Webinar on what drives the utilization of trade preferences?

As free trade agreements continue to expand in numbers and complexity, preferential origin requirements also multiply and become more complex. Many recent preferential trade agreements have adopted increasingly tailor-made, more specific, and tighter rules of origin. As is well known, the resulting complexity associated with origin requirements increase trading costs and may diminish the appeal of preferential agreements. It is against that background that monitoring the utilization of preferential agreements vests a strategic interest for policy makers. The calculation and examination of utilization rates can help identify with greater precision rules of origin or origin requirements that may be hindering trade and hence diminishing the value of preferential agreements. The linkages between rules of origin and the utilization of preferences (with a focus on least developed countries) have been at the centre of the work of the WTO Committee on Rules of Origin in the past few years.

However, associating low levels of preference utilization with origin requirements and identifying best practices require the consideration of other factors that may influence the decision by businesses to utilize or not, preferential agreements.

The objective of the webinar is to explore other factors that drive the utilization of trade preferences and set rules of origin in that context.

What factors may explain that some agreements are very heavily used and others not so much? Are governments actively monitoring the utilization of their preferential trade agreements? What are some of the difficulties associated with the calculation of utilization? Are efforts being made to promote awareness and use of preferential agreements among the business community? How are governments building the capacity of companies to understand and comply with preferential origin requirements?

This webinar will be held via the platform Zoom and will be open to the public subject to prior registration. The format will be a 10-minute presentation followed by a moderated debate among the speakers.