Search News Results
WTO clinches first global trade deal
The World Trade Organization adopted the first worldwide trade reform in its history on Thursday, after years of stalemate, months of deadlock and a final day’s delay following an eleventh-hour objection.
The agreement means the WTO will introduce new standards for customs checks and border procedures. Proponents say that will streamline the flow of trade around the world, adding as much as $1 trillion (0.64 trillion pounds) and 21 million jobs to the world economy.
“It’s all agreed,” a WTO official said outside the closed-door WTO meeting in Geneva, after trade diplomats applauded the end of their 19-year wait for a deal.
Still, the agreement is just a fraction of the original Doha Round of trade talks begun in 2001, which eventually proved impossible to agree on. The WTO cut back its ambitions and aimed for a much smaller deal.
Even that was blocked by a four-month standoff caused by India, which had vetoed adoption of the reform package as the original deadline passed at midnight on July 31.
India demanded more attention be given to its plans to stockpile subsidized food, in breach of the WTO’s usual rules. A compromise on wording reached by the U.S. and Indian governments broke the deadlock.
The reform package adopted on Thursday was agreed at a WTO meeting in Bali in December last year. Its passage is widely seen as opening up progress towards further global negotiations, the content of which is due be laid down by July 2015.
That should reassure smaller nations in the 160-member WTO. Many had feared India’s tough stance would prompt the United States and the European Union to turn their backs on the WTO and concentrate on smaller trading clubs instead, ending hopes of trade reforms benefiting all.
Thursday’s deal had originally been due for agreement on Wednesday, but an objection by Argentina forced its postponement for 24 hours.
Related News
Launch of free trading arrangement to spur China - Africa trade relations
Analysts said on Thursday that a proposed tripartite free trading arrangement to be launched by three African trading blocs next month will have a positive bearing in promoting China-Africa trade relations.
The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the Eastern African Community (EAC) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) are expected to launch the tripartite free trading arrangement in December. Once launched, the tripartite free trading arrangement will be the largest economic bloc on the continent and will pave way for the establishment of a continental free trade area in 2017.
Dr. Lubinda Habaazoka, a Lecturer in the School of Business Studies at the Copperbelt University (CBU) said the initiative presents unique opportunities for the enhancement of trade relations between China and member countries of the regional bloc.
"This will good for the enhancement of relations between China and Africa. Instead of negotiating with individual countries, China will be negotiating with a bloc and this is good for business development," he said in an interview with Xinhua.
While acknowledging that the launch of the initiative was long over-due, the analyst said it was appropriate that it was coming at a time when China has emerged as a super economic power house and when African nations are looking to the Asian country for increased investment. According to him, the launch of the free trading arrangement will allow for the smooth movement of goods and services but member countries are urged to consider free movement of people as well. He further warned that some industries in some countries may face negative consequences and close due to cheap goods that may be moving throughout the free trade area and urged countries to put in place measures to enhance productivity.
Richard Musauka, country director of Development Partnership International (DPI) Zambia office said the initiative has come at a time when China has invested a lot in improving infrastructure in many countries in Africa.
"This initiative will definitely have an influence on Africa/ China trade relations. Like you know, China has invested a lot in improving infrastructure in Africa and will definitely try to take advantage of this initiative to improve trade relations," he said. He however said China should help countries in the three regional blocs through technology transfer and training of human resource. The tripartite free trading arrangement encompasses 26 member states from the three regional blocs, with a combined population of 625 million people and a gross domestic product of 1.2 trillion U.S. dollars. It will account for half of the membership of the African Union and 58 percent of the continent's gross domestic product. Sindiso Ngwenya, the head of COMESA said in October that the launch of the initiative followed progress made by the three economic blocs in tariff offers and rules of origin which stipulates that imported products should meet 75 percent value addition from the country of origin. The initiative will particularly benefit the business community due to an improved harmonized trade regime which in turn will reduce the cost of doing business as a result of elimination of overlapping trade regimes.
The launch of the initiative was arrived at following a tripartite sectorial meeting of ministers in Burundi in October. It will be launched during a tripartite summit of heads of state to be held in Egypt next month.
Related News
Zimbabwe Government suspends platinum export tax
Government has suspended export tax on unbeneficiated platinum until January 1, 2017, Finance and Economic Development Minister Patrick Chinamasa said in the 2015 National Budget statement.
In view of the potential to beneficiate platinum, Government introduced an export tax at a rate of 15 percent, with effect from January 1 2015. The move was designed to force companies to build refineries as Government intensified efforts to realise real value of mineral exports.
Zimbabwe has three platinum mining companies – Zimplats, Unki and Mimosa. Following commitment by platinum producers to undertake beneficiation and value addition initiatives, Government decided to defer export tax on unbeneficiated platinum to 2017.
“Platinum producers have, however, demonstrated efforts to beneficiate, to the extent that Zimbabwe Platinum Mines Limited will be commissioning a $200 million base metal refinery in the next twenty four months.
“The facility will be expanded to accommodate other platinum producers. I, therefore, propose to defer export tax on un-beneficiated platinum to January 1 2017,” said Minister Chinamasa.
He said the country is currently one of the major producers of diamonds in the world yet most of the diamonds are exported in raw form, thus depriving the country of employment opportunities as well as potential revenue to the fiscus.
Minister Chinamasa, however, proposed to remove royalties on rough diamonds sold to firms licensed to cut and polish diamonds, with effect from January 1 2015 in a bid to support beneficiation.
He said Government in 2013 comprehensively reviewed the fiscal mining regime, with a view to ensuring a balance between the viability of the mining industry and revenue inflows to the fiscus.
Minister Chinamasa said the long term sustainability of the mining sector requires Government to put in place a mechanism to assess the economic impact of various policy decisions.
The mining fiscal model will enable Government to design an appropriate tax system that attracts investment into the mining sector and promotes optimal mineral extraction and revenue generation, without sterilising minerals, that is, extraction of high grade ores, at the expense of less economic grades.
In addition, the model will be used as an audit tool to assess mineral and revenue leakages and also project future revenues from the mining sector. He also noted that there must be transparency accountability in the mining sector if real value is to be realised.
The effectiveness of the mine fiscal model is dependent on the availability of quality data from the mining sector and availability of data will ensure transparency of the mining operations.
