USG Support for Trade Facilitation Paul J. Fekete Senior International Trade Advisor Office of Trade and Regulatory Reform November 14, 2012

USG Trade Capacity Building (Aid for Trade) Since 2001, the U.S. Government has provided a cumulative $13.3 billion in trade capacity building assistance, making it one of the leading donors on TCB in the last decade. In the area of trade facilitation, support has amounted to $2.6 billion

USG Support for WTO TF Negotiations Between USAID supported TF Needs Assessments in 14 countries. USTR Kirk recently announced contribution to WTO technical assistance fund for updating Needs Assessments.

USAID Activities USAID works on a broad range of development issues with a presence in 79 countries and activities in more than 100 countries working both bilaterally and regionally. USAID assistance—whether it be trade capacity building or any other type — is demand driven.

PTF was announced in November 2011 to support developing countries with respect to the WTO Agreement on Trade Facilitation Demand Driven-Requests have been submitted by national authorities 5 Partnership for Trade Facilitation

Advance Rulings Pre-arrival Processing/early Release of Goods Appeals Mechanism Internet Publication Penalty Disciplines Transit Guarantee Systems Expedited Shipment 6 Partnership Service Areas

Partnership for Trade Facilitation Requests Requests have come from Africa, SE Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America –Internet Publication—10 requests –Pre-Arrival Processing—9 requests –Appeals—5 requests –Expedited Shipment—3 requests –Transit Guarantees—3 requests

Implementation of Requests For most requests, additional scoping has been carried out: –By Washington-based resources –At the Mission level by projects that are already carrying out activities in country. In a number of instances, the PTF has served to bring greater attention to TF issues –PTF funding has leveraged additional resources for TF activities.

Ongoing Trade-Focused Activities Trade Hubs (in Nairobi, Kenya, Gaborone, Botswana, and Accra, Ghana, with an office in Dakar, Senegal. Support for regional integration in Africa, working with the AU; SADC in Southern Africa; COMESA and the EAC in Eastern Africa; and ECOWAS in Western Africa to create an environment supportive of trade. USAID has been providing assistance to the private sector in order to improve its ability to take advantage of trade opportunities.

Legal gap analysis and development of implementing regulations for customs reforms Development and administration of technical training programs Institutional and organizational capacity building Development of outreach and communications strategies Development of ICT strategies and ICT procurement. Other USAID sponsored support in TF

Trade Facilitation Support Examples of USAID’s support to RECs and member states: –customs operations and interconnectivity, including automating customs agencies, –designing and implementing software-based applications to improve the sharing of data and improve customs clearance times, –analyzing and removing procedural efficiencies in customs operations. –streamlining the paper flow of customs and standards operations –harmonizing procedures, standards, and paperwork governing the flow of goods within the RECs,

Lessons learned for successful implementation Assist on the basis of beneficiary country’s priorities Coordinate with other donors to avoid duplicating and to assist in sequencing the project components Involve all relevant stakeholders to ensure ownership of project Ensure political support and continuity in leadership to guarantee accomplishment of objectives and sustainability Ensure there is an adequate budget for the plan Ensure proper sequencing of program components that are interlinked (e.g. Customs valuation & post- clearance audit) Be flexible in implementing the work plan

Thank you! Questions Paul Fekete