TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS CAN BE SAVED, SO WHY
IGNORE IT?
UN Forum looks at how trade facilitation
can contribute to
world economic growth
International Forum on Trade Facilitation, Geneva, 29 and
30 May
Trillions of dollars can be saved each year if we eliminate
inefficient trade procedures. This was confirmed in one of the conclusions
reached at the two-day International Trade Facilitation Forum, organized by
the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), which this year brought together
over 500 participants from around 100 countries.
Another major conclusion reached at the Forum was that trade
facilitation offers a "win-win" solution to all the stakeholders.
Implementing trade-facilitation means that government revenues rise, returns
on business and investment also rise, efficiency of major public institutions
increases, employment grows, and consumer welfare improves.
"Why should it be so much more trouble", asked speaker British
Minister of State for Trade, Baroness Symons, "for a manufacturer in
Cape Town to sell to a customer in Colombia, China or Canada than to a customer
in Johannesburg, if the problem can be solved by rationalizing, simplifying,
harmonizing and automating trade procedures?" The UN Economic Commission
for Europe has developed a wide range of trade facilitation tools; it is for
countries to take these tools and implement them.
A number of speakers, including Kunio Mikuriya, Deputy Secretary-General
of the World Customs Organization, firmly believed that Trade Facilitation,
rather than being an obstacle, was complementary to Customs and security controls
in international trade flows.
The Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
(UNCTAD), Mr Rubens Ricupero, stressed that the developing countries have
problems regarding binding rules in this area, but they need trade facilitation
and they need it urgently; an opinion which was shared by senior representatives
of the Governments of Kenya and the Philippines.
The Chairman of the closing session of the Forum, Ambassador Wasescha of
Switzerland, invited all countries to collaborate in order to build consensus
for trade facilitation. Work in the World Trade Organization (WTO) should
contribute towards the implementation of trade facilitation instruments developed
in other organizations, including the UNECE; while developing an instrument
on trade facilitation; and contributing to technical assistance and capacity
building in the area of trade facilitation.
The major message of the business community, as expressed by the Secretary-General
of the International Chamber of Commerce, Maria Livanios Cattaui, as well
as by representatives of SGS (Société Générale
de Surveillance) and a number of other companies, is that if you do not facilitate
trade, your country will be marginalized, and business will go elsewhere.
If developing and transition economies do not follow the track of trade facilitation,
including in the WTO environment, they run the risk of further exclusion from
the dynamics of the global economy. If companies do not introduce trade facilitation
tools, their business will risk becoming uncompetitive. To achieve a dynamic
consensus, the business community called for a strong political commitment
at a very high level to trade facilitation.
The Forum called for the UN and other donors to set up major capacity-building
projects set up to boost the implementation of trade facilitation in both
developing and transition countries. For the Organization, this would involve
all the regional commissions, which would use the synergies of their regions,
with the major goal of addressing trade facilitation policy and implementation
issues; technical assistance to Governments; capacity building for small and
medium-sized enterprises and support to transition and developing countries
in formulating objectives and strategies in the multilateral negotiations
on trade facilitation.
Top executives from the UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and
from the WTO stressed the need for a coherent and coordinated approach on
the part of all international organizations dealing with trade facilitation.
This year's annual Trade Forum contributed to the broader goals of the United
Nations in promoting the integration of all countries into the international
economy and spreading the benefits of globalization.
For further information, please contact:
Mario Apostolov
UNECE Trade Division
Palais des Nations, room 437
CH - 1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
Tel.: +41(0)22 917 11 34
Fax: +41(0)22 917 00 37
e-mail: [email protected]
Web site: http://www.unece.org/forums
Ref: ECE/TRADE/02/04