APEC Ministers Press Single Window Initiatives, WTO Facilitation Implementation
Asia-Pacific Economic Partnership (APEC) trade ministers directed their respective trade officials to make progress on "single window" systems, Authorized Economic Operator programs and manifest data exchange initiatives, said a May 18 statement . The statement followed the end of an APEC plenary session in Qingdao, China. The ministers also instructed officials to continue work on time release analysis. The U.S. is targeting completion of its single window program by 2016 (see 14051324).
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“We emphasize the importance of further simplification and coordination of customs procedures among APEC economies through full implementation of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement, and the encouragement to use relevant international standards, including those developed by the World Customs Organization,” said the joint statement (here). “We also welcome collective efforts to share experience and build capacity in the area of cross-border e-commerce customs control and IPR border protection, so as to enhance law enforcement and trade order.”
U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Michael Froman also emphasized the importance of timely implementation of the World Trade Organization facilitation agreement, claiming that implementation is critical to advancing other multilateral trade initiatives. “One point that I think is vital: Many developing countries are already working successfully to line up funding for Category C projects,” said Froman in Qingdao on May 17 (here). The agreement directs countries most in need of implementation assistance, Category C countries, to follow a specific protocol in requesting and pursuing customs initiatives (see 13120922). “Existing needs assessments make this work possible now. Early movers will gain the earliest benefits of implementation,” he said.
But the Chinese must make further Information Technology Agreement (ITA) concessions in order to break the current deadlock in those talks, said Froman in his remarks. The most recent formal ITA talks collapsed in November 2013 (see 13112217). “The United States came to China with new ideas for how to press the negotiations forward, and throughout the weekend, we heard from many other APEC economies about their desire to reach a deal. While here, we made progress and narrowed our differences with China, but we are not there yet,” said Froman, according to a USTR spokesman. " We believe that with intensified work by key participants, an expanded ITA agreement is achievable in the near term."