“I, therefore, propose to compel mining houses to provide data to the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority, such as exploration costs, pre and post operative costs, debt-equity mix and repayment terms in a prescribed format,” said Minister Chinamasa.
Zimbabwe is increasingly looking to the mining sector as the anchor to economic revival and development.
Related News
Least Developed Countries Report 2014
Modernization in least developed countries requires economic diversification and more jobs, new report says
A major shift in policies aimed at upgrading and diversifying the economic structure of least developed countries (LDCs) into more sophisticated and higher value-added products is being proposed by UNCTAD in its publication, The Least Developed Country Report 2014. This will require innovation, skills upgrade and massive transfer of resources towards more sophisticated products and activities. Such a policy change is especially important for those LDCs overly dependent on the extractive sector.
Subtitled Growth with Structural Transformation: A Post-2015 Development Agenda, the Report says policy proposals must go beyond those aimed at large-scale urban manufacturing to embrace measures for agricultural upgrading and rural economic diversification.
The LDCs are a group of 48 nations, most in sub-Saharan Africa, which have been recognized by the United Nations as requiring transformative economic change in order to lift their peoples from poverty.
Economic growth in the LDCs during the last two decades was associated with changes in the composition of their production and exports, the Report says. LDC economies that were able to diversify their production into higher value-added manufacturing activities grew at consistently higher rates than countries that remained heavily dependent on natural resources.
Exporters of manufactured goods, mostly in Asia, such as Bangladesh and Cambodia, experienced fast changes in the composition of their productive structure, with a 16 percentage point decline in the agricultural sector’s share of employment.
This transformation was supported by a significant increase in labour productivity in agriculture, which was above 2 per cent per year, and it made possible a progressive shift of the workforce towards industry and services. Labour productivity in industry, in turn, reinforced this dynamic, displaying an average growth rate of over 4 per cent between 1991 and 2012.
Asian LDCs also displayed the strongest increment in manufacturing production (whose share of total output increased by 5 percentage points), outperforming the remaining LDCs with a GDP per capita growth of 3.3 per cent or above per year.
In African LDCs, on the contrary, output per capita grew more slowly, at average annual rates of only 1.9 per cent, the Reports notes, and in countries specialized in the export of minerals, such as Guinea and Zambia, it stagnated.
Not surprisingly, African LDCs and LDCs specialized in the export of minerals also showed only limited or even negative changes in agricultural productivity (for example, minus 1 per cent annually for the mineral exporters) and little sign of transformation of the employment structure, with a decline of agricultural labour share of 7 and 0 percentage points, respectively. More importantly, the Report says, both groups of countries experienced a decrease of 1 percentage point in the manufacturing share of total output.
Even in African LDCs, however, labour productivity in the industrial sector grew substantially over the period 1991-2012, at an annual rate around 2.5 per cent.
This figure hides an important contrast between those LDCs where the industrial sector is dominated by manufacturing and those where it is dominated by extractive industries (basically oil, gas and metal mining). Exporters of manufactured goods (primarily Asian LDCs) in fact proved to be resilient to the negative external shock engendered by the global economic crisis that started in 2008.
In those LDCs where the industrial sector is dominated by extractive industries, on the other hand, the crisis pushed labour productivity into a steep decline. This underlines the vulnerability of economies that are dependent on natural resources, and the importance of diversifying their production structures.
The Report also finds that, even in those countries that are relatively successful exporters of manufactured goods, a large part of the workforce has resorted to service activities that offer low-productivity and informal fallback options for workers lacking an industrial job. Urban industry has not been able to keep up with the extraordinary pace of rural-to-urban migration registered in the last two decades, and the service sector has absorbed a large part of the excess supply of workers in urban areas.
The rise in the share of workers employed in low-productivity informal jobs is a serious impediment to aggregate productivity growth and development in all the LDCs. Moreover, since low productivity is associated with low incomes, these jobs not only restrain economic modernization, but they also keep workers in poverty.
NOTE: Forty-eight countries currently are designated by the United Nations as LDCs. They are Afghanistan, Angola, Bangladesh, Benin, Bhutan, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Comoros, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Kiribati, the Lao People´s Democratic Republic, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nepal, Niger, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tuvalu, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania, Vanuatu, Yemen and Zambia.
UNCTAD’s Least Developed Countries Report 2014 says that the international community must learn from the failure of most of the poorest countries to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) despite registering strong economic growth – a phenomenon the Report dubs the “LDC paradox”.
The Report says that world’s 48 least developed countries (LDCs) are the battleground on which the post-2015 development agenda will be won or lost: its success will depend on action by the international community and the LDCs to structurally transform their economies and break the vicious circle of human and economic development that has trapped these countries in poverty.
The “LDC paradox” arises from the failure of their economies to achieve changes in their economies despite having grown strongly as a result of strong export prices and rising aid flows. Subtitled “Growth with Structural Transformation: a Post-2015 Development Agenda”, the Report highlights key policy priorities as part of a post-2015 development agenda for LDCs. The core of this agenda should be a virtuous circle between economic and human development, reversing the vicious circle currently trapping LDCs, the report says.
Related News
WTO work is “back on track”, says Azevêdo
Director-General Roberto Azevêdo, at a meeting of the General Council on 27 November, congratulated members for adopting decisions related to public stockholding for food security purposes, the Trade Facilitation Agreement and the post-Bali work.
Statement by DG Azevêdo:
Thank you Mr Chairman.
It seems we liked Bali so much we wanted to do it all over again!
But, we made it.
I want to thank everybody – Ambassador Fried, Ambassador Conejos, all of the chairs, everyone who has brought us here today.
This is a very important moment for the WTO.
By agreeing these three decisions we have put ourselves back in the game. We have put our negotiating work back on track – that means all the Bali decisions: trade facilitation, public stockholding, the LDC issues, the decisions on agriculture, development, and all of the other elements.
And we have given ourselves the chance to prepare the post-Bali work program.
But, crucially, during this process we have seen a renewed commitment to the multilateral system.
This would not have happened without the commitment and political will of all 160 WTO members present here today.
Members have shown the willingness to compromise – and a real commitment to the multilateral system.
