WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION   
TN/TF/W/175 
4 November 2011 
 (11-5608) 
Negotiating Group on Trade Facilitation Original:   English 
  
 
TRADE FACILITATION TECHNICAL AND FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE AND 
SUPPORT FOR CAPACITY BUILDING REGISTER/SCHEDULE 
 
Communication from the ACP Group 
 
 
 The following submission, dated 2 November 2011, is being circulated at the request of the delegations of the ACP Group for consideration by  the Negotiating Group on Trade Facilitation at its 
meeting on 9-11 November 2011.  
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  This submission is intended to provide a vehi cle for developed Members to notify developing 
and least developed Members of specific trade fac ilitation (TF) technical and financial assistance and 
capacity building measures that developed Member donors or their designated agents will apply to 
support the implementation of TF Section I measur es by developing and least developed members.  
Developed Member donors would update this register/schedule on a yearly basis.  Two types of registers are envisaged:  (1) the first, to indicate technical assistance activitie s to be undertaken during 
the timeframe indicated in the re gister/schedule and submitted to the WTO as soon as possible before 
conclusion of the agreement and updated on a yearly basis;  and (2) another, to indicate the level of 
support and description provided to developing and least developed Members during the previous 
twelve months and submitted to the WTO af ter entry into force of the agreement. 
  In essence, this proposal for a register/sche dule documenting specific assistance and amounts 
should provide developing and least developed Members with greater transparency on how developed 
Member donors will commit to provide technical/financial assistance to support implementation of 
commitments undertaken by developing and least developed Members in accordance with Annex D of 
the July 2004 Framework Agreement and Annex E of the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration.  
In addition to providing transparency on the amount  of support available, this submission seeks to 
provide a guide to developing a nd least developed Members on the relevant procedures required to 
access technical and financial assistance.  In vi ew of the need to support specific development 
outcomes for LDCs, expedited procedures would be deployed by developed Member donors for 
LDC Members.   Since the commencement of substantive negotia tions in TF, extensive discussions and text 
based negotiations have advanced in the Nego tiating Group on Trade Facilitation (NGTF) on Section 
I of the draft TF text without commensurate treatment  in Section II relating to technical and financial 
assistance beyond current paragraph II.10.  This regist er/schedule seeks to redress this imbalance and 
aims to provide developing and least developed Members with a precise record of the form and structure of technical and financial assistance and support for capacity building that developed 
Member donors have specifically earmarked and ha ve provided to support the implementation of 
commitments in line with the architecture laid out in Section II of the draft text. 
 TN/TF/W/175 
Page 2  
 
   Where projects are not yet identified because relevant developing and least developed 
Members have not yet completed needs assessments  or no agreement has been reached between 
developing and least developed an d developed Members to enable the submission of notifications of 
category C commitments, this register/schedule will be updated as often as practicable and at least once a year. 
 
 All Members explicitly agreed that TF negotiations would commence, and any 
implementation from developing a nd least developed Members in need, would be predicated on the 
provision of technical/ financial assistance and capacity building.  It is clear from the negotiations that 
equal weight has not been placed on concrete princi ples of special and differential treatment as that 
evident in Section I.  Based on the eleventh revisi on of the draft text, the burden is on developing and 
least developed Members for implementation and also to seek out assistance from donors to meet 
those needs.  However, in this context, it is  important for developed Member donors to provide 
developing and least developed countries with a cl ear sense of what resources are available for 
implementation. 
 
 The draft text contemplates a Category C no tification where developing and least developed 
Members are expected to notify commitments that  require technical and financial assistance and 
capacity building in order to implement the respectiv e commitments.  In contrast, the notification is 
not matched by a notification from Member donors indicating the type of assistance that is available or will be committed.  Instead, the draft text e nvisions that developed Member donors will only be 
required to submit an annual report to a TF Committee describing assistance provided and amounts 
dispersed (see e.g., TN/TF/W/165/Rev.11, Section II.10).  The register/schedule would be a living 
document facilitating transparency on how devel oped Member donors will commit to provide support 
for implementation as well as the amount and natu re of resources to be made available.  
This information must be provided as soon as possibl e and before the conclusion of the agreement.  
The register/schedule will be updated as often as requi red, at least annually to provide an opportunity 
for donors to catalogue projects undertaken, resour ces expended, resources available and procedures 
for approval.  This proposal would replace the te xt for annual reports to the future TF Committee 
already envisaged in the draft text.  Amendments to the draft TF composite text 
  The following text is to be inserted into the draft text as new Section II.9.3 bis: 
  "To provide transparency to developing and least developed Members, developed Members 
will complete a trade facilitation technical a nd financial assistance and support for capacity 
register/schedule.  The register/schedule will ser ve as the vehicle to inform developing and least 
developed members about the specific assistance and support that developed members will provide 
for implementation of Section I provisions.  The regi ster/schedule shall be submitted in two stages:  
first, before signature of the Agreement, and the second, after entry into force of the agreement.  
The second register/schedule to be submitted annually will document all forms of assistance and support provided by developed members to devel oping and least developed members on a country by 
country basis (or in special circumstances, re gional) during the previous twelve months.  
This register/schedule would support operationalizi ng the principal mandate contained in Annex D of 
the 2004 July Framework Agreement and Annex E of  the Hong Kong Declaration.  The information 
provided shall contain a description of the techni cal and financial assistance and capacity building 
available and/or provided, the amounts disbursed and available, the beneficiary country, region 
(in special circumstances where required), the implementing agency in the donor Member, and 
procedures for disbursement of the assistance."  The following registers and draft guidelines for co mpleting them are to be inserted into the 
consolidated text as Annex II:  
   TN/TF/W/175
 Page 3 
REGISTER FOR SCHEDULING TECHNICAL AND FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE 
AND SUPPORT FOR CAPACITY BUILDING 
 
