./.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  TN/TF/W/26 
21 March 2005 
 (05-1189) 
Negotiating Group on Trade Facilitation Original:   English 
  
 
COMMUNICATION FROM THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA 
 
 The following communication, dated 18 Marc h 2005, from the Delegation of the People's 
Republic of China, is being circulated in advance of the Negotiating Group meeting of 22-24 March.   
 
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PROPOSAL ON CLARIFICATION AND IMPROVEMENT 
OF GATT ARTICLE X 
 
 
I. INTRODUCTION 
1. In light of the mandate in Annex D of the July Package, China would like to make its 
proposals on clarification and improvement of GA TT Article X (Publication and Administration of 
Trade Regulations), with a view to further expe diting the movement, release and clearance of goods, 
including goods in transit by way of increasing tran sparency in the publication and administration of 
trade regulations. 
2. Greater transparency and predictability is of importance to the trade community.  From the 
perspective of traders, it could provide them with information on trade procedures in an accurate and 
timely manner, avoid undue form alities and document requirements,  accelerate trade process and 
reduce transaction costs.  From the perspectiv e of governments, it could increase administration 
efficiency, cut administrative costs and optimize resources allocation.  In terms of policy making, through increasing transparency in the policy-making  process, the regulations made would be more 
reasonable and operable, thus the compliance as well as efficiency of the regulations concerned could 
be enhanced.  In general, increas ed transparency of trade regulations will play a positive role in 
increasing trade volume, reducing transaction costs and facilitating trade. 
3. In light of China's experiences in this regard, the following proposals, if adopted, would help 
to reduce trade costs, increase administration e fficiency and provide a more transparent and 
predictable environment for traders and enterprises, especially SMEs.  
II. PROPOSALS  
1. Scope of Trade Regulations Subject to Publication 
 Trade regulations subject to publication s hall include all laws, regulations and other 
measures of general application pertaining to or affecting trade in goods, and other information 
concerning relevant procedures, fees, and charges related to border-crossing trade. 
 2. Methods of Publication  
 The publication shall be made via the media officially designated and easily accessible, 
including gazettes, journals and Internet;  neverthele ss, Internet shall be th e first option utilized by 
Members with requisite technical and personnel resources. 
  TN/TF/W/26 
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 3. Enquiry Point 
 Each Member shall, in accordance with thei r real situations, establish or designate one or 
more trade policy enquiry points where, upon request of any individual, enterprise or WTO Member, 
all information relating to the above-mentioned la ws, regulations and measures may be obtained.  
Replies to requests for informati on shall generally be provided within 30 days after receipt of a 
request.  In exceptional cases, replies may be provid ed within 45 days after receipt of a request.  
Replies to WTO Members shall be complete and s hall represent the authoritati ve view of the Member 
government.  Accurate and reliable information sha ll be provided to individuals, enterprises and 
WTO Members.   
 
4. Commenting Period 
 Members should, without discrimination, allow reasonable time for other Members to make 
comments in writing, and take these written comments into considerati on after such laws, regulations 
and measures are publicized while before implemen ted or enforced.  There should also be a 
reasonable interval (e.g., at least 30 days) betw een the publication of regulations and their 
implementation or enforcement in order to allo w time for exporting Members to make relevant 
preparation, except for those laws, regulations and measures involving national security, specific 
measures setting foreign exchange rates or moneta ry policy and other measures the publication of 
which would impede law enforcement. 
 
III. IMPLEMENTATION CONCERN 
4. The establishment of enquiry points and Intern et requires relatively high resource input, 
especially for some developing Members.  The implementation cost is closely related to the IT modernization level of individual Members.  Taki ng into consideration the large gap between the 
developed Members and the developing Members in this regard, a longe r implementation period 
should be provided for developing Members.  Techni cal assistance and capacity building tailored to 
the specific needs of each individual developing Member would be very helpful to address the 
implementation concern.  China, as a developing Member, has accumulated some experiences in establishing enquiry points since its accession to th e WTO and is willing to share those experiences 
with other Members. 
IV. SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE NEGOTIATION 
5. Members are invited to summarize and submit to the Secretariat their experiences with regard 
to enquiry points, commenting period and other related implementation issues with regard to 
transparency.  The Secretariat then  is requested to compile the subm issions into one single document 
for Members' reference.  This is very important for Members especially developing and least-developed Members to identify their needs and prio rities in publication and administration of trade 
regulations. 
6. Developing Members are invited to, on the basis of self-assessment, identify their 
implementation concerns and notify their n eeds and priorities to the Secretariat. 
7. Based on the needs and priorities identified,  measures to be developed to achieve 
transparency could be more targeted.  Techni cal assistance and capacity-building support to the 
developing and least-developed Members could al so be arranged in a more timely manner.  
 
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