Central And Eastern Europe And Central Asia Logistics July

central and eastern europe and central asia logistics: july 12 – 14 2005 held in sofia, bulgaria cooperating agencies: funding

Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia
Logistics:
July 12 – 14 2005 held in Sofia, Bulgaria
Cooperating Agencies:
Funding organizations: WTO
Funded Agency: World Customs Organization (WCO)
Participating countries: (25 countries invited, 14 countries
participated)
Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Croatia, F.Y.R. of Macedonia,
Israel, Kyrgyz Republic, Montenegro, Romania, Russia, Serbia,
Tajikistan, Turkey
Participants: (2 per country invited)
The participants, consisting of 24 men and 21 women from 14 countries,
were primarily senior staff from the ministry of finance/ customs or
the WTO unit of the trade policy ministry. A few participants were
beginners in the area of trade facilitation, while most had some
previous knowledge. Quite a few of the participants had attended other
WTO workshops on customs valuation or trade facilitation.
Course Description:
This workshop was the fifth in a series of WTO Regional Workshops on
Trade Facilitation. It was presented by two officials from the WTO and
one from the World Customs Organization (WCO). Over the course of
three days participants from the region learned about the negotiation
mandate, the legal framework, Members' negotiation proposals, state of
play, and tools to support preparations for the Geneva process. They
participated in extensive working group exercises to apply this
knowledge.
Officials presenting the course felt that this was one of the most
successful workshops on trade facilitation to date. This was
attrituted to the fact that the same 3 speakers had presented this
workshop together before and adjusted their presentations to
complement each other so that they each presented their "comparative
advantage"; there were fewer guest speakers than previous workshops
so, although losing their valueable contributions, they were less
rushed and had more time for the working groups and could try out some
new motivational training exercises; the speakers were not jet lagged
and could perform well; and excellent interpretation was provided so
no participants felt excluded.
In the course evaluation participants said that the workshop was
dynamic and exciting, it provided a good foundation of knowledge on
the subject, it was very well organized (some said the best organized
seminar they had ever attended), the materials were extremely useful
and the working group exercises were greatly appreciated as was the
motivational exercise.

WTO REGIONAL WORKSHOP FOR EASTERN EUROPE AND CENTRAL ASIA
ON
UNDERSTANDING THE WTO TRADE FACILITATION NEGOTIATIONS
July 2005
Course Objectives
Participants will gain:
- improved understanding of the issues involved in the current
negotiations on trade
facilitation
- strengthened capability to assist their country in preparations for
participation in the WTO Trade Facilitation negotiations
PROGRAMME
DAY 1
9.00 – 9.45 Opening Session
- Statement by Mr Radoslav Bozadzhiev
- Statement by Ms Sheri Rosenow, WTO Secretariat
- Introduction of participants, overview of agenda and course
materials - WTO
9.45 – 11.15 Session 1: WTO TF Negotiations in the context of the Doha
Round
- Situate Trade Facilitation in the context of the Doha Round, S&D
provisions,
and Single Undertaking
- Outline the Mandate for Negotiations on Trade Facilitation (July
Package)
Ms Nora Neufeld - WTO Secretariat
Teaching Objectives: Teach participants how trade facilitation fits
into the framework of the Doha Round, the underlying key elements of
WTO special and differential treatment and the basic parameters for
negotiation as set out in the Mandate.
11.30 – 12.45 Session 2: Deriving Benefits from Trade Facilitation
- Economic benefits
- quantification
- identification
Mr. Toni Matsudaira – World Customs Organization
Teaching Objectives: Participants will learn not only how adoption of
trade facilitation initiatives can enhance the welfare of both the
private and public sectors but also how these benefits can be
quantified.
14.00 – 15.30 Session 3 : Overview of GATT Articles V, VIII and X
Ms Nora Neufeld and Ms Sheri Rosenow - WTO Secretariat
Teaching Objectives: Help participants understand and apply the GATT
Articles and relevant WTO jurisprudence.
15.45 – 17.30 Session 4: Working Group Exercise I
Preparation for negotiations. Identification of impediments to trade
flows stemming from border-related practices and procedures associated
with GATT Articles V, VIII and X. Identifying priorities for
negotiations, including discussion of how to identify clearly the
trade impediments and how priorities can be set. Who are the main
actors involved (border agencies and private sector)?
Introduction by WTO Secretariat. All resource persons will assist
working groups. Working Groups will make brief presentations of their
findings at the end of the session. All resource persons can provide
constructive comments on the presentations to allow working groups to
make improvements before advancing to the next phase of the working
group exercises.
Learning Objectives: Participants will be able to apply what they have
learned in the previous sessions by discussing barriers faced by their
trade that would fall under the relevant GATT Articles, methods of
identification of these barriers, how this information can be useful
for the development of trade policy in the negotiations. They will
also learn more about barriers faced by other countries in their
working groups
DAY 2
9.00 – 11.15 Session 1: Overview of Negotiating Proposals
- GATT Articles V, VIII and X
Sheri Rosenow - WTO Secretariat
Teaching Objectives: Introduce participants to the proposals that have
been made by WTO Members under GATT Articles V, VIII and X and provide
a general understanding of the measures that have been proposed.
11.30 – 13.00 Session 2: Overview of Negotiations
- Other Proposals
- S&D Treatment
- Technical assistance and capacity building
- State of Play of TFNG
Nora Neufeld - WTO Secretariat
Teaching Objectives: To teach participants about the proposals that
have been made by WTO Members on special and differential treatment
and technical assistance and capacity building. Participants will
learn how all the proposals fit into the negotiation process, how the
negotiating group meetings have progressed and what is planned for the
upcoming future.
14.30 – 16.00 Working Group Exercise II
Review of negotiating proposals and preparation for oral presentation.
Each Working Group will take an in-depth look at proposals made by WTO
Members to become familiar with the proposals, determine
priorities/constraints, and consider technical assistance needs and
Sand D treatment. In Working Group Exercise III session each group
will make a presentation to provide an overview of their assigned
proposals and present their findings and recommendations. Findings in
Working Group Exercise I session could also be incorporated in the
presentation.
Learning Objective: Participants will have hands on experience looking
at the Member proposals. They will deepen understanding of the
provisions of the mandate and GATT Articles and will apply the results
of the first working group session to the actual negotiation
proposals.
16.15 – 17.30 Working Group Exercise III
Final preparation of group proposals and presentation to mock
Negotiating Group meeting
Learning Objective: Participants will present the results of the
Working Group Sessions. This will force the development of conclusions
in the working group discussions, allow participants to learn about
other positions within the region from other group presentations,
practice making presentations, and gain experience in preparations for
negotiation.
DAY 3
9.00 – 10.15 Working Group Exercise III (cont'd)
10.15 – 11.00 Session 5: Diagnostic Tools for Trade Facilitation
- Instruments and standards
Mr. Toni Matsudaira – World Customs Organization
Learning Objective: Help participants to learn about the tools and
resources available to help them to better understand the trade
facilitation proposals, to assist in assessing what it would take to
implement the proposals and how capital-based government agencies
should coordinate with each other and with the Geneva based officials
to develop trade policy and support the negotiations.
11.15 – 12.45 Session 5 (cont'd): Diagnosis Tools for Trade
Facilitation
- Importance of cooperation between Capital and Geneva delegates
- Trade Facilitation Negotiations Support Guide
Mr. Toni Matsudaira – World Customs Organization
Learning Objective: Teach participants how capital-based experts can
support their country's WTO negotiators in Geneva through the use of
the World Bank Trade Facilitation Negotiations Support Guide.
12.45 – 13.30 Evaluation of Workshop and Closing Ceremony