So I want to take this opportunity to thank everybody for the restraint and flexibility that you have shown in recent days.
It has been a tough period for our negotiating work, but we have got the right result today.
Nevertheless, I think we would all agree that we need to find an easier way of doing things. While we have seen renewed commitment to the WTO, the truth is that we must avoid repeatedly putting ourselves in this position.
We have lost precious time since July, and it goes without saying that we can’t wait another two decades to deliver further multilateral outcomes.
We have to think about how we can operate in a more efficient way.
The size and diversity of the Organization is not an impediment to that. The consensus rule – that people talk about so much and which will never disappear – is not an impediment either.
We showed in Bali that we can deliver. Now we need to figure out how to deliver more and how to deliver faster.
So we should be pleased that our work is back on track. But this is where the real work begins.
We have to make this breakthrough meaningful by seizing the opportunities for progress that it provides.
We have just finished one journey – but now we must embark on another.
You have just adopted texts which say that work will start immediately.
And that means immediately. The dictionary definition is: without delay, instantly, at once, without lapse of time. So this is what we will do.
You have committed to engage constructively on all of the Bali decisions and the work program on the remaining DDA issues.
It is clear that members place real priority here and so we must get to work straight away.
I will be convening a meeting with the negotiating group chairs tomorrow to ask that they bring members together immediately to begin resuming work in all of these areas.
It is important that we start planning for 2015 as soon as possible. We have a new deadline for the work program of July 2015. So we definitely don’t have any time to lose.
Ambassador Fried as the chair of the General Council will also be moving straight away to take forward the decisions which come under the regular bodies of the General Council. Indeed, he told me a moment ago that he will be convening a meeting of the chairs of the regular bodies next week.
So all of this work is back on track.
On Public Stockholding, we are committed to following an accelerated timeframe.
I trust that members will now deliver this commitment and work constructively together towards finding a permanent solution. We have a target date to conclude the negotiations: December 2015. So again, we don’t have any time to lose.
On Trade Facilitation, adopting the Protocol of Amendment was an essential step. It allows the process of implementation to begin. But this is just one of many steps we need to take going forward.
It is very positive that we have already received 50 Category A notifications, including the first from an LDC member. This is a large proportion of the potential total given that developed members are not eligible as they don’t submit these notifications.
Now all members must work closely with their capitals to begin the process of ratification. Two thirds of members must deposit their instruments of acceptance for the agreement to come into force.
So I urge you to push forward the ratification process in your capitals.
The adoption of the protocol is also significant because – I am very pleased to say – it means that the Trade Facilitation Agreement Facility is now officially operational.
I want to thank the many donor members and Annex D organizations who have shown strong support for the Facility.
We will be giving the Secretariat resources to ensure that the Facility is a success, but for this initiative to thrive and succeed, it will need buy-in from all of us.
Since its launch in July, many members have already expressed their willingness to make contributions to the Facility.
I ask members to further strengthen their bilateral programs, but I also ask them to provide all the support they can to the Facility. We must ensure that LDCs and developing countries get the help they need to reap the full benefits of the Trade Facilitation Agreement.
Through the Facility we will continue to work closely with other organizations such as the World Bank, the WCO, UNCTAD, the OECD, the ITC and others.
Many developing country members have already benefitted from assistance programs provided by these organisations, and I encourage this work to continue alongside, and in support of, the Facility.
So there is a lot of work ahead to honour what we have decided here today.
We have just two weeks until the December meeting of the General Council.
Let’s make the most of the momentum that we have today and use these next two weeks to plan our way forward.
I will be travelling over the next few days: attending the East African Community summit in Nairobi, conducting a bilateral visit in Dar es Salaam, and taking part in the African Union trade ministers meeting in Addis Ababa.
And, as I have set out, there will be a range of meetings going on here in Geneva during this period.
We should aim, by the time of the General Council on the 10th of December, to have a clear sense of what lies ahead – and a plan for taking our work forward in the New Year.
We have delivered today on a promise we made in Bali.
Now let’s make it count.
Thank you all.
Related News
Transfer Pricing in Mining – An African Perspective
A briefing note Transfer pricing in mining: An African Perspective, has been published by IM4DC, the World Bank (WBG) and the Centre for Exploration Targeting (CET) at The University of Western Australia. The report highlights the objectives, methodology and current progress of a study on transfer pricing with specific focus on mining in Africa.
The study was commissioned in early 2014 by the WBG and IM4DC, with the research being co-ordinated and technically led by CET. Reviews commissioned by the WBG of the mining taxation policy and administrative procedures of a number of mineral-rich African countries have identified a strong need for a study focusing specifically on the administration of transfer pricing in the African mining sector.
The results of this transfer pricing study, to be published in a source book jointly by the WBG, IM4DC and CET in 2015, will complement the economy-wide work being undertaken on transfer pricing by the WBG and others such as the G20, OECD and the United Nations. In particular, the source book will provide practical guidance on transfer pricing in the sector to tax practitioners in mineral-rich developing countries in Africa and elsewhere.
Related News
Regional Cotton Centre in Pipeline
Tanzania and Brazil are finalising the establishment of the regional cotton centre at Ukiriguru in Mwanza Region to improve seedling and train farmers on better farming technology to enhance productivity and quality of cotton. Ukiriguru Agriculture Research Institute is one of the oldest research station and the main cotton research centre that has been assisted by the overseas development agency since 1976.
The Brazilian Ambassador to Tanzania Mr Francisco said on Wednesday in Dar Es Salaam at a press briefing on the workshop to share Brazillian experience on conservation agriculture and food security solutions.
"The establishment of the cotton centre is one of the main priority areas of cooperation between the two countries,"he said, adding that the technical team from Brazil will sooner or later arrive in the country to finalize some logistics for the establishment of the centre. Mr Luiz said the deal for the establishment of around 6 million US dollars of the cotton centre is expected to be signed in June next year.
Other countries that will be served by the cotton centre include Kenya and Burundi to begin with and later Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Zambia and South Sudan.
Related News
Minister Rob Davies: Media briefing on State visit by President Jacob Zuma to the People’s Republic of China
The President of the Republic of South Africa Mr Jacob Zuma and the President of the People’s Republic of China Mr Xi Jingpin will meet next month in Beijing, China, and exchange views strengthening bilateral trade and investment relations between the two countries.
