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1、TRADE FACILITATION LENDING BY THE WORLD BANKRECENT EXPERIENCE, RESEARCH, AND CAPACITY BUILDING INITIATIVESDraft Paper prepared for: The World Trade OrganizationWorkshop on Technical Assistance and Capacity Building in Trade FacilitationGeneva10-11 May 2001John S. WilsonThe World Bank This paper is a
2、 draft to be revised. The conclusions and opinions are those of the author and do not necessarily represent views of the World Bank. Questions may be addressed to John S. Wilson, Lead Economist, Development Economics Research (DECRG), the World Bank, 1818 H Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. Phone: (202
3、) 473-2065, Fax: (202) 522-1159, email jswilsonworldbank.org. The assistance of Marc Plotkin in preparation of this paper is gratefully acknowledged. INTRODUCTION The World Banks work on trade is an important part of its mission in support of development and poverty alleviation. Trade has been an ke
4、y engine for economic development over past several decades. Liberalization of international trade markets has had a strong positive effect on economic growth, including in the developing countries. For a recent overview of trade and development, including work of the World Bank see; Leveraging Trad
5、e for Development: World Bank Role, prepared for the Development Committee paper, April 3, 2001 and Global Economic Prospects and Developing Countries, 2001, The World Bank. Efforts to integrate developing countries into the trading system and multilateral framework established in the World Trade Or
6、ganization, as liberalization continues, should include a renewed focus on trade facilitation. As part of the work toward this goal, the World Bank supports trade policy reform and implementation of Uruguay Round commitments by developing countries in several areas directly related to (1) accelerati
7、ng transparency and modernization of customs, (2) regulatory reform and standards, and (3) expansion of transport access and infrastructure modernization among others. The Banks work program on trade specifically focuses on these areas from a development context as a primary objective. For example,
8、the institutions project lending supports government institutional reform and infrastructure and facility modernization related to health, safety, or environmental goals. In addition, efforts are underway to more closely tie capacity building and development objectives with advantages of deeper inte
9、gration into the world trading system. Source: Wilson, John S. The Development Challenge in Trade: Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, submission by the World Bank to the WTO, Document No. G/SPS/GEN/195 (July 12, 2000). This paper provides an overview of the World Banks lending program related to t
10、rade facilitation. It is not a comprehensive review of all trade-related lending by the Bank in this area, but rather provides examples of how the Bank supports liberalization through projects which support facilitation measures. Part I sets forth the basic principles of trade facilitation that have
11、 been promulgated by the World Trade Organization. Part II provides an overview of the Banks lending in trade facilitation over the past decade. Part III reviews lessons in trade facilitation that have been highlighted from earlier lending projects. Part IV describes in detail seven trade facilitati
12、on projects that the Bank has started since 1998, all of them currently active in 2001. Part V briefly summarizes the challenges that the Bank and other organizations will have to address in the coming years.BACKGROUND: BASIC PRINCIPLES AND BUILDING BLOCKSThere is no single definition of trade facil
13、itation. The term generally refers to the simplification of procedural and administrative impediments to trade, such as customs administration, licensing procedures, standards and technical regulations, and barriers to the mobility of businesspeople. Several fundamental principles have emerged which
14、 serve as the basis for trade facilitation: transparency, due process, non-discrimination, least-trade restrictiveness.These principles are derived from the text of the Uruguay Round Agreements, in particular: Articles VIII and X of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, the Technical Barriers
15、to Trade (TBT) Agreement, and the Agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS). The text of the WTO agreements are available at http:/www.wto.org. These principles are fundamental building blocks for reform and should form the basis of long-term liberalization efforts. This will require su
16、stained efforts involving work to implement current trade obligations as a key priority.Article VIII addresses fees and formalities connected with trade. It sets out a WTO members basic obligation to minimize the number and diversity of border measures that can have the effect of restricting or distorting trade. Such measures can include: fees (other than normal customs dutie
