3. Technical Definition / The indicator is included at Level 3 of the EU Results Framework (Organisational performance) and aims to report the financial value of EU funded development cooperation directed towards Trade Facilitation on an annual basis in terms of commitments and payments.
The EU definition of "Trade Facilitation" follows OECD DAC code 33120: 'Simplification and harmonisation of international import and export procedures (e.g. customs valuation, licensing procedures, transport formalities, payments, insurance); support to customs departments; tariff reforms'.
4. Rationale / To support the endorsement of the Trade Facilitation Agreement at the 9th WTO Ministerial Conference held in Bali, Indonesia, from 3 to 7 December 2013, the European Commissioners for Trade and for Development Cooperation committed to aiming at least at the same level of funding for Trade Facilitation from 2014 onwards as provided during 2007-2011.
The official EU statement ( ) reads as follows:
"The EU will aim to maintain at least its current level of support to trade facilitation over a five-year period; starting from the signature of the Trade Facilitation Agreement, namely €400 million over five years, or over a third of developing countries’ estimated needs, primarily through regular EU aid channels."
5. Data calculation / Yearly ODA commitments and disbursements will be reported in EUR based on data extracted from CRIS as follows:
Commitments:
Step 1- For a given year, Decisions will be selected on the basis of the following criteria:
- Purpose DAC code: 33120
- Benefitting zone: any country or region having Trade as a sector of concentration or implementing Trade Facilitation activities to be reported;
- Instrument: all managed by DEVCO[1];.
- Commitment date(VISA ORDO) between 1st of January and 31st of December of the year to be reported;
- EU commitments corresponding to the "EU contribution" in the OECD CRS for the Decisions identified above will be extracted;
Payments:
Step 1- For a given year, Decisions will be selected on the basis of the following criteria:
- Purpose DAC code: 33120
- Benefitting zone: any country or region having Trade as a sector of concentration or implementing Trade Facilitation activities to be reported;
- Instrument: all managed by DEVCO;
- Payment date (VISA ORDO) between 1st of January and 31st of December of the year to be reported;
Step 3 – The financial value of payments for the year to be reported will be calculated by aggregating the above data across countries. This corresponds to the financial value of EU funded development cooperation disbursed towards Trade Facilitation.
6. Level of disaggregation / The financial value of commitments and payments will be disaggregated by region and by country.
7. Is it used by another organization or in the framework of international initiatives, conventions, etc? If so, which? / This type of indicator is routinely measured by other donors and tracked by OECD through the Creditors Reporting System (CRS).
It is likely to be adjusted and harmonised by the donor community, in light of the upcoming entering into force of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement.
8.Other issues / In December 2013, WTO members concluded negotiations on a Trade Facilitation Agreement at the Bali Ministerial Conference, as part of a wider “Bali Package”. Since then, WTO members have undertaken a legal review of the text. In line with the decision adopted in Bali, WTO members adopted on 27 November 2014 a Protocol of Amendment to insert the new Agreement into Annex 1A of the WTO Agreement. The Trade Facilitation Agreement will enter into force once two-thirds of members have completed their domestic ratification process.
The Trade Facilitation Agreement requires Members to submit information on their assistance and support for capacity building. Reporting should cover information on assistance that has been disbursed in the preceding twelve months and is committed for the next twelve months.There seems to be consensus on the use of the OECD DAC Creditors Reporting System to report on aid linked to the Trade Facilitation Agreement, but discussions are ongoing at WTO and OECD level to improve its relevance. Such ongoing process is likely to require future adjustments to the present indicator's calculation methodology.
[1] DCI, EDF, EIDHR, Nuclear Safety, IcSP, Greenland and ENI (until 2014 – to be revised afterwards)