The Fifth Global Review of Aid for Trade gets under way at the WTO’s headquarters on 30 June 2015. The three-day event will bring together over 1,000 participants from around the world to review actions being taken to reduce trade costs so that developing countries, and in particular least-developed countries, can participate more effectively in global trade.

A theme running through the three-day event will be the significant contribution that implementation of the WTO’s Trade Facilitation Agreement can make to the objective of reducing trade costs.

The Global Review will see the launch of the joint OECD-WTO flagship publication “Aid for Trade at a Glance”, published this year in collaboration with the Enhanced Integrated Framework, the International Trade Centre, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the World Bank Group, and the World Economic Forum. The publication looks at how further, concerted action to reduce trade costs would help contribute to the realisation of the Sustainable Development Goals as part of the UN’s Post-2015 Development Agenda.  

Over the course of the three days, 17 high-level plenary sessions and 28 side events organized by WTO members and other Aid-for-Trade partners will  be held. The full programme is available here.

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Background

High trade costs act as a brake on the trade integration of many developing countries, and in particular least-developed countries. To release the brake and deliver the inclusive, sustainable growth envisioned by the emerging UN’s Post-2015 Development Agenda, concerted action is needed. This year’s Global Review will analyse actions already undertaken by developing countries, regional communities and their development partners to reduce trade costs and survey the extent of the challenge remaining, and how it can be addressed in the context of the proposed Sustainable Development Goals.

One specific action that the trade and development community can take to address high trade costs is to ensure the timely implementation of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA). OECD figures suggest that support for trade facilitation is growing and more funding is becoming available. Many developing countries, however, remain concerned that they will not be able to access support to implement the TFA. The Review will survey in detail lessons from past and on-going support for border and customs modernization efforts, with the aim of ensuring that support for the TFA is effective and sustained, including the support provided through the WTO’s Trade Facilitation Agreement Facility.

The 5th Global Review high-level meeting offers the opportunity to recommit the trade and development community to continued action by developing countries and their development partners to reduce trade costs and support other Aid-for-Trade objectives, so affirming the role of trade in the Sustainable Development Goals and Financing for Development.