|
||
|
TWN
Info Service on WTO and Trade Issues (Aug23/10) Jaipur, 29 Aug (D. Ravi Kanth) — Notwithstanding the lack of consensus on issuing any communique at the end of the G20 Trade and Investment Ministerial Meeting (TIMM) in Jaipur, India on 25 August, the Indian commerce minister, Mr Piyush Goyal, claimed some successes from the two-day event, particularly the so-called Jaipur Call for Action for enhancing MSMEs’ (micro, small, and medium enterprises) access to information and the “High Level Principles on Digitalization of Trade Documents”, said people familiar with the development. The G20 was established in the wake of the global financial crisis in 2008 and it includes Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the European Union. At the end of the two-day event, Mr Goyal told reporters at a press conference that there was “groundbreaking consensus” on the “Outcome Document” barring paragraph 32 concerning Russia’s war against Ukraine, as well as on three annexes dealing with issues such as “A G20 Generic Framework for Mapping GVCs (Global Value Chains)”, “Jaipur Call for Action for enhancing MSMEs’ access to information”, and “High Level Principles for Digitalization of Trade Documents”. As previously reported in the SUNS, the Jaipur ministerial meeting failed to issue a final communique as would normally be expected at the end of such a high-profile meeting. While Russia rejected the “Outcome Document” on grounds of the inserted language by the major industrialized countries concerning the war in Ukraine, it accepted the rest of the items in the document. China also opposed the “Outcome Document” for allegedly dabbling in issues that are not part of the trade ministerial meeting. The trade ministers appear to have given short shrift to the mandated issues like the permanent solution for public stockholding (PSH) programs for food security, the reform of the WTO based on development-oriented priorities as proposed by more than 100 developing and least-developed countries, ensuring effective special and differential treatment (S&DT) and the principle of consensus-based decision-making as enshrined in the Marrakesh Agreement that established the WTO in 1995. The trade ministers also agreed on a text that does not guarantee the continuation of a binding two-stage dispute settlement system with the Appellate Body being the final adjudicator of trade disputes. The 18-page text further contained language favourable to the proponents of the controversial non-mandated Joint Statement Initiatives (JSIs) on digital trade, investment facilitation, disciplines for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), and trade and gender among others. Apparently, the language on the JSIs reflected the consensus achieved at the Sorrento trade ministers’ meeting during the Italian G20 Presidency almost two years ago while setting aside the consensus agreed at the Bali trade ministerial meeting last year. The European Union and several other industrialized countries also managed to include language on trade and environment, though, in somewhat ambiguous terms, said participants, who asked not to be quoted. Speaking to reporters on 25 August, Mr Goyal went on to assert that under the Indian Presidency, the G20 has “turned the wheel”, while praising his Prime Minister Narendra Modi for being the architect in navigating the meeting. Apparently, Mr Modi addressed the meeting virtually, urging the trade ministers to work towards addressing the concerns of the Global South, said a participant, who asked not to be quoted. However, a cursory glance at the G20 Outcome Document seems to indicate that it is tilted more in favour of the industrialized countries than squarely projecting the “bread-and-butter” concerns of the Global South, said a developing country representative who asked not to be quoted. Mr Goyal’s concluding remarks at the press conference on 25 August seemed to contain political undertones rarely heard at the previous G20 trade ministerial meetings. For example, Mr Goyal told reporters that Prime Minister Modi will secure another term in 2024 to carry forward the vision and agenda to make India a USD 5 trillion economy soon and becoming a developed country by 2047. Even though the G20 outcomes are non-binding, Mr Goyal highlighted the significance of the three annexes, with which India has had reservations in the past. At a time when India is opposing the Joint Statement Initiative on MSMEs at the WTO, it is somewhat confusing to lay considerable emphasis on the Jaipur Call for Action for enhancing MSMEs’ access to information, said people familiar with the development. JAIPUR CALL FOR ACTION ON MSMEs The Jaipur Call for Action for enhancing MSMEs’ access to information states that “seeking to promote the integration of MSMEs into international trade, G20 members recognized the importance of taking necessary steps towards increasing the availability of trade and market-related information to them in an accessible manner.” Against this backdrop, the G20 members: “1. Recognize the continued challenges posed by information asymmetry to MSMEs and the need to utilize technological tools to bridge such informational gaps for MSMEs seeking business and trade-related information. 2. Support scaling up an existing portal that is already providing such business and trade-related information to MSMEs. 3. Agree that Global Trade Helpdesk implemented by ITC, UNCTAD, and WTO is suited for such an upgrade considering its inclusivity and veritable information provided to MSMEs. 4. Welcome the action plan in this regard by: (a) Calling upon participating members to provide to Global Trade Helpdesk appropriate aggregated trade-related information relevant for MSMEs available on a single portal and/or a non-exhaustive list of links to relevant government websites for MSMEs engaged in trade. (b) Providing access to data or information publicly available on such portals through appropriate technological frameworks pursuant to existing domestic rules and requirements. (c) Making such trade-related data/information available in multiple languages to the extent it is maintained as such by respective members, thereby ensuring ease of use by MSMEs. (d) Recommending ITC to work on a detailed implementation plan, in consultation with UNCTAD and WTO. (e) Recommending ITC to incorporate the principles of technological neutrality, data privacy, data security, and reliability while upgrading Global Trade Helpdesk. 