WTO urged to work on market access
Trade ministers in Africa want the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to prioritise work on issues regarding duty-free and quota-free market access, among others.
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According to them, this should be done with the view to translating them into a legally binding negotiated settlement.
The trade ministers made the call in an eight-page communique after the Ninth African Union Conference of Trade Ministers held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia between December 5 and 9, this year.
They noted that least developed countries’ (LDCs’) issues such as “Duty-Free and Quota-Free Market Access, Preferential Rules of Origin and Cotton, were of critical importance in the integration of the LDCs into the Multilateral Trading System”.
Subsequently, they said “we look forward to a HIGH-LEVEL meeting to be held in mid-January 2015 in line with the waiver decision, where non-LDC members in a position to do so shall indicate sectors and modes of supply where they intend to provide preferential treatment to LDC services and service suppliers”.
Trade facilitation agreement
The trade ministers recognised the establishment of the Trade Facilitation Agreement Facility (TFAF) as a tool for the delivery of assistance and support for capacity building in the implementation of the Trade Facilitation Agreement. However, they called for the expansion of the scope of TFAF to include both soft and hard infrastructure projects to facilitate the full implementation of the agreement.
The trade ministers recognised that trade facilitation was not only limited to the border measures aimed at expediting the release and clearance of goods, but it also required the development of infrastructure necessary to facilitate movement and transportation of goods in order to boost intra-regional trade.
The expressed the concern that without the requisite financial and technical support, it would be difficult to implement many of the measures within the Trade Facilitation Agreement, given the limited budgetary resources in many African countries.
“We take note that African countries and LDCs will be required to undertake most reforms in the implementation of the agreement, yet many do not at this stage have the requisite clarity on the availability and adequacy of support they need to meet the onerous obligations of the agreement”, they said.
As a result, they urged development partners to meet their obligations and pledges in providing the requisite assistance and support for capacity building.
Aid for trade
On the issues of aid for trade, the trade ministers welcomed the upcoming 5th Global Review of Aid for Trade under the auspices of the WTO and stressed the importance of its theme; "Reducing the costs of trade for sustainable and inclusive growth," within the context of facilitating intra-African trade.
They reiterated their strong appeal for the mobilisation of fresh, sustainable and predictable resources necessary for the effective and efficient implementation of trade-related priorities of the African countries in a bid to address infrastructural and supply side constraints.
Accession
They restated their full solidarity with all African countries in the process of accession into the WTO and urged members to adopt measures and decisions aimed at simplifying accession procedures and enhance the existing institutional mechanisms including the definition of transparent rules of implementation of the provisions of Article XII of the Marrakesh Agreement establishing the WTO.
The trade ministers also stressed the need to fully implement all aspects of the General Council Decision on the accession of LDCs aimed at strengthening, streamlining and operationalising the 2002 LDCs Accession Guidelines by all WTO members with due consideration to the specific circumstances and development objectives of acceding LDCs.
They further urged the WTO members, WTO Secretariat and relevant international organisations to provide requisite technical assistance and capacity building to acceding countries prior to, during, and in the follow-up to the accession process in line with their needs and development priorities.
Support to the African Group
The trade ministers were of the view that the Doha Development Agreement (DDA) negotiations will intensify within the context of post-Bali work programme. They also expressed awareness of the capacity constraints of both the African Missions and African Union Delegation in Geneva.
Subsequently they said, “we call on development partners to technically support African Group`s participation in DDA negotiation through both the African Union and the UNECA”. GB