Trade Facilitation Agreement Under Discussion

DOMINICA:  A National Trade Facilitation Workshop geared at improving the efficiency, speed and transparency of trade in Dominica got underway at the Fort Young Hotel on Thursday, April 7^th.
In December 2013, Dominica signed the Trade Facilitation Agreement at the 9^thMinisterial Conference in Bali.
When fully implemented, this Trade Facilitation Agreement will obligate World Trade Organization members, such as Dominica, to improve customs procedures, transparency and efficiency and increase cooperation with other border control agencies and the private sector.
At the workshop’s opening ceremony, Acting Director of Trade, Matthan Walter explained that Dominica has already implemented several components of the agreement.  However, there are additional key areas for implementation.
“There were approximately six measures with which we felt that we needed technical assistance and support.”
He listed consultations, advanced rulings, average release times, authorized economic operators, border agency cooperation and single window.
“A proposal was forwarded from the Ministry of Trade through the OECS Commission to the International Trade Centre. The ITC perused that proposal and answered our call for assistance,” Walter explained.
He says the objective of the workshop is to put together proposals that will attract funding for the implementation of these six measures.
Lead facilitator for the workshop is Business and Trade Policy Advisor at the International Trade Centre, Ben Czapnik.
“The number one aim is to bring down the cost and time it takes to trade products. That affects both imports and exports. On the import side, if you can implement good trade facilitation reforms and you can lower the cost of bringing in products, it’s very good for consumers…they can get imported products more cheaply and get a variety of products coming in.
“On the export side, it potentially contributes to competitiveness. If at the moment you have exporters losing time at the border or the cost of exporting is excessively high, it affects their competitiveness when trying to sell their products in other markets.
“In real world terms, those are the major benefits to trade facilitation reform,” Czapnik explained.
He says his main aim is to help stakeholders identify the gaps preventing Dominica from implementing trade facilitation measures.
The other facilitator for the workshop, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development or (UNCTAD) representative, Poul Hansen, listed funding and private and public sector knowledge as challenges to implementation.
While he says it may take up to seven years to fully implement the agreement, the Director of Trade is confident that within two to three years the agreement will be fully operational in Dominica.
The workshop is scheduled to end on April 8^th.