The total trade between South Africa and China experienced an upward trajectory since 2008, growing from R121 billion to R271 billion by the end of 2013. Since 2009, China has been our number one trading partner globally and in Asia. However, the trade balance has been in favour of China since 2008 due to the composition of trade between the two countries where South Africa exports primary products and commodities to China, whilst importing manufactured and high-tech products from China.
The composition of trade remains a concern for South Africa and there are measures underway to increase South Africa’s exports of manufactured products to China, such as the SA expo in China held annually since 2011. China has also undertaken to support South African initiatives aimed at promoting value-added products in China, including encouraging procurement missions to visit South Africa and source value added products starting from 2015.
With regard to investment, a total of 11 South African companies are investing in China with a capital expenditure of R51.8 billion between January 2003 and September 2014, and are investing in a range of sectors such as consumer products, industrial machinery, minerals, business services, chemicals to name but a few. A total of 39 Chinese companies are investing in South Africa with a capital expenditure of R14.7 billion between January 2003 and September 2014. Chinese investments are mainly in automotive (FAW), metals (Sinosteel), building and construction sectors (Jingdong). China is also considering investing in processing of agricultural products (i.e. macadamia nuts and soya beans).
South Africa sees value in enhancing its relations with China so as to take advantage of new trade and investment opportunities in rapidly growing emerging markets. The two countries continue to work together to further South-to-South cooperation and tackle global challenges both within BRICS and on the multilateral front.
On Human Resource Development, China will continue to provide capacity building to South African experts in the field of Special Economic Zones (SEZs), Clothing and Textiles, and young entrepreneurs.
A South Africa-China Business Forum will be held on 5 December 2014. Approximately 100 South African companies operating in sectors such as finance, infrastructure, energy, manufacturing and mining and capital equipment will participate. It is expected that approximately 150 Chinese enterprises will attend the Business Forum. The Business Forum will be utilised as a platform for engagement between the South African and Chinese business entities to deliberate on issues related to cooperation in the following sectors: finance, energy, manufacturing and mining and capital equipment. The expectation is that numerous deals will be concluded as a result of the interaction at the afore-mentioned platform.
The State visit is taking place after the dti organised our yearly South Africa Expos in China last month in Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Chengdu, Shanghai and Beijing. The Expos are amongst others aimed to:
- raise the profile of and improve an understanding and appreciation of South Africa in China
- establish balanced bilateral trade and investment flows
- cultivate an environment that creates multi-sectoral relations towards realising our goals identified in our bilateral agreements and
- promote engagements with Two-Tier provinces with the aim of enhancing economic growth.
In order to successfully achieve this task, we organised more than 50 South African companies in the Mining and Metals beneficiation, Capital equipment, ICT & Electronics, Agro-processing and Automotives and components to participate in the exhibitions. The event also aimed to attract foreign direct investment in the following sectors: Mining and beneficiation, renewable energy, Infrastructure, Oil and gas, ICT and Electronics, Capital projects, Transport as well as Agro processing.
According to report back questionnaires received from participants, on the spot export sales generated at the event were approximately R1.2 million. Collective expected future sales as a result of participation and trade leads are expected to surpass R380 million. Trade leads received by participants during the Showcase were 330.
Beside government to government MoUs, several commercial MoUs are expected to be signed at the Business Forum focusing amongst others on media, banking, and technology. The signing of the agreements will strengthen the trade and investment bilateral relationship between South Africa and the People’s Republic of China.
Related News
Zimbabwe: 2015 Budget Statement
The Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Hon. P.A. Chinamasa presented the 2015 National Budget on 27 November 2014. The 2015 National Budget, which is under the theme “Towards an Empowered Society and Inclusive Economic Growth”.
Growth in Zimbabwe’s economy is expected to pick up slightly to 3.2 percent next year from an estimated 3.1 percent in 2014, while inflation should remain subdued, Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa said on Thursday.
Presenting his 2015 budget to lawmakers, Chinamasa said low global commodity prices, a liquidity crunch in the financial sector, low domestic savings and lack of investment were responsible for weak growth.
Related News
Museveni adds voice to Uganda’s push for full trade access to Kenya
President Yoweri Museveni on Wednesday sided with Uganda businessmen accusing Kenya of blocking their products from accessing the Kenyan market.
Addressing the public during the launch of Hudani Manji Ltd, a chicken farm plant in Semuto Nakaseke District, about 50km from Kampala, President Museveni said refusal by Kenyan officials to allow Uganda goods into the country was in contravention of the East Africa Community protocol.
He said he would petition President Uhuru Kenyatta on the issue.
“We buy a lot of goods from Kenya. Some of those Kenya officials are ‘narrow-minded’. They wanted to block our sugar. Now they have gone for our chicken. If I say no more Kenya products to Uganda, they will be forced to buy,” President Museveni said.
“I shall sort it out with President Uhuru Kenyatta,” he added. Two weeks ago, the Uganda Sugar Manufacturers Association accused Kenya of selectively blocking export of sugar, demanding full access to the market.
“…sugar from other countries in SADC and Comesa who are not in the East African Community enters Kenya with ease. The Uganda sugar industry would want to know why,” Uganda Sugar Manufacturers Association chairman Jim Kabeho was quoted saying.
President Museveni reacted after Hudani Manji Ltd chairman Alykhan Hudani complained of Kenya Revenue Authority officials blocking his firm from exporting chicken to Kenya.
“Most of our chicks are imported from Kenya, they feed on Uganda-made feed, but they do not allow us to export to Kenya. We have invested a lot of money and there is also some potential market in South Sudan. I [have previously] urged the government to negotiate on our behalf to access these markets,” Mr Hudani said.
Kenya's Largest Export Market:
Uganda was until February this year Kenya’s largest export market. However, by July 2014, Tanzania had edged past Uganda as Kenya’s largest export market in East Africa due to ongoing elimination of non-tariff barriers and increasing local production in Uganda of goods that were previously imported. Uganda has traditionally been Kenya’s top trading partner in the region, but recent data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics rank the country third, with Tanzania coming second. Uganda was overtaken by the US in June as the leading export destination for Kenyan goods. The report showed that the US imported goods from Kenya worth Sh3.7 billion ($41.8 million) in June, followed by Tanzania at Sh2.8 billion ($31.6 million) and Uganda at Sh2.5 billion ($28.3 million).
