TN/TF/W/186  
 
8 February 2013  
(13-0666)  Page: 1/2  
Negotiating Group on Trade Facilitation  Original: English  
 
DISCUSSION PAPER ON THE INCLUSIO N OF PRE-SHIPMENT INSPECTION 
IN THE NEGOTIATIONS ON TRADE FACILITATION 
 
COMMUNICATION FROM ANGOLA AND EGYPT 
 
 The following communication, dated 6 February 2013, is being circulated at the request of 
the delegations of Angola and Egypt for consideration by the Negotiating Group on Trade 
Facilitation.   
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 1  INTRODUCTION 
1.1.  This communication has been presented in  order to better explain the concerns of the 
proponents regarding Article 10.6 of th e Draft Consolidated Negotiating Text 
(TN/TF/W/165/Rev.14) on pre-shipment inspection. 
1.1  Background 
1.2.  The concept of eliminating pre-shipment inspection first appeared in the Trade Facilitation 
Agenda in Communication TN/TF/W/46 dated on 9 June 2005 by the Delegations of the European 
Communities. This was followed by revised proposals from the Delegation of the European 
Communities and the Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu in 
Communications TN/TF/W/90 dated 4 April 2006 and TN/TF/W/108 dated 6 June 2006. This proposal was widely discussed within the Negotiating Group on Trade Facilitation and on bilateral 
consultations with interested Members. During these discussions, certain delegations expressed 
their concerns on the contradiction between this proposal and the Agreement on Pre-shipment Inspection which is one of the gains of developing countries from the Uruguay Round. These 
delegations questioned the relevance of this proposal to the mandate of the negotiations. 
1.2  The Issue 1.3.  The negotiations on Trade Facilitation aims to clarify and improve relevant aspects of Articles 
V, VIII and X of the GATT 1994 with a view to further expediting the movement, release and 
clearance of goods, including goods in transit. 
1.4.  The proponents of this Communication belie ve that Article 10.6 of the Draft Consolidated 
Negotiating Text (TN/TF/W/165/Rev.14), which proposes the elimination of pre-shipment 
inspection, fall beyond the scope of the mandate of the negotiations on Trade Facilitation for the 
following reasons: 
a. The activities related to the inspections of goods when carried out on the territory of an 
exporting Member are subject to a separate multilateral agreement of Annex 1A to the 
Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization Agreements, which is the 
Agreement on Pre-shipment Inspection (PSI).  The proponents of this Communication did 
not find any intent on the mandate of the NGTF to amend or to terminate the operation of 
the Agreement on PSI. TN/TF/W/186 
 
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  b. The proponents of this Communication can find only one mandate related to the 
Agreement on PSI.  This can be found in Annex C to the draft Cancún Ministerial Text, and this aims to better activate Article 3.3 of the Agreement on technical assistance. 
c. Pursuant to the Agreement on PSI, any modi fication to the agreement must be on the 
basis of a ministerial decision, as prescribed in Article 6 which stipulates that “(…) the 
Ministerial Conference shall review the prov isions, the implementation and the operation 
of this agreement, taking into account th e objectives and experience gained in its 
operation. At the result of such review, the Ministerial Conference may amend the 
provisions of the agreement”.  
d. The last Review under Article 6 of the Agreement on PSI was carried out in the Committee 
on Customs Valuation at its 6 October 2006 meeting.  The Committee noted that no 
submissions were received from any Member during the Review.  With the absence of 
such contributions, the Review was concluded without any recommendations. 
e. During the TF negotiations, some delegati ons argued that Article 10.6 of the Draft 
Consolidated Negotiating Text (TN/TF/W/165/Rev.14) fits under the mandate to clarify 
and improve GATT Article VIII and more specif ically paragraph 4(g). The proponents of 
this Communication believe that the mention of "analysis and inspections" in Article VIII 
paragraph 4(g) refers to these activities when realized in the territory of the Member 
importing the goods, whereas the Agreement on PSI refers to these activities when 
realized in the territory of another Member (Article 2.3 on site of inspection). 
f. Moreover, the general interpretative note to Annex 1A indicates that “ In the event of 
conflict between a provision of GATT 1994 and a provision of another Agreement in Annex 
1A to the Agreement Establishing the WTO, the provision of the other agreement shall 
prevail to the extent of the conflict" .  In this context, any modification brought to the 
activities of Pre-shipment Inspection shall be valid only if it is made to the Agreement on 
PSI. The proposal submitted by the Europe an Communities and the Separate Customs 
Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu does not make any modification to the 
Agreement on PSI, because such modification would not be on line with the negotiating 
mandate of the Doha Round. 
g. Moreover, WTO Members recognized the need of developing countries to have recourse to 
pre-shipment inspection as to verify the quality, quantity, customs classification or price of 
imported goods. The note submitted by th e Secretariat to the Committee on Customs 
Valuation on the situation with regard to countries using pre-shipment inspection (PSI) regimes in June 2012 shows that a number of developing countries and LDCs are still 
relying on pre-shipment inspection. 
2  CONCLUSION 2.1.  In this context, the proponents of the current communication are of the view that the 
proposed Article 10.6 of the Draft Consolidated Negotiating Text (TN/TF/W/165/Rev.14) on pre-
shipment inspection does not fall in the mandate of the negotiations on trade facilitation, forfeits the rights of developing countries and LDCs in the special and deferential treatment that they 
gained in the Agreement on PSI, and obviously co nflicts with the preamble of the Agreement, as 
well as with Article 6 on the procedures that must be followed in order to review or amend it. 
2.2.  Under these circumstances, the proponents kindly request that Article 10.6 on pre-shipment 
inspection to be dropped from the Draft Consolidated Negotiating Text (TN/TF/W/165/Rev.14). 
 
 
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