Red tape at port costlier than shipping between ports
A Doha Round package on market access in all goods, and on agricultural subsidies, could add USD 121 billion to USD 202 billion to the world economy. A “trade facilitation” deal could cut trade costs by more than the “impact of geographical distance” between countries. Those were just two points made in a WTO workshop on the latest analyses of the negotiations on 2nd November 2010.
For “trade facilitation” (negotiations to cut red tape and streamline customs procedures), a 1% improvement in indicators representing transparency and predictability could increase trade in manufactured products by 0.7%, the workshop was told. A one per cent improvement on formalities, such as those brought by single windows, pre-arrival processing and post-clearance audits, could generate a comparable increase in trade flows for agricultural products.