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WTO ministers sign trade pact that's meaningless unless 67pc agree

TRADE ministers meeting in Bali, Indonesia, signed an non-binding trade pact that would bring about worldwide trade facilitation if enough countries were to show themselves willing to sign it.

Much the same deal came unstuck a week before at the diplomatic WTO meeting in Geneva where an insufficient number could agree on the details of cutting red tape and cutting back on agricultural subsidies.

The much touted "Bali Package" is a trimmed-down version of the Doha Round that has faltered for a decade over disagreements about agriculture and other issues.

But even it its diluted form, it has recruited ministerial support from Latin America, who refused to sign because of the US persistence in maintaining its trade embargo against communist Cuba.

But if accepted, the new WTO deal would shave 10 - 15 per cent from the regulatory cost of importing and exporting, stimulate more trade and allow countries to collect more revenue at the border.

First, the WTO must formalise the terms of the agreement, after which member states will then declare their acceptance. Once two-thirds accept, the trade agreement will enter into force subject to the WTO's binding dispute resolution mechanism.

Among the terms of the new deal are the creation of an expedited process for the release of air cargo, releasing expedited goods as rapidly as possible after arrival, separating the release of the goods from the final resolution of the financial aspects of the transaction.

The deal would also require each country to set a de minimis value, below which duties and tariffs would not be required to expedite the release of low-value shipments.

The deal would also adopt a risk-management approach to the application of custom controls, arrange for pre-arrival processing of required information by electronic means, provide advance rulings on tariffs and other customs measures that will apply to a shipment.

The new rules would also create a single window for submission of shipment information to all relevant government agencies, establish a trusted trader programmes for authorised operators with a history of highly compliant, secure supply chains to receive additional facilitation benefits.