. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  TN/TF/W/40 
2 June 2005 
 (05-2252) 
Negotiating Group on Trade Facilitation Original:   Spanish 
  
 
 
COMMUNICATION FROM ARGENTINA 
 
  The following communication from the delegation of Argentina, dated 1 June 2005, is being 
circulated in advance of the Negotiati ng Group meeting of 13 and 14 June 2005. 
 
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PROPOSAL TO IMPROV E AND CLARIFY ARTICLE X OF THE GATT 1994 
 
I. INTRODUCTION 
1. The principles on which the multilateral trading system is based, namely non-discrimination 
(most favoured nation and national treatment) and the reciprocity of concessions, need to be 
supplemented by transparency of all of the Me mber countries' trade policy measures.  Without 
transparency, the value of commitme nts can remain in the realm of th eory and devoid of any practical 
effect, undermining the exercise of rights and ob ligations under the mul tilateral agreements.  
Similarly, special and differential treatment  can only truly be implemente d if there is transparency. 
2. Economic operators need to know the trade rules and practices of other Members in order to 
take advantage of the trade benef its conferred by the commitments of WTO Members and to avoid the 
obstacles caused by misinformation and/or excessive bureaucracy.  Information should be simple and 
easily accessible.  This is vital in enabling the SMEs  to operate and hence become a driving force of 
the developing economies. 
3. Argentina will initially focus its  efforts on suggesting improvements to Article X of the 
GATT 1994.  This is done without prejudice to our  future communications concerning Articles V and 
VIII of the GATT 1994. 
II. PROPOSAL 
4. If we are to achieve positive results in the nego tiations, we must address issues that are simple 
and easily accessible which take account of the intere sts of all WTO Members.  One of these could be 
the creation on the official WTO web page of a "t rade facilitation" link listing all of the Member 
countries, and providing further links to relevant national websites in the different areas.  Members 
also need to have a "list or inventory" that could contain the facilitation measure applied and the 
bodies involved in its implementation.  This could be supplemented by an e-mail account, for example 
consultation_Member@wto-tradefacilit ation.org, with the address of the Member concerned.  At the 
national level, each Member would identify an addr ess or trade office that could answer any queries 
within a reasonable period of time to be determined. TN/TF/W/40 
Page 2  
 
 III. IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PROPOSAL 
5. Each Member should provide the Secretariat with  a list of websites containing detailed (and 
updated) information under Article X of the GATT 1 994.  Members that do not have a computerized 
database can request the technical assistance a nd capacity-building support needed to fulfil this 
requirement within a time-limit to be determined. 
6. Another issue to be considered is the language  in which each country publishes its regulations 
(its official language), since the proposal involves directing Members to the national websites of other 
Members.  In the case of developing countries an d LDCs whose language is not one of the three 
official WTO languages, the possibility of requ esting the necessary technical assistance (from the 
developed countries, from the WTO, and/or from other bodies offering their services) should be 
envisaged so that the regulations can be translated into at least one of the official languages of the 
WTO.  A timetable should be established to that end. 
7. The WTO Secretariat, or the entity offering t echnical assistance, could also act as a focal 
point in the consultations among Members with respec t to information provided for under Article X of 
the GATT 1994 from Members that have requested assistance and are therefore involved in a 
capacity-building and technical assistance programme.  This type of assistance would serve the dual 
purpose of helping developing count ry and LDC Members both internally, by providing them with 
technical assistance in computerizing and translating the regulations and decisions referred to in Article X through the multilateral system of whic h the country is a member, and externally, by 
facilitating trade flows with those countries. 
IV. COSTS 
8. Possibly no other task provided for under the Doha Development Agenda has as much 
potential to help the SMEs throughout the world, an d particularly in the developing countries.  Setting 
up services for the notification, collection and translation of the data from Members as mentioned in Article X of the GATT 1994 should be a technical assi stance and capacity-building priority in the area 
of trade facilitation. 
9. However, maintaining internet sites and build ing up the necessary capacity will involve costs 
in the short term.  Experience suggests that in th e medium and long term, there will be considerable 
savings of resources as well as greater efficiency that will result in increased trade flows.  The 
possibility of obtaining information as proposed will provide the SMEs with increased opportunities, since they often lack commercial presence in  the destination markets of their products. 
10. The assistance that both the international organizations (World Bank, IMF, OECD, WCO, 
UNCTAD, etc.) and the developed countries are wil ling to offer will be essential in defining and 
planning the implementation of the proposal.  
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