“We broke ground in November 2011 and 18 months later, the integrated operation consisting of a broiler farm, feed mill and abattoir was commissioned,” Mr Hudani noted.
He added: “In the next three years, we hope to open three more firms for us to realise profits.”
Mr Hudani said they decided to invest in poultry industry because of high local demand and lack of reliable supply. “The sector consists of small suppliers with unreliable supply chains that frustrate both wholesale and retail customers,” he said. About 300 jobs have been created since the chicken plant was established.
Related News
‘Harmonising standards key to development’
The Zambian Government says there is need for stakeholders to acknowledge the role that harmonisation standards play in the socio-economic development of any country. Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry permanent secretary Siazongo Siakalenge said the participation of stakeholders in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region to harmonise standards of trade and services will enhance activities.
Mr Siakalenge said it is important for the region to maintain harmonised standards in a transparent manner through the application of the Southern African Development Community Cooperation in Standardisation (SADCSTAN) harmonisation procedure for the benefit of all SADC member states.
“The Zambian government continues to be committed to the SADC protocol on trade and is positive that the recently amended technical barriers to trade annex to the protocol will enhance the operations of the SADC standardisation, quality assurance, accreditation and metrology structures which is aimed at fostering the liberalisation of intra-region trades in goods and services in the region,” he said.
Mr Siakalenge said this in a speech read for him by Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry director department of industry Tobias Mulimbika at the SADCSTAN training workshop on standards harmonisation procedure and the development of technical committee business plans organised by the Zambia Bureau of Standards yesterday.The workshop has attracted over 20 delegates from SADC member states, representatives from the SADC secretariat and the African Organisation for Standardisation.
Related News
The East African Community consultative meeting on the CFTA/BIAT
Background
In January 2012, the African Union Summit of Heads of States and Government approved an Action Plan for Boosting Intra-African trade and the establishment of a Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) by an indicative date of 2017. According to the approved Road Map, during the period 2012 to 2014, the Regional Economic Communities that are recognised by the African Union are supposed to ensure the effective implementation of regional free trade agreements. During this period, it is expected that COMESA, EAC and SADC will conclude negotiations for the Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) by the year 2014. ECOWAS, ECCAS, AMU, IGAD and CEN-SAD are encouraged to ensure that their regional free trade areas are working effectively and to prepare to engage for negotiations that are scheduled to take place starting from 2015.
As part of the preparations for the CFTA negotiations, the African Union Commission is partnering with the EAC Secretariat and UNECA in organising the EAC Consultative Meeting on the CFTA. Issues to be discussed in the meeting include the current state of trade liberalisation in EAC, Implementation Strategy for Boosting Intra Africa Trade, studies on the trade potential of the CFTA, Principles Guiding the Negotiations for the CFTA, Institutional Arrangements for the Negotiation of the CFTA, technical issues on the CFTA and private sector views on the CFTA.
The Consultative Meeting will be attended by Member Sates of EAC; Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda on 27-28 November 2014. The East African Business Council will also be invited to attend the meeting. UNECA and AfDB will also attend the Meetings as members of the AUC-UNECA-AfDB Joint Secretariat.
The Objectives:
i. To Facilitate consultations and dialogue among EAC Member States on the CFTA with a view to develop regional strategies for engagement in the CFTA Negotiations.
ii. To Prepare EAC Member States for effective engagement in CFTA negotiations.
iii. To Identify areas for capacity building at the regional and national levels.
Expected Outcome:
i. Dialogue among EAC Member States and the private sector on the CFTA and the BIAT Implementation Strategy.
ii. Initiate a process of preparations in EAC for CFTA negotiations that could lead to the development of a Draft Action Plan and Strategy taking into account the regional dynamics and realities.
iii. Identification of capacity building needs of EAC Member States and the EAC Secretariat for effective participation in CFTA negotiations and agreement on a joint resource mobilization strategy.
Related News
WCO welcomes G20 Leaders’ Communiqué
The G20 Leaders, after their Summit in Brisbane, Australia, issued a communiqué on 16 November 2014.
The Communiqué emphasized “trade” as a powerful driver for economic growth, job creation and increased living standards, noting the importance of global supply chains linking developed and developing countries in manufacturing and trading in products. The Communiqué highlighted the importance of the WTO’s Trade Facilitation Agreement with its focus on trade facilitation as a core component of any economic growth strategy to include “reforms to facilitate trade by lowering costs, streamlining customs procedures, reducing regulatory burdens and strengthening trade-enable services”.
The Leaders agreed to refocus their efforts against cross-border tax evasion and avoidance in order to ensure “the fairness of international tax system and to secure countries’ revenue bases”, reconfirming the agreed timelines for automatic exchange of tax information between jurisdictions.
The Leaders also endorsed the 2015-2016 G20 Anti-Corruption Action Plan, which mentioned Customs as a high risk sector that could potentially impede economic growth, trade, and development.
WCO Secretary General Kunio Mikuriya welcomed the G20 Leaders’ Communiqué, noting that the economic growth strategies elaborated in it are wholly compatible with the WCO’s strategic plan, instruments and tools. He underlined the importance of several WCO initiatives, including the Economic Competitiveness Package, the Mercator Programme, and the Revenue Package, which support trade facilitation and thus economic competitiveness, and also enable Customs administrations to collect revenue in a fair and efficient manner.
Mr. Mikuriya said that Customs administrations are an important actor in the fight against cross-border tax evasion, including by leveraging exchange of information (EOI) between tax authorities and Customs administration in parallel with EOI between tax authorities.
The WCO has long been a vocal leader on promoting Integrity by all public and private sector actors at the border. Mr. Mikuriya noted the innumerable efforts made by the WCO and its Member Customs administrations to mitigate corruption through instruments and tools such as the Revised Arusha Declaration and performance measurement contracts. He emphasized the importance of streamlining Customs processes and providing automated clearance environments for all international trade stakeholders.
He welcomed continued efforts to modernize trade processes, and encouraged all stakeholders to continue supporting the WCO in its work to improve the Customs environment for the ultimate benefit of all stakeholders and as a key driver of economic growth.
