WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  TN/TF/W/82 
31 March 2006 
 
 (06-1503) 
Negotiating Group on Trade Facilitation Original:   English 
  
 
COMMUNICATION FROM THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA, INDIA,  
PAKISTAN AND SRI LANKA 
  
 The following communication, dated 30 Marc h 2006, from the Delegations of the People's 
Republic of China, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka is being circulated in advance of the Negotiating 
Group meeting of 5-7 April.  
 
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A PROPOSAL ON THE PROCESS  
OF TRADE FACILITATION 
  
I. INTRODUCTION 
1. Since the initiation of trade facilitation nego tiations, the focus of the Negotiating Group has 
been on clarification and explanation of proposal s on GATT Articles V, VIII and X.  Such efforts 
have enabled Members to have a general picture of  what might need to be implemented after the 
negotiations.   Ministers instructed us to start text-b ased negotiations early enough after the 
Sixth Ministerial Conference.  In light of the new mandate, it is appropriate to have in-depth 
discussions among Members on how to proceed further to achieve a balanced outcome. 
2. Negotiations on trade facilitation are different from other areas of the DDA in that the result 
of trade facilitation negotiations may be technically more complicated to implement and this needs to 
be factored in during the negotiations.  Given thei r limited resources and comparatively low levels of 
development, one of the major concerns of some developing Members is that commitments they have 
to take might be well beyond their implementati on capability, and that the promised technical 
assistance and capacity building support may not be su fficient to meet their needs.  They would in 
addition be confronted with the prospect of  dispute settlement cases for not honouring their 
commitments.  In fact it would be fair to say that  the real difficulty of trade facilitation negotiations 
lies ahead in the process of text-based negotiations , resulting from the concerns described above.  
II. PROPOSAL 
3. Considering the factors outlined above, it may be appropriate to go beyond the traditional 
roadmap of negotiations and try to solve the relevant issues while s till in the actual drafting process so 
as to lay a good foundation for our text-based negotia tions.  These issues are basically the ones that 
we have to address in the establishment of all trade facilitation rules through the negotiations.  
The issues are as follows:  (i) the arrangement of commitments for developing Members; (ii) the 
provision of technical assistance and capacity building support;  and (iii) the applicability of the 
dispute settlement mechanism. TN/TF/W/82 
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The Arrangement of Commitments for Developing Members  
4. From the proposals submitted so far to the Negotiating Group on the clarification and 
improvement of GATT Articles V, VIII and X, we understand that some of the measures proposed are 
comparatively easier to implement while others require  much greater effort.  Though it is still early to 
say which of the measures proposed or to be propo sed will finally be accepted as part of the final 
agreement, there is need to discuss the general a rrangement of the mode of commitments while we 
negotiate on specific rules.  We would then have a better idea of the possible impact of these rules. 
Technical Assistance and Capacity Building Support 
 5. There are two stages of technical assistance and capacity building support being discussed 
now in the Negotiating Group: one in the course of negotiations and the other beyond.  This proposal 
addresses the latter.  When discussing commitments,  it is important to understand that satisfactory 
resolution of the issue of provision of technical assistance and capacity building support plays a vital 
role in the arrangement of possible commitments fr om the negotiations.  This issue has already been 
discussed in the Negotiating Group.  However, discussi ons have tended to fall in to a "chicken or egg" 
stalemate and Members have found it difficu lt to move further on this issue.  However, if we once 
again change our way of thinking and go beyond that stalemate, we will find what lies in the core is that we are short of a working mechanism in this area. 
6. Such a mechanism, in whatever format, will basi cally serve to pool and coordinate the efforts 
of technical assistance and capacity building suppor t.  There might be other functions as well, 
depending on the negotiations of Members.  The obj ective is to ensure that when Members examine 
specific  trade facilitation rules during the negotiatio ns, they could be assure d how and what kind of 
assistance and support they can get to provide th em the requisite comfort for taking commitments. 
With such a working mechanism, the sort of "chicken or egg" stalemate could be solved. 
The Application of Dispute Settlement Mechanism 
 
