G/L/ 1475  
G/TFA/W/ 89 
 
21 December  2022 
(22-9638) Page: 1/2 
Council for Trade in Goods  
Committee on Trade Facilitation    
 
WTO RESPONSE TO THE PANDEMIC  
REPORT TO THE COUNCIL FOR TRADE IN GOODS BY THE CHAIRPERSON  
OF THE  COMMITTEE ON TRADE FACILITATION   
The following report is being submitted by the Chairperson of the Committee on Trade Facilitation, 
Ambassador H.E. (Dr) Adamu Mohammed ABDULHAMID, under his own responsibility and at the 
request of the Chairperson of the Council for Trade in Goods . The report was prepared with the 
assistance of the Secretariat  and follows the same approach as the reports that were requested from 
the Chairpersons of the 14 CTG subsidiary bodies.1 
 
_______________  
 
1  INFORMAL SESSION  
1.1.  The Committee on Trade Facilitation  held an  informal meeting on 30 September  2020 to discuss 
the trade facilitation measures that Members had implemented in the context of the COVID -19 
pandemic. Twenty Members informed the Committee of the measures that they had implemented. 
In addition, at the inv itation of the Chairperson, the International Trade Centre, the World Bank, the 
World Customs Organization, the United Nations Conference for Trade and Development (UNCTAD) 
(which are Annex D trade facilitation partners) and the Global Alliance updated the  membership on 
their COVID -19 trade facilitation work.  
1.2.  Presentations made by Members and international organizations at the informal session are 
available here. 
2  REGULAR COMMITTEE WORK  
2.1  Transparency notifications  
2.1.  Under Section I of the Trade Facilitation Agreement  (TFA) , Members are required to submit 
several transparency notifications under articles 1.4 (import, export, and transit procedures); 10.4.3 
(single window); 10.6.2 (customs brokers) and 12.2.2 (exchange of customs information) .  
2.2.  Eight Members submitted transparency notifications to update the sources of information for 
measures undertaken to face the pandemic in the period 2020 -2022.2 
2.2  Experience Sharing on COVID -19 
2.3.  Following the informal session held on 30 September 2020, Members continued the practice of 
sharing their experiences in responding to the pandemic under the regular session of the Committee.  
2.4.  Presentations  made by Members and international organizations on their response to the 
pandemic are available here. 
 
1 See document JOB/CTG/18 . 
2 Canada, China, Dominican  Republic, European Union, Indonesia, Switzerland, Chinese Taipei, 
United  States.  G/L/1475 • G/TFA/W/89  
 
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  2.3  Compendium of COVID -19 Measures  
2.5.  At the informal  meeting of 30 September 2020, the E uropean Union proposed to compile the 
trade facilitation measures implemented by WTO Members and observers in response to COVID -19. 
The document would be a repository of best practices. The initiative was supported by Ca nada, 
Colombia and Hong Kong, China.  
2.6.  In December 2020, a formal proposal with this objective was introduced by the EU in document 
G/TFA/W/31 . Members discussed this proposal at the meetings of 26 -27 January and 3 March 2021. 
The document was revised on four occasions and agreed to on 25 March  2021, under written 
procedures.  
2.7.  The WTO Secretariat presented a first version of the compendium in document G/TFA/W/40  on 
20 May 2021. The compendium was last reviewed  in December 2021 (G/TFA/W/40/Rev.4 ) to include 
updated information submitted by Members to the Committee.  
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