At the Ninth
Session of the Ministerial Conference of the WTO in Bali, the 159 member
countries agreed to a deal (the Bali Package)
whose benefits to the world economy are estimated to be between $400 billion and
$1 trillion over the years, mainly through reduction in costs of trade by between
10% and 15%, increasing trade flows and revenue collection, creating a stable
business environment and attracting foreign investment. The deal is expected to
be adopted by the General Council by 31 July 2014.
It is
described as the first major WTO agreement since 1995. The main highlight of
the package is the trade facilitation part aimed at cutting red tape and
speeding up port clearances. The other features of the package relate to food
security and cotton production in developing countries, and a political commitment
to reduce export subsidies in agriculture.
Some of the
major highlights below:
Trade
facilitation:
- A multilateral, legally binding deal to simplify customs procedures by reducing costs and improving their speed and efficiency.
- Specifically, it will speed up customs procedures; make trade easier, faster and cheaper; provide clarity, efficiency and transparency; reduce bureaucracy and corruption; and use technological advances.
- Includes provisions on goods in transit, which is of interest to landlocked countries like Nepal.
- Assistance for developing and LDCs to update their infrastructure, train customs officials, or for any other cost associated with implementing the agreement.
- An interim,
until a permanent one is agreed upon, solution related to the shielding of
public stocking programs for food security. [Solution:
“Members would temporarily refrain from lodging a legal complaint (“due
restraint”, sometimes also called a “peace clause”) if a developing country
exceeded its Amber Box limits as a result of stockholding for food security. Work on finding a
longer term solution would continue after the ministerial conference. Countries
using these policies would provide up-to-date data and other information on
what was involved, so that other countries could see what was happening.”] It commits countries using the new flexibility to ensure that their food stockholding
scheme does not “adversely affect the food security of other Members.”
- Tariff quota administration measures include a combination of consultation and provision of information when quotas are under-filled.
- Export subsidies and other measures with similar effect to be low.
- Improving market access for cotton production from LDCs along with development assistance for boosting production.
- No changes in other provisions (from Geneva versions) such as duty-free, quota-free access for LDCs, simplified preferential rules of origin for LDCs, and services waiver for LDCs, among others.
- Monitoring of special and differential treatment.
- Preferential rules of origin will make it easier for LDCs to export their goods.
Full Bali Ministerial
Declaration here.
Not all Doha Development Agenda issues are sorted out. These will be taken up
in further trade negotiations. Earlier rounds of negotiation and Nepal’s interest here.
