Second meeting of Latin American National Trade Facilitation Committees

By Bufete Mejía & Asociados

Organized by the WTO in partnership with the Latin American Integration Association (ALADI), the World Customs Organization (WCO) and United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the programