The Trade Facilitation Agreement reached a 91% ratification rate among World Trade Organization members three years after it was introduced, according to a Feb. 22 news release from the WTO. The TFA, which applies only to WTO members who accept it, has the “potential” to “slash members' trade costs by an average” of about 14.5%, the WTO said. It reduces “time needed to import and export goods” and helps “expedite the movement, release and clearance of goods across borders.” As the TFA’s implementation rate increased, WTO members have shared information to help traders within the agreement understand varying import, export and transit procedures and the use of customs brokers, single windows and customs contact points, the WTO said.
A pro-free trade think tank in Canada published an analysis of the new NAFTA, known as CUSMA in Canada, and finds it lacking. “CUSMA has little traditional tariff liberalization, introducing only minor changes to market access compared to the NAFTA, and limited improvements in trade facilitation, while at the same time introducing a number of features that promise to be more restrictive of trade,” wrote the authors of the C.D. Howe Institute paper.
The World Customs Organization rescheduled its Authorized Economic Operator conference to Feb. 15-17, 2021, it said in a news release. The event was previously scheduled for next month in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. “To ensure the success of the Conference in view of the prevailing global circumstances, Dubai Customs and the UAE Federal Customs Authority proposed to the WCO to postpone the Conference,” the WCO said.
As the coronavirus outbreak continues, companies should review their contracts to determine whether they contain force majeure provisions and what those contracts define as force majeure qualifying conditions, according to a Feb. 13 post from Crowell & Moring. A force majeure provision can be triggered by specific language in a contract clause -- such as natural disasters, human threats or acts of God -- or by official announcements from government agencies and nongovernmental organizations, including the World Health Organization, the post said. But the coronavirus outbreak “presents an unusual situation” because it includes both components -- a naturally occurring element and a government action. China confirmed Feb. 10 that the virus outbreak should be considered a force majeure under Chinese law, the law firm said
A panel at the World Trade Organization held that 2015 countervailing duties levied against two Canadian producers of supercalendered paper relied on assumptions that were not justified, and an appellate body panel agreed on Feb. 6.
The World Customs Organization published a list of changes in the upcoming 2022 version of the Harmonized System tariff nomenclature, it said in a press release. The 351 sets of amendments include 77 affecting tariff provisions for agriculture, food and tobacco, 58 in the chemical sector, 31 in the wood sector, 21 for textiles, 27 for base metals, 63 in the machinery, electrical and electronic goods sector, and 22 affecting the transport sector, the WCO said. The amendments were recommended by the WCO’s Harmonized System Committee in June, and took effect in January after a six-month period passed with no objections to the proposals by WCO member states (see 2001080064). The changes must be implemented in the tariff schedules of WCO members, including the U.S., by Jan. 1, 2022.
Japan, Australia and Singapore and 80 other World Trade Organization members agreed to develop a “consolidated negotiating text” for WTO e-commerce negotiations by the next WTO conference in June, according to a joint press release. The plan was agreed to during a Jan. 24 informal meeting on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Switzerland, where they said “good progress” has been made during the first year of negotiations. Members said the negotiations will address e-commerce trade challenges faced by developing countries and small to medium-sized businesses.
A group of 17 World Trade Organization members announced plans for an interim appeals process to settle disputes between members, according to a Jan. 24 joint statement. The members, including the European Union and China but not the U.S., said they will put in place “contingency measures” to allow for appeals of WTO panel reports “in disputes among ourselves.” The system would only be in place until a reformed WTO appellate body “becomes fully operational,” the statement said.
New European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told a German wire service that she and President Donald Trump want an agreement that resolves issues “in a few weeks.” But she didn't say how comprehensive such an agreement would be.
The ideal of free trade has been imperiled by politicians' inaction in the face of harm by foreign competition, said panelists at a Davos forum on free trade. Roberto Azevedo, director-general of the World Trade Organization, said that free trade is associated with economic growth -- but prosperity also increases the gap between rich and poor. When disparities grow, he said, the answer is not to grow, but to avoid inequality. “The problem is governments are often MIA. They are missing in action. They are seeing inequalities grow, and they do nothing about it,” he said, until there is political upheaval. He said politicians don't consider the economic realities as much as the desire of voters. “An easy answer in the age of disruption is to blame the foreign,” he said. “Imports is an easy target, so why not?”