Long waiting times at border crossings or at ports, inappropriate fees or formalities, and unclear trade and transport rules and regulations can all become serious obstacles to trade and as a consequence adversely affect investment and the creation of employment. Developing countries depend on effective trade facilitation for their development process; they will only benefit from the opportunities arising from the "new geography of trade", including increased exports of manufactured goods and more South-South trade, if their imports and exports are not confronted with excessive transaction costs, uncertainty and delays. Developing countries must be proactive in designing and implementing trade and transport facilitation measures for enhancing efficiency, reducing transaction costs and maintaining supply capacities.
With its inclusion in the WTO General Council Decision (the July Package), trade facilitation remains at the forefront of the development agenda of most developing countries, with increased activities aimed at raising awareness and capacity building. WTO Members have started a negotiating process on trade facilitation with a focus on the clarification and improvement of GATT 1994 Articles V, VIII and X, which deal respectively with transit issues, fees and formalities, and the transparency of trade procedures.
During the three-day meeting, experts and resource persons will analyse the increased need for trade and transport facilitation and the insertion of facilitation measures into the development process. They will further discuss ways of establishing national needs and priorities as regards trade and transport facilitation, as well as the requirements in terms of technical assistance and capacity building to implement specific trade facilitation measures that aim at building the required institutional, commercial, legal and operational environment for effective integration into the global economy.