7. Developing Members have comparatively low leve ls of development and limited resources in 
comparison with developed Members.  One of th e reasons for developing countries to stress the 
provision of technical assistance and creation of im plementation capacity is the concern about non-
implementation being subject to di spute settlement mechanism.  C oncern has already been expressed 
that it would be onerous for a Member to be broug ht before the DSU system because it lacks capacity 
to implement its commitments.  Taking into consider ation the special nature of trade facilitation rules, 
if the Negotiating Group could have  an arrangement on the application of the dispute settlement 
mechanism to the implementation of trade facilita tion rules, it will no doubt alleviate the concerns 
of the developing Members on the possible effect of the commitments made.  It needs to be made 
clear here that the suggestion of the DSU is not to make the negot iating process more difficult.  On 
the contrary, we believe that taking up the issue now  rather than later will help to ease the Negotiating 
Group's rule-drafting effort, thus facilitating the negotiating process. 
III. POSSIBLE OPTIONS TO SOLVE THE ISSUES IN QUESTION 
8. As a matter of fact, some Members have already been looking for ways to solve the three 
issues mentioned above.  There is also some thinki ng in that regard from some international fora on 
trade facilitation. In the following paragraphs, this paper tries to pool the resources and give Members 
a general picture on what might be possible options to solve those issues in question.   TN/TF/W/82 
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  The Arrangement of Commitments for Developing Members 
 
9. In view of the different requirement of pr oposed trade facilitation measures and the limited 
resources of developing Members, it would be desira ble that proper arrangements of commitments are 
made for developing Members.  A possible mode of  commitment arrangement might be that the rules 
to be established are divided into different modul es, depending upon the degree of difficulty and the 
extent of resources and capability required for implementation.   There could be the kind of module 
rules that is comparatively easier to implement a nd forms the basic commitments by the developing 
Members.  For these rules, the developing Memb ers might take the commitments the day the 
agreement comes into effect and may also have (X) y ears of transition period if they so require.  For 
those modules of rules that require technical assi stance and capacity building support, commitments 
shall be taken subject to a period of transition and provision of relevant assistance and support 
guaranteed under the technical assistance and cap acity building mechanism established from the 
negotiations.  It needs to be made clear that the actual mode of arrangement of commitments and the 
specific working mechanism is yet to be decided in further discussions and there is no attempt to 
prejudge the issue here. 
Technical Assistance and Capaci ty Building Support Mechanism 
 
10. There are already specific submissions from Me mbers on how to solve the issue.  These 
include the idea of "establishing a coordinatio n/collaborative mechanism or building upon any 
existing mechanism involving various partners engage d in trade facilitation to enhance synergies and 
ensure efficient use of available resources" (TN/TF/W/56)1, an organizing and coordinating 
mechanism ensuring that "technical assistance is ad apted to the needs of the recipients, so as to 
guarantee transparency, coherence and effectiv e assistance to developing and least-developed 
countries in the implementation of commitments" (TN/TF/W/41)2, and a possible mechanism to relate 
TA&CB and financing to reform (TN/TF/W/63)3.  However, more in-depth  discussions are needed to 
kick off proper arrangements in this area. 
The Application of Dispute Settlement Mechanism 
 
11. In the past it has been suggested that, gi ven the nature of implementation of a Trade 
Facilitation Agreement and that th ousands of transactions everyday could be subject to this 
Agreement, there is need for Member s to have some creative thinking and  to consider dispute 
settlement rules that would address the concerns  of the developing Members without otherwise 
diminishing the fundamental rule of the WTO dispute settlement process.  A possible solution could be the establishment of an agreement-specific proce ss of consultation or mediation.  Disputes would 
first be brought to a dedicated body, such as a Committee on Trade Facilitation, to be discussed and 
mediated there.  The dispute settlement mechanism should only be the last resort when there is no 
hope of settling the dispute within the Committee.  There has been no discussion in the Negotiating 
Group on this issue and this would need to be addressed at the appropriate stage. 
 
 
                                                     
 
1 Communication from the African  Group, Operationalizing Techni cal Assistance and Capacity 
Building in Trade Facilitation, TN/TF/W/56 (22 July 2005).  
2 Communication from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, 
Honduras, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay, Links Between the Elements of Annex D, TN/TF/W/41 (2 
June 2005).  
3 Communication from Pakistan and Switzerland on De velopment-Related Issues in Trade Facilitation, 
TN/TF/W/63 (19 September 2005). 
 TN/TF/W/82 
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  IV. CONCLUSION 
12. The issues are there and we will  have to deal with them sooner or later.  This proposal is 
submitted only to flag the issues and it is up to this  Negotiating Group to decide when to take them 
up. However, as an old Chinese saying goes, "it is al ways desirable to get twice the result with half 
the effort".  It is believed that proper settlement  of the above-mentioned i ssues will no doubt facilitate 
our negotiating process and help Members to cope w ith the challenge of reaching a timely conclusion 
of text-based negotiations in a more smooth way.  One thing that should be made clear is that the 
ideas mentioned in the possible options are gathered  only to our knowledge, without prejudice to any 
new options that might be identified in the future and to the position of any Member on a specific option.  Therefore, it is not the intention of this paper to give a final solution to each of the three 
issues.  The ideas gathered are meant to give Memb ers something to chew on in the process of work. 
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