5. Invite members of the WTO and UNCTAD, international organizations and other interested parties to contribute, on a voluntary basis, to support the effective implementation of Jaipur Call for Action. 6. Look forward to an annual progress report by ITC to its Joint Advisory Group on the efforts made in this regard beginning from 2024.” DIGITALIZATION OF TRADE DOCUMENTS In a similar vein, at the concluding press conference, the Indian commerce minister went on to read out the ten “High Level Principles on Digitalization of Trade Documents”. Apparently, the United States, the European Union, and other industrialized countries as well as China applauded when he read out the same principles in a closed-door meeting. That these principles further reinforce trade facilitation seems clear. The ten principles are: PRINCIPLE 1: NEUTRALITY – Digitalization initiatives for trade documents should remain unbiased towards any specific technology, software or system. The initiatives should ensure the immutability and interoperability of data for seamless communication and exchange across diverse systems. PRINCIPLE 2: SECURITY – To ensure the security of the data related to the electronic trade document(s), the utilized technologies, including their related digital infrastructure, should adopt robust encryption and other security protocols to protect the data and the infrastructure concerned against physical damage and information security threats or data theft. PRINCIPLE 3: TRUST – Technologies/frameworks based on transparent domestic rules and procedures should enable confidence, accountability and authentication for the generation and exchange/transfer of the electronic trade documents. PRINCIPLE 4: INTEROPERABILITY -The utilized technologies, including their related digital infrastructure, should aim to ensure interoperability and seamless exchange of electronic trade document(s) and related data between or among the transacting parties and other stakeholders. The desired interoperability should enable the use of a variety of existing technological systems, standards, document formats, frameworks, etc. PRINCIPLE 5: DATA PRIVACY – The utilized technologies should implement privacy enhancing technological features/solutions, and share the minimum data necessary for the generation/exchange of electronic trade document(s) and execution of business transactions between the transacting parties. Also, utilized technologies should comply with applicable data privacy rules/norms. PRINCIPLE 6: RELIABILITY – The utilized technologies, including their related digital infrastructure, should ensure the authenticity, immutability and validity of the electronic trade documents. PRINCIPLE 7: VOLUNTARY SHARING OF DATA – Sharing of electronic trade documents and related data should be voluntary with the informed consent of economic operators supplying the data and only limited to the minimum data exchange necessary for the generation and exchange of documents and execution of the business transaction between the transacting parties, in compliance with applicable domestic rules and regulations. PRINCIPLE 8: COLLABORATION – The utilized technologies should provide adequate flexibility to facilitate reliance on the same electronic trade document by governments and competent authorities concerned, financial institutions, transacting parties, technology providers and other stakeholders. PRINCIPLE 9: TRACEABILITY – The utilized technologies should provide a comprehensive audit trail of the transaction(s), in accordance with domestic regulations, of the electronic trade documents. PRINCIPLE 10: SCALABILITY – To accommodate growth, shifting trade conditions and new technological developments, utilized technologies for the exchange of electronic trade documents must be scalable, and should be able to handle extensive data volumes and transaction numbers. MAPPING GVCs Lastly, at a time when there is considerable disruption of the much-established global value chains in the face of the worsening US-China relations, it is not clear whether mapping the global value chains will serve any purpose, said a developing country participant, who asked not to be quoted. The G20 Generic Framework for Mapping GVCs states: “As countries take steps to mitigate risks to GVCs including regional value chains, policy actions can benefit from a well-defined, voluntary and non-binding generic mapping framework based on the following building blocks: * Data: GVC resilience framework should be based on collecting timely high quality sector level data and voluntarily provided firm level data. * Analysis: The complexity of GVCs necessitates the use of models and indicators which can provide key insights from such GVC data. * Representation: GVC resilience framework should use advanced technological tools that present underlying patterns from data analysis in a user-friendly manner.” According to the corresponding annex to the Outcome Document, “By incorporating these building blocks, the framework can help in the identification of the sectors and products critical to GVC resilience. Under such a generic framework, it is important to identify key dimensions to help evaluate the resilience of GVCs both at the sectoral and product levels.” According to the annex, the following non-exhaustive set of indicators can help with such evaluation including by domestic authorities: * Concentration of suppliers and markets: Heavy reliance on a small group of players or concentration in the buyers/seller market can significantly impact the resilience of a GVC. * Volatility of trade volume and value: GVCs that are subjected to a high degree of uncertainty in terms of supply and demand experience outsized volatility in terms of both volumes and value of trade. * Upstreaming of an industry or product: An industry or a product that is situated upstream of a GVC has the potential to disrupt the entire chain through spill-over effects. * Downstreaming of an industry or product: Industries or products that are dependent on multiple inputs through various stages are more susceptible to frequent disruptions. * Critical nature of industry and product: Resilience and robustness in certain industries and products can be considered critical given their end-use. * Product attributes: Products with long lead times in the production process or with limited shelf life can be critical from a replacement/timing perspective. * Connectivity: Logistics & communication infrastructure, customs efficiency and information technology networks are important elements for GVC resilience. +
|
||