 
REGISTER BEFORE CONCLUSI ON OF THE TF AGREEMENT
Donor Member
Description of TF specific 
programmes Amounts or Value 
Earmarked 
2012-2014 Beneficiary 
country Regional (where 
required)1 Responsible Ministry or 
Department in the 
developed country 
member Procedures required for 
approvals and 
disbursement (URL – 
Websites 
      
 
 
REGISTER AFTER ENTRY INTO FORCE 
Donor Member 
Provision to be 
implemented Description specific 
technical/ Financial 
assistance and 
capacity building Amount/value 
or Disbursed Beneficiary 
country Regional (in special 
circumstances where 
required)2 Responsible Ministry 
or Department Procedures for 
approvals and 
disbursement 
Publication and Availability of Information       
Prior publication and 
consultation       
Advance rulings       
Appeal [REVIEW] 
procedures       
Other measures to 
enhance impartiality, 
non-discrimination and transparency       
                                                      
1 A regional entry is only for special circum stances where assistance is pr ovided only through this vehicle, for example to cust oms unions,.  However, it must be 
demonstrated that all low income developi ng countries in that region may access the a ssistance.  Since donors are expecting spe cific developing and least developed country 
Members to implement specific commitments u nder this agreement, it is imperative that the information on assistance provided is  equally so described. 
2 A regional entry is only for special circum stances where assistance is pr ovided only through this vehicle, for example to cust oms unions,.  However, it must be 
demonstrated that all low income developi ng countries in that region may access the a ssistance.  Since donors are expecting spe cific developing and least developed country 
Members to implement specific commitments u nder this agreement, it is imperative that the information on assistance provided is  equally so described.  
  TN/TF/W/175 
Page 4 REGISTER AFTER ENTRY INTO FORCE 
Donor Member 
Provision to be 
implemented Description specific 
technical/ Financial 
assistance and 
capacity building Amount/value 
or Disbursed Beneficiary 
country Regional (in special 
circumstances where 
required)2 Responsible Ministry 
or Department Procedures for 
approvals and 
disbursement 
Disciplines on fees and 
charges imposed on or 
in connection with importation and 
exportation       
Release and Clearance 
of Goods       
Border agency 
cooperation       
Declaration of 
transhipped or in transit 
goods] [domestic 
transit]       
Formalities connected 
with importation and 
exportation (reduction 
formalities, international standards, 
single window, etc.)       
Freedom of transit       
[Customs cooperation 
mechanism for trade 
facilitation and compliance][customs 
cooperation]       
National committee on 
trade facilitation       
  TN/TF/W/175 
 Page 5 
 
 
   
GUIDELINES FOR COMPLETING THE TRADE FACILITATION 
TECHNICAL AND FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE AND SUPPORT 
FOR CAPACITY BUILDING REGISTER/SCHEDULE 
  
 Donor Members shall prepare their register in  accordance with the formats in Annex 1 and 
provide the following information for technical/f inancial assistance provide d specific to the Trade 
Facilitation (TF) text, before conclusion of the agr eement and after entry into force of the agreement: 
 
1. Description of TF specific assistance before conclusion of the agreement:  
The programs must be relevant to the type of commitments envisaged in the draft text 
and Members are expected to commit to.  The description must not include general assistance that could be remotely connected to the commitments envisaged, but still qualify as trade facilitating. 
 
2. Description of TF after conclusion of th e agreement:  The programs must be entered 
specific to the sections of the agreement developing Members or least developed 
Members in need have identified in a Category C request. 
 
3. Amount earmarked and disbursed:  For the period before conclusion of the agreement, 
donor Members shall provide information on the amounts earmarked for TF specific 
technical/financial assistance and capacity building.  For the period after conclusion of the agreement, donor Members shall pr ovide amounts disbursed related to the 
specific section of the TF agreement. 
 
4. Beneficiary Member:  The information must describe the specific WTO beneficiary 
Member eligible to access or having received the assistance. 
 
5. Regional:  This information must be provided only in the special case where 
assistance has been or can only be provided through a regional vehicle.  However, the 
donor Member must demonstrate the specific WTO Member countries having 
benefitted from the assistance or may access the assistance.  Since donors are 
expecting specific developing and least de veloped country Members to implement 
specific commitments under this agreement, it is imperative that the information on 
assistance provided is equally so described. 
 
6. Responsible Ministry or Department:  The Ministry, agency, or department 
responsible for approving and disbursing assistance must be indicated to enable 
developing countries to appreciate the specific source of funding in the donor Member. 
 
7. Procedures for approval and disbursement:  Donor Members are asked to provide the 
specific website link to access the info rmation on approval and disbursement 
procedures.  It is imperative that this info rmation is clear and allows no ambiguity to 
facilitate the developing or least developed Member in need of assistance for implementation to access that assistance in a timely and effective manner. 
 
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