Related News
SADC organizes a Customs Training of Trainers Course on NTBs in cooperation with the WCO
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) organized a fourth Training Course under its Customs Training of Trainers (TOT) Programme 2013-2016 from 17 to 20 November 2014 at its Headquarters (Gaborone, Botswana). The training was conducted in collaboration with the World Customs Organization (WCO), the WCO Regional Office for Capacity Building (ROCB) for the Eastern and Southern Africa Region, and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). Forty-two senior Customs officers from 13 of SADC’s 15 Member States, many of whom are active in their administrations’ training departments, participated in the Training Course.
The main objective of the TOT Programme is to provide technical and professional support, particularly in view of the contribution by Customs administrations to the consolidation of the SADC Free Trade Area and the successful implementation of the SADC Protocol on Trade. This will be achieved through the TOT Course on Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs), which continue to be major stumbling blocks to trade in the region and many of which are Customs-related (or perceived as such). Participants who complete the Training Course will disseminate the knowledge gained, at national level, to relevant stakeholders including Customs officers from their own administrations.
Participants learnt the basic principles and definition of Non-Tariff Measures and NTBs, covering the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS Agreement) and inter-regional initiatives such as the online NTB monitoring mechanism and national monitoring committees. They also gained an overview of the Agreement on Trade Facilitation (TFA) recently concluded under the auspices of the WTO. The WCO gave an introduction to its tools and instruments for applying trade facilitation measures and to the Revised Kyoto Convention (RKC). Particular emphasis was placed on the new Transit Handbook and the TFA Implementation Guidance.
The course was highly interactive and participants shared their views on the importance of global standards to facilitate regional integration and various trade facilitation measures. They discussed how they could promote Coordinated Border Management (CBM) and increase public-private dialogue at national and regional level.
Related News
Continent prepares for the launch of the Africa Regional Integration Index
The African Development Bank (AfDB), the African Union Commission (AUC) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) have joined forces to produce an Africa Regional Integration Index.
The Index, the first systematic, quantitative, continent-wide monitoring system for regional integration in Africa, is designed to track the progress of African countries and regional economic communities (RECs) towards achieving their shared regional integration goals. It will also track and document the impacts of regional integration in Africa.
The Index will help countries and RECs to identify gaps and make informed policy decisions on how best to meet their regional integration aspirations and commitments.
Given the novelty of the project and the fact that most of the indicators that are to be used have never been compiled in this manner before, AfDB, AUC and ECA will organize a series of training sessions for national statistical focal points. In the first instance, the three institutions are focusing on training statistical focal points from the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the East African Community (EAC) and Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries.
The pilot training workshop, which was funded by the Africa Trade Fund, an AfDB hosted trade-related technical assistance facility, was held from the November 24-28, 2014 at the AUC Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The training brought together statistical focal points from Mauritius, São Tomé and Príncipe, Comoros, Madagascar, Djibouti, Burundi and Cape Verde. The next training workshop is scheduled for February 2015 in South Africa. It will bring together more than 20 focal points from different RECs and Corridor Agencies.
The three institutions will also present their ongoing work on the Index at the margins of the first joint Africa Directors-General of Statistics meeting in Tunis from December 8-12, 2014, as well as at the African Union (AU) Summit in January 2015.
The first edition of the Index shall be presented at the Joint AU Conference of Ministers of Economy and Finance and ECA Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development in March 2015.
Related News
Illicit financial flows: Why Africa needs to ‘Track It, Stop It and Get It’
Financing development in Africa has proved to be difficult in the past, compelling the continent to rely on external sources including overseas development assistance. This type of assistance is often unevenly distributed, unsustainable and, in some cases, damaging to national economies in the long run. Lessons learned from Africa’s development trajectory over the past three decades have prompted a fresh wave of thinking towards a post- 2015 development agenda and Agenda 2063 transformative developmental framework designed to ensure self-reliance for Africa. In the light of the recent global economic and financial crises and the approaching deadline for achieving the Millennium Development Goals, a structural transformation agenda will require an adequate, predictable, sustainable and integrated financing mechanism geared towards financing development goals. The continent must embark on reforms to capture currently unexplored or poorly managed resources. This includes curtailing illicit financial flows and transforming those funds into a powerful tool for enhancing domestic resource mobilization, as a way of furthering the continent’s development.
In response to the challenges set out above, the High-level Panel on Illicit Financial Flows was established in 2012 by the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the African Union Commission (AUC), at the request of participants at the Fourth Joint Annual Meetings of the ECA Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development and AUC Conference of Ministers of Economy and Finance, which was held in March 2011. The Panel will present its final report in January 2015 at the twenty-fourth ordinary session of the Assembly of the African Union. The report is based on rigorous research, country case studies and regional consultations within and outside Africa.
The Panel has adopted a clear and specific definition of illicit financial flows. Such flows are defined as money that is illegally earned, transferred or utilized. This represents a major break from the dominant work on capital flight, which emphasizes macroeconomic instability, including the business environment, as the main driver of capital outflows and therefore places the burden of resolving the problem on developing countries rather than promoting shared responsibility. It also focuses attention on the structural and governance limitations that fuel such flows from Africa. The Panel’s focus on hidden resources and their potential impact on development places the issue of illicit financial flows firmly in the broader realm of international political economy and emphasizes the role of governance at both the origin and the destination.
These cross-border transfers of illicit money have a considerable detrimental impact on Africa’s development and governance, especially in the transnational context. Among other things, illicit financial flows stifle Africa’s socioeconomic progress by draining scarce foreign exchange resources, reducing government tax revenues, deepening corruption, aggravating foreign debt problems and impeding private sector development. The extractive sector is often particularly affected by these phenomena. This in turn reduces the resources that Africa has for development. The governance challenges of illicit financial flows include weakened public institutions and ultimately a reduced capacity of the State to provide public resources and welfare for the people.
Related News
Africa Integration Index 2014
Since the launch of the Visa Africa Integration Index in 2013 the African economy has extended its best period of economic growth on record by delivering growth of 4.8 percent in 2013. With annual economic growth averaging in excess of five percent since 2000, Africa’s economic growth has outpaced the global average by more than two percent per annum since the turn of the millennium.At an individual level, a number of African countries have enjoyed faster economic growth than the established Asian economic success stories in recent years, and six of the world’s ten fastest-growing economies between 2001 and 2010 were African.
