APEC trade ministers agree to promote trade facilitation in RTA/FTAs
APEC Trade Ministers Agree to Promote Trade Facilitation in RTA/FTAs
3 June 2005
Press Release - Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Secretariat
Jeju, Korea — APEC Trade Ministers have agreed to develop possible model measures on trade facilitation for Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) and Regional Trading Agreements (RTAs) for endorsement by APEC Leaders in November.
These trade facilitation measures areas, such as transparency, consistency, release of goods, modernization and paperless trading, risk management, express shipments, fees and charges will particularly benefit business.
“When finalized, these APEC Best Practices for Trade Facilitation in FTAs/RTAs will be particularly beneficial to developing economies as a readily available resource to aid their FTA and RTA negotiations.
APEC Ministers also agreed to forward the APEC Best Practices to Geneva Caucus to support the efforts of the World Trade Organisation to clarify and improve the disciplines and procedures applied to FTAs/RTAs. The Ministers have also agreed to ensure that their notifications of FTAs/RTAs to the WTO are up to date. This openness enhances transparency and clarity as Member Economies seek to improve the process of negotiating FTAs and RTAs.”
APEC Ministers’ Responsible for Trade are encouraging the adoption of these Best Practices beyond the APEC region following the successful approval of the Best Practices on FTAs and RTAs last year. The Best Practices were proposed at the APEC Trade Ministers’ meeting in Chile in June 2004 before being endorsed by APEC Ministers in November.
Chile’s Senior Official and Chief Trade Negotiator, Mr. Mario Matus, welcomed the move, noting that these Best Practices apply to FTAs and RTAs currently being negotiated by more than half of APEC Member Economies.
“The past year has shown that by applying APEC Best Practices to the FTA negotiations underway around the region, we have made the process more transparent and less complicated,” Mr. Matus said.
“The commonalities that are becoming apparent now between different FTAs and RTAs negotiated between quite different economies around the region is reassuring.
“These best practices are also very useful in ensuring that negotiated outcomes serve APEC goals and are consistent with WTO rules.”
The Ministers’ endorsement to share the best practices came after the meeting of the 3rd Trade Policy Dialogue on FTAs/RTAs held earlier in the week. The symposium addressed several issues relating to FTAs/RTAs in the APEC region including the handling of Trade Facilitation.
The 3rd Trade Policy Dialogue on FTAs/RTAs also considered widening the scope of the Best Practices to include new issues such as competition policy, investment, government procurement, research and development.
