitation  needs assessments. There were opportunities here to 
benefit from increased Aid for Trade and fundi ng opportunities. There was a need to increase 
communication among national SPS and trade facilitation  committees and bodies.  
40. Finally, speaking about the STDF ongoing work, the representative said that in 2016  the 
STDF had organized a seminar on electronic  SPS certification, focused on  the challenges and 
opportunities for developing countries and good practices. The presentations and podcast could be 
found at www.standardsfacility.org/SPS -eCert . How ever, he noted that in order to be able to make 
the transition to digital SPS systems, a sound paper based system should be in place first. During  
the Aid-for-Trade Global Review  2017, the STDF would be having an information session on the 
transition from paper -based to digital SPS systems. Also, in the STDF Working Group , there was 
an ongoing discussion on good regulatory practice in the SPS area.  
41. The representative of Guatemala  asked the STDF representative's  opinion on the status of 
developing countries,  in particular small economies, as regard s compliance with SPS measures 
outside of their borders, especially in the big markets. Were they ready? Were there many 
problems on that side?  
42. The representative of Singapore  remarked on the link between the TFA an d SPS aspects and 
how important it was for the various officials to act together. Singapore had worked with the 
Institut e for Tr aining and Technical Cooperation ( ITTC) to conduct a course combining those 
elements in November 2016 for a number of countries from the Asia -Pacific region.  
43. In answer to the question from Guatemala, the representative of the STDF  said that the 
presentation focused more on what countries could do about their own procedures because . On 
the TFA side, particularly the import side, sev eral improvements could be made in terms of exports 
and meeting the SPS import re quirements of trading partners. The SPS Agreement promoted the 
concept of harmonization which meant that ideally all countries should align with international 
standards, CODEX  for food safety, OIE for animal health and the International Plant Protection 
Convention (IPPC)  for plant health. However,  in many developing countries and small economies 
getting up to that level was a long way to go, many investments would have to be ma de. 
Moreover,  when it appear ed that a country was about to be able to comply , SPS measures could 
get even stricter because of new technologies or evolving science. There was still much work to be 
done but a lot of progress had been made in terms of trainin g SPS officials in developing countries.  
44. The representative of Mozambique asked if it was possible to extend the seminars on the 
linkages between the TBT, the SPS and the TFA to other regions.  
45. The Dedicated Session took note  of all the interventions.  
46. Befor e moving to the next agenda item, the representative of the STDF introduced a film 
related to his presentation. He said that as part of the trade facilitation work done with the STDF 
over a number of years a short film had been produced which looked at wha t Chile, Colombia and 
Peru had done in the areas of trade facilitation and health protection. He realized that these 
countries were not small economies but the film highlighted good practices that could be an 
inspiration for other Members.  
47. In the film, the  three countries shared their experiences on promoting safe trade, which 
entailed finding a balance between trade facilitation and prevention or control. This implied WT/COMTD/SE/M/34  
 
- 9 - 
 
  applying international standards on SPS while setting up strategies to improve the flow o f goods. 
These strategies not only included joint controls between customs officials of different countries, 
but also coordination between government officials of the same country, like for instance those in 
charge of agricultural SPS measures and customs.  This allowed the authorities to control goods in 
less time, with enhanced security and lesser costs. At the same time, the simplification of 
administrative procedures, such as the establishment of single windows, on -line issuing of import 
permits and on  - line payments, fostered transparency and contributed as well to improving food 
security by reducing warehousing times and costs for importers, which were reflected in the final 
prices consumers paid.  
D. PARAGRAPH 41 OF THE HONG KONG MINISTERIA L DECLARATIO N: MONITORING 
PROGRESS OF THE SMAL L ECONOMIES' PROPOSA LS IN THE NEGOTIATIN G GROUPS AND 
OTHER WTO BODIES  
- Work Programme on Small Economies - Compilation paper prepared by the 
Secretariat (WT/COMTD/SE/W/22/Rev.8)  
48. The Chairman introduced document WT/COMTD/S E/W/22/Rev.8 and said that it kept a 
record of all matters concerning the Small Economies' Work Programme and included key 
proposals made in the negotiating groups and other WTO bodies. It also listed all decisions which 
had been taken concerning the Work Programme. The paper, which was circulated on 
10 May 2017, had been updated to include the relevant paragraphs of the Nairobi Declaration, and 
the documents which had been discussed in this meeting, contained in WT/COMTD/SE/W/33/Rev.1 
and WT/COMTD/SE/W/35.  
49. The representative of Guatemala,  speaking on behalf of the SVEs , said that the document 
was mandated by paragraph 41 of the Ministerial Declaration of Hong Kong. It provided an 
overview and progress of the SVE proposals in negotiation groups and other WTO  Committees.  
This document and its revisions had been an integral part of the Ministerial Decisions on the Work 
Program me on Small Economies adopted throughout the different Ministerial Conferences.  
50. On this topic, she said that the SVEs would  like to take this opportunity to inform the 
Committee that the SVEs Group would start consultations with Members in order to discuss and 
further present a proposal for the Ministerial Decision on the Work Program me on Small 
Economies. Such draft decision would be then presented, discussed and hopefully agreed in the 
Committee in order to be then adopted by the Ministers at the Eleventh Ministerial Conference 
(MC11 ). She invited any interested Member to contact her delegation in order to participate in 
such consultations . 
51. The Committee took note  of the report.  
E. OTHER BUSINESS  
52. The Chairman said that no items had been raised under this item of the agenda . However, 
he again  asked if any delegation wanted to raise an issue at that point. There were no requests for 
the floor . 
53. The meeting was adjourned . 
 
 
__________