It is widely expected that this feature of buoyant economic growth will continue for the foreseeable future and it is likely that the African economy will achieve a growth rate approaching 5.5 in 2014. With a collective gross domestic product (GDP) of over $1.9 trillion – a figure that is expected to exceed $2.6 trillion by 2020 – Africa today is one of the world’s fastest growing regions, which translates into exciting investment prospects. To this end, whilst Africa’s economic fate for a long time was associated with a reliance on foreign aid, the region now boasts the highest rate of return on investment of any region in the world. Although boundless opportunities in natural resources currently serve as a key driver of this growth, Africa’s billion-strong youthful and increasingly urbanised population is translating into booming consumer and labour markets that will drive economic growth for years to come making Africa’s much-vaunted potential a reality. Notably, this bullish economic outlook represents a break with the past.
Related News
New scheme seeks to cut freight costs in East Africa
A whooping $16 million (about Rwf11bn) fund has been set aside for innovators who can come up with effective strategies to cut costs on transport and logistics in East Africa.
The competition, dubbed Logistics Innovation for Trade (LIFT), will provide grants ranging from $200,000 (about Rwf137m) to $750, 000 (about Rwf514m) to winning proposals from innovators from across the world but whose ideas will be implemented in East Africa.
The challenge was launched yesterday in Nairobi, Kenya.
Managed by Trade Mark East Africa, the challenge seeks to trigger and introduce innovative approaches to tackling freight and transport costs in East Africa which reportedly has the highest freight and transport costs in the world.
Applicants are expected to devise strategies of reducing the time taken along the major East African transport corridors.
The two major corridors are; the Northern Corridor, which links EAC countries to Mombasa Port, and the Central Corridor which connects to Dar-es- Salaam.
TradeMark East Africa’s Senior Director of Business Competitiveness Lisa Karanja said their desire was to see East Africa adopt world class logistical technologies to ably compete with the rest of the world.
“It is a challenge to the private sector to develop and test new ideas that could reduce the cost and time of transport and logistics. TradeMark will co-invest with the private sector in projects that have the potential to achieve this but may be too risky to undertake without external support,” Karanja said.
The organisation’s Challenge Fund manager, Isaac Njoroge, said the fund will help private businesses and innovators mitigate risks of high return projects that are risky and have not been tested.
“Businesses in the transport and logistics industry are hereby invited to submit their ideas,” Njoroge said.
Related News
NEPAD/SADC Food and Nutrition Security Knowledge-sharing and Monitoring Platform Consultation workshop
The New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), with the support of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), are organizing a 2 day consultation workshop on December 3rd – 4th 2014, in Johannesburg, South Africa to discuss the opportunity of consolidating efforts of knowledge-sharing and monitoring in the SADC region for improved Food and Nutrition Security and Resilience through Risk Management with the establishment of a NEPAD/SADC Food and Nutrition Security Knowledge-Sharing and Monitoring Platform.
This initiative is envisaged in response to the Malabo Declaration and Implementation strategy (to come), including the Accelerated Agricultural Growth and Transformation Goals 2025 (Assembly/AU/Decl.1(XXIII)), and the CAADP Results Framework (2015-2025) which stipulate the importance of conducting systematic mapping, monitoring and evaluation efforts at regional and country levels and set targets for improving food and nutrition security. It will also support regional mechanisms, such as the implementation of the SADC Food and Nutrition Security Strategy. It will build on on-going efforts to strengthen access to information and capacities of governments and stakeholders for improved informed decision-making within the CAADP framework and the SUN Movement.
Ultimately, this initiative is aiming at (i) improving access to up-to-date and accurate data, including specific nutrition, food security and risk management indicators, as well as information on the different policies, programmes, coordination mechanisms and investments in the area of food and nutrition security across countries, sectors and actors; (ii) providing a support decision and advocacy tool for improved food and nutrition security related policies and investments; (iii) enhancing sharing of knowledge on good practices and cooperation across countries for improving food and nutrition security and resilience building.
Objectives and outputs of the workshop
The consultation workshop goal is to set the stage and discuss the relevance and scope of a NEPAD/SADC Knowledge-Sharing and Monitoring platform for capturing, synthesizing and disseminating relevant information related Food and Nutrition Security, and encouraging exchange of knowledge and expertise across member states in the SADC region.
Specific outputs of the workshop will be:
- Take stock of existing networks and initiatives, their lessons learned and best practices ;
- Elaborate the purpose, the value addition to stakeholders, the functions and the scope of knowledge exchange across countries for enhancing food and nutrition security;
- Explore the possible content (incl. type of data, information and knowledge) of the platform and mechanisms for knowledge exchange ;
- Clarify the roles and responsibilities of different actors in contributing to this initiative and resources required for sustainable operating modalities ;
- Identify next steps (Roadmap) and pilot countries.
Related News
Gabon announces final deal reached with WTO members on tariff changes
Gabon’s top trade official told a meeting of the Council for Trade in Goods on 17 November 2014 that it has concluded negotiations with WTO members on compensation for changes to the country’s tariff commitments resulting from its membership in the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC).
Commerce Minister Gabriel Tchango noted that Gabon made adjustments to its tariff lines on imports of non-agricultural goods in order to match the CEMAC common external tariffs. This resulted in 38 per cent of its tariff lines, or 2,131 tariff lines in total, exceeding the maximum (“bound”) rates agreed to by Gabon in its WTO schedule of commitments.
Mr Tchango said the issue had been a point of contention since 1995 and was raised in WTO trade policy reviews of Gabon in 2001, 2007 and 2013. In 2008, Gabon commenced negotiations under Articles XXIV and XXVIII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) to compensate WTO members for the adjustment.
The negotiations will result in Gabon raising its bound tariffs on 2,159 lines and reducing bound tariffs on 2,626 lines, leading to an average bound rate of 18.08 per cent on imports of non-agricultural goods, the minister said.
The United States and the European Union both confirmed they reached agreement with Gabon on compensation, with Japan and Morocco welcoming the conclusion of the negotiations.
