Council Decision (EU) 2015/1947 of 1 October 2015 on the conclusion, on behalf of the European Union, of the Protocol

What it is

to conclude, on behalf of the European Union, of the protocol amending the Marrakesh agreement establishing the World Trade Organization (WTO). ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: Council may adopt the act only if Parliament has given its consent to the act. BACKGROUND: the World Trade Organization (WTO) launched the Doha Round of trade negotiations, known as the Doha Development Agenda in November 2001. The negotiations on trade facilitation were launched in July 2004, based on a commitment to clarify and improve several articles of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 (GATT 1994): such as those concerning: (i) freedom of transit); (ii) fees and formalities connected with importation and exportation); (iii) publication and administration of trade regulations. CONTENT: it is proposed that the protocol amending the Marrakesh agreement establishing the World Trade Organization be approved on behalf of the European Union. This protocol was adopted by the WTO’s General Council at its meeting on 27 November 2014. The 9th WTO Ministerial Conference held in Bali on 3-6 December 2013 adopted the Ministerial Decision on Trade Facilitation, which concluded negotiations on the Agreement on Trade Facilitation subject to the legal review of the text. The protocol includes the Agreement on Trade facilitation and the commitments of developing countries will become an integral part of the Agreement. For details of the main provisions of this Agreement, please refer to the summary of the Commission’s initial legislative proposal dated 6.2.2015 . The Committee on International Trade adopted the report by Pablo ZALBA BIDEGAIN (EPP, ES) on the draft Council decision on the conclusion, on behalf of the European Union, of the Protocol Amending the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization. The committee recommended that the European Parliament give its consent to the conclusion of the Agreement. The trade facilitation agreement (TFA) which was concluded at the 9th WTO Ministerial Conference in December 2013 is the first multilateral agreement since the WTO was established in 1995. The issue first appeared on the WTO agenda during the Ministerial in Singapore in 1996 and subsequently found its way into the Doha Declaration where WTO members committed to concluding a deal on this issue. The Agreement demonstrates the ability to be innovative in recognising differences in implementation capacity across nations. In particular, by: allowing developing and least developed countries to categorise commitments and determine the timing of their implementation; linking implementation of some disciplines to the provision of technical assistance; calling for joint action by donor countries, development assistance providers and developing and least developed country WTO members to assist the latter in implementing some provisions of the agreement; incorporating an Expert Group to assess the situation in a Member once notified implementation periods have expired, and the use of the TFA Committee as a forum for the exchange of experiences and deliberation. The TFA will require increased transparency and greater cooperation between customs…

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