Second International Forum on Trade Facilitation, Geneva, 14
and 15 May 2003
At a time of slowing growth in the major world economies, experts say that
trade liberalisation is indispensable as an alternative source of growth.
270 billions of dollars can be saved each year if we further eliminate non-tariff
barriers to trade. One third would come from trade facilitation – the elimination
of inefficient trade procedures – as Dr. Supachai Panichpakdi, Director General
of the World Trade Organization recently said. The Second International Forum
on Trade Facilitation, organized by the United Nations Economic Commission
for Europe (UNECE) in mid-May, will look into ways of achieving this to the
benefit of all members of the world trading community. The UNECE aims to achieve
the latter in spite of worries that increased security measures will slow
down the movement of goods.
The Forum will address the most pressing concerns referring
to trade facilitation. Firstly, a group of developing countries is worried
about the way the potential benefits of trade facilitation would be distributed.
These countries believe that they bear a heavy cost of investment in trade
facilitation, while a large part of the benefits would go to multinational
companies and to industrialized countries. The participants in the Forum will
look into ways of guaranteeing a fair sharing of the gains of trade facilitation,
including through UN programmes for capacity building and better governance
in the processes of simplifying, harmonizing and automating international
trade procedures. Policy makers from the major industrialized countries and
international organizations, together with representatives from India, Tunisia,
Angola, Ghana, Malaysia, and Russia and the CIS countries will put forward
ideas for a better sharing of the gains of trade facilitation.
Another major concern to be reviewed at the Forum will be
the impact of recent security initiatives on the flows of international trade.
The Deputy Customs Commissioner of the United States, Mr. Douglas Browning,
will make a keynote address referring to US initiatives on container security
and public-private cooperation for improving security in international trade.
Representatives of the developing countries, the shipping industry and the
business community will also take part in the discussed.
This year’s annual UNECE Trade Forum takes place four months
before the WTO’s ministerial conference in Cancún, Mexico. It will
show how far the various countries of the world have gone in the process of
building an “explicit consensus” to include trade facilitation in the WTO
multilateral negotiations. Nevertheless, the objectives of this Forum, which
is organized in the United Nations setting, go beyond this issue, according
to Ms. Cosgrove-Sacks, the Director of UNECE’s Trade Development and Timber
Division. The will for cooperation in the area of trade facilitation by strong
and weak members of the world community demonstrates a commitment to multilateralism.
The UNECE Trade Forum contributes to the broader goals of the United Nations
in promoting the integration of all countries into the international economy
and creating a working peace system.
Three background papers are available on the Forum website
(www.unece.org/trade/forums/forum03/index.htm).
They deal with: the income distribution effect of trade facilitation; the
balance between trade facilitation (aiming at the faster movement of goods
and trade information) and the new security measures (aiming at better control
of trade flows); and a study on the reasons for the reluctance of certain
developing countries to accept trade facilitation in the WTO negotiations.
For further information, please contact:
Mario Apostolov
Forum Coordinator
Tel. + 41 (0) 22 917 11 34
e-mail: [email protected]