Establishing Well Functioning National Trade Facilitation Bodies (NTFBs)

In the OIC Member States

coordinating with the private sector. It also sought to address a perceived void – i.e., until that point,

it was considered that little attention had been paid to how Members should organize their trade

facilitation work domestically in order to effectively identify and address obstacles.

1.4.2.2.

WTO Legal nature of the TFA obligation on NTFB

A plain reading of the Article 23.2 in its context suggests that it is a “hard” obligation that requires all

WTO Members to have a NTFB in place in their territories. Failure to comply with the obligation set

out in Article 23.2 would expose a Member to the possibility of dispute settlement being initiated

against it. The final provision, Article 23.2 titled “National Committee on Trade Facilitation”,

provides:

Each Member shall establish and/or maintain a national committee on trade facilitation or

designate an existing mechanism to facilitate both domestic coordination and implementation

of the provisions of this Agreement.

It is somewhat noteworthy that the framing of this obligation as a hard obligation created some

controversy because a previous version of the (then draft) Trade Facilitation Agreement had

provided more flexibility for Members with respect to establishment/maintenance of NTFBs.

However, this flexibility does not exist on the basis of the final agreed text. Specifically, when

compared with the previous draft of the TFA, there is no facility for Members to “opt out” of

accepting this obligation – it is an obligation that applies across the board to all WTO Members.

There are a number of reasons why certain Members – especially developing country Members –

may have preferred greater flexibility and a less “hard” obligation. The principal reason appears to

relate to costs (e.g., of the NTFB; related reforms). Indeed, throughout negotiations, the cost of

complying with obligations under the WTO’s TFA was continuously proven to be of great concern to

many developing countries.

1.4.3.

Benefits of implementing Article. 23.2 and NTFBs’ Role in Implementing TFA

obligations

In conclusion, the benefits of establishing and maintaining NTFBs are highlighted throughout this

paper. NTFBs also play a particular role in ensuring Members’ compliance with their obligations

under the TFA.

The significance of accepting obligations on trade facilitation in the WTO context relates in part to the

fact that the WTO is a rules-based system – i.e., unlike some other international fora, Members tend

to pay careful attention to comply with their WTO obligations or to possibly face dispute settlement.

Commentators suggest that the compliance rate with WTO obligations is a very positive one –

meaning that WTO Members take seriously their WTO obligations as well as compliance by other

Members.

The WTO TFA includes an array of obligations relating to inter alia expediting the movement, release

and clearance of goods, measures for effective cooperation between customs and other appropriate

authorities. Thus, in light of the typical role of NTFBs, it is clear that they can provide support for the

implementation of many – if not all – of the broad array of obligations undertaken pursuant to the

TFA (e.g., as a forum for cooperation, etc.).