At the same meeting, Jordan submitted a request to extend the phase-out period for export subsidies provided to domestic producers, namely small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), until the end of 2022. The current WTO arrangement, which will expire at the end of 2015, allows Jordan to provide this kind of export subsidies in the form of partial or total exemption from income tax of profits generated from certain exports.
Jordan’s Secretary-General of the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Supply, Ms Maha Ali, noted the request for extension would be limited to tax exemptions for SMEs, and that the request was justified by the “persisting severe regional and international circumstances” her country was facing, including “unprecedented regional volatility” which has resulted in the closure of more than 1,000 factories and the loss of almost 14,000 jobs since January 2013.
Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Egypt, Tunisia, China and Korea all voiced support for Jordan’s request, given the challenges the country continues to face. Japan, the US, the EU, Australia, New Zealand and Canada said they were sympathetic to Jordan’s plight but would like Jordan to consider other relief measures besides export subsidies, which are one of the most harmful trade-distortive measures and prohibited under WTO rules. These members said it was also unfair to other developing countries that have phased out their export subsidies, and noted the decision by the WTO’s General Council in 2007 to extend the phase-out until the end of 2015 was granted on the condition that the deadline not be extended again beyond that date.
Also at the meeting, the EU voiced concerns about Armenia’s request to modify its WTO commitments in order to harmonize its tariffs with that of partners in the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). Armenia signed the treaty of accession to the EAEU on 10 October and will apply the EAEU’s Common Customs Tariff upon domestic ratification of the treaty, most likely in January. The EU said Armenia’s request implies revision of its entire tariff system, with more than 6,500 tariff lines concerned, and asked Armenia to submit a revised request with additional details. Japan said Armenia’s request raised systemic questions, given the extent of the proposed tariff increases and the large number of tariff lines affected.
Armenia replied that it was ready to enter into negotiations with WTO members on possible compensation under Articles XXIV and XXVIII of the GATT.
The EU, the US and Japan expressed continued concern with what they described as growing protectionism in the Russian Federation, concerns that were also echoed by Korea, Australia, Canada, Ukraine, Chinese Taipei and New Zealand. The EU said the experience of Russia in the WTO to date has been “disappointing” and said the fact that the EU had already initiated four WTO dispute proceedings against Russia pointed to “systemic problems”. The EU also deplored what it said was the frequency of Russia’s resort to protectionist measures, citing, among other things, Russian subsidies for automobile producers, safeguard measures targeting imported harvesters, and excessive import duties on various goods. Concerns were also expressed regarding different export taxes on oil shipped to the Far East and to the EU.
The US noted concerns with what it said was Russia’s growing trend to adopt discriminatory policies against imports affecting goods such as pharmaceuticals, medical devices and agricultural products. Japan cited Russia’s decision last April to raise tariffs on imported TVs as going against its commitments in APEC (Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation) and the G-20, while Ukraine cited “serious concerns about systemic noncompliance” with Russia’s WTO commitments, including the lack of scientific justification for sanitary restrictions on imported farm goods.
The Russian Federation replied that most of the interventions made were similar to those in previous Goods Council meetings. Russia said it is always ready for constructive dialogue and encouraged members to engage in bilateral discussions on the problems cited if such problems exist. Russia noted that on 1 September it revised its duties and reduced tariffs on items which had been of concern to some WTO members. Russia insisted its sanitary restrictions, safeguard on imported harvesters and other measures were in full compliance with its WTO commitments.
The Russian Federation for its part expressed concerns about recent association agreements concluded by the EU, in particular the agreement the EU concluded with Ukraine. Russia said its preliminary review of the agreements show some elements, especially those concerning the free circulation of goods, were in conflict with other free trade agreements and may conflict with WTO legal requirements. Russia said the association agreements were clear evidence of the fragmentation of, and a direct threat to, the multilateral trading system. Russia also hit out at Ukraine’s anti-dumping measure on imports of ammonium nitrate from Russia, saying it had serious concerns about the method for calculating the margin of dumping and adjustments made in regards to gas pricing. The EU responded that its association agreements were fully compatible with WTO rules while Ukraine said it received a number of questions from Russia about the anti-dumping measure and was working hard to provide answers.
Nigeria once again came under scrutiny for its restrictions on imports of fishery products as well as local content requirements in the oil and gas sectors. On the former, Chile, the EU, Iceland, Norway, the US and Uruguay all noted the impact Nigeria’s import licensing requirements and quotas were having in reducing imports from their producers, while on the latter the EU, the US, Australia and Japan all asked Nigeria to respond to longstanding questions about apparent local content requirements. In regards to fisheries, Nigeria said it was still in consultations with domestic stakeholders in formulating a new policy for the sector, while on oil/gas it said its policies provide a good balance between national aspirations and participation by international investors in the sector. Nigeria also noted ongoing inter-ministerial consultations on the questions raised.
A number of WTO members continued to question various restrictions imposed by Indonesia on imports and exports of goods. The EU, the US, Japan, Korea, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Chinese Taipei cited restrictions on agricultural and horticultural products, mining products and high-tech goods such as cellular phones, among other Things. Japan in particular cited an Indonesian regulation which would impose an obligation on shopping centres and modern retail shops to ensure 80 per cent of products in their outlets are of domestic origin, and the country’s new Mining Law, which prohibits the export of raw materials such as nickel ore. The US, the EU and Japan encouraged new Indonesian President Joko Widodo to improve the business and investment climate in his country but Japan added it would seriously consider taking additional steps under WTO dispute settlement rules to address its concerns about the Mining Law as long as the current situation remains unchanged.
Indonesia replied that some of the import measures were justified by safety, security, health and environmental concerns but that it remained committed to continue working in the WTO and other forums to find a solution to the concerns while respecting its development objectives.
The meeting was chaired by Bulgaria’s ambassador to the WTO, Atanas Atanassov Paparizov, who was appointed to replace Sweden’s former WTO ambassador Joakim Reiter as Goods Council chairman.
Background
The Goods Council is responsible for the workings of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), the WTO’s main agreement governing trade in goods. The Council oversees the work of the committees, working groups and working parties on sectors of activity covered by the GATT, including agriculture, market access, subsidies, trade remedy measures and others.
Further information on the Goods Council and its work can be found at www.wto.org/goods