Trade Facilitation Agreement Single Window
In the two years since its entry into force, 141 of the 164 countries have ratified the agreement, representing 86% of WTO members (most-favoured country-based application of the TFA). 12 of the other 22 countries are LDCs, while the other ten are developing countries. In fact, nine countries have neither ratified the TFA nor notified Category A, B and C commitments. This means that the level of development can have a direct impact on the complexity of legal systems or on the ability of countries to assess what they need to do, which translates into an appeal to donors and development partners to support legal proceedings. 4.1 Members shall endeavour to establish or maintain a one-stop shop for economic operators to submit to participating authorities or bodies documents and/or data requirements for the import, export or transit of goods through a single point of entry. After examination of the documents and/or data by the participating authorities or agencies, the results shall be communicated to applicants in a timely manner through the Single Window. 3.1 Each Member shall establish, within its available resources, one or more requests for information to respond to reasonable requests from governments, traders and other interested parties on matters referred to in paragraph 1.1 and to provide the necessary forms and documents referred to in paragraph 1.1(a). 4.4 Members shall, to the extent possible and to the extent possible, use information technology to support the central window. On a positive note, seven least developed countries have already communicated their tentative dates, although the deadline is still two years away (22 February 2021), giving donors a clear signal of their commitment to implement the agreement. The TFA aims to speed up trade procedures, including the movement, release and clearance of goods. Its full implementation could boost global trade by $1 trillion a year and reduce trade costs by 14.3 per cent for low-income countries and more than 13 per cent for middle-income countries. After this reality check, developing and least developed countries wishing to take full advantage of the agreement could consider the following recommendations: The Single Window (SW) generally refers to an electronic device that allows parties involved in international trade and transport to obtain all the information necessary to meet trade-related regulatory requirements, immediately and at a single point of entry. This measure to facilitate digital trade aims to reduce the administrative burden on operators when carrying out import, export and transit procedures.
It was established more than a decade ago and has become a central element of trade facilitation reforms. The World Trade Organization (WTO) agreement, which entered into force in February 2017, contains specific provisions on the SW. Ratify – the sooner the better: Developing countries that ratify the agreement in the coming months (hopefully not in the years) have already missed some critical deadlines, which will prevent them from making maximum use of the special and differential treatment provisions of the TFA. (a) minimise the documentation necessary for the release of accelerated transfers in accordance with Article 10(1) and, where possible, provide for the release on the basis of a single communication of information on specific transfers; 4.4 Each Member shall base its risk management on a risk assessment based on appropriate selectivity criteria. Those selectivity criteria may include, inter alia, the Harmonised System code, the nature and description of the goods, the country of origin, the country from which the goods were dispatched, the value of the goods, the conformity of the economic operators and the nature of the means of transport. (c) the least trade-restrictive measure where two or more alternative measures are reasonably available to achieve the policy objective(s) concerned; and 1.5 The Committee shall maintain close contacts with other international organizations in the field of trade facilitation, such as the WCO, with the aim of ensuring the best available advice for the implementation and management of this Agreement and avoiding unnecessary duplication. To this end, the Committee may invite representatives of such organizations or their subsidiary bodies to: 14. Each Member shall make available to the public the relevant information it uses to determine the guarantee, including the guarantee for a single transaction and, where applicable, a guarantee for several transactions. (iii) Members should also promote internal coordination among their trade and development officials, both in capitals and in Geneva, in the implementation of this Agreement and technical assistance. 7.3 The trade facilitation measures provided for in paragraph 7.1 shall include at least three of the following:(7) 12.2 This Article shall not be construed as modifying or affecting the rights or obligations of a Member under such bilateral, plurilateral or regional agreements or regulating the exchange of customs information and data under such other agreements. 1.1 Each Member shall provide economic operators and other interested parties, within the limits of what is practicable and in a manner consistent with its national laws and legal order, the opportunity and a reasonable period of time to comment on the proposal to introduce or amend laws and regulations of general application relating to the movement of goods, the release and clearance of goods. including goods in transit.
(c) the Member shall terminate the notice or direction or suspend immediately if the circumstances that led to it no longer exist or if the modified circumstances can be treated less restrictively; and each Member shall, where appropriate, ensure regular consultations between its border authorities and professionals or other stakeholders in its territory. The TFA contains a number of transparency obligations with regard to the substantive provisions of the Agreement with regard to (i) online descriptions of trade procedures; (ii) contact points to respond to requests for information; (iii) the operation of individual windows; (iv) the use of customs agents; and (v) contact points for the exchange of customs information. (ii) for members of least developed countries, the Enhanced Integrated Framework for Trade-Related Assistance to Least Developed Countries should be part of this coordination process. and The second anniversary of the agreement is an excellent time to consider the scope of TFA ratification, implementation notifications and transparency obligations. (c) Ensure that ongoing private sector trade facilitation reform measures are integrated into support measures; 3. Members from developing and least developed countries that intend to make greater use of trade-facilitated assistance and support for capacity-building shall provide the Committee with information through the contact point(s) of the office(s) responsible for coordinating and prioritizing such assistance and services. Notify, notify, notify: Developing countries and LDCs wishing to avail themselves of the special and differential treatment provisions of the TFA must comply with the notification obligations for implementation set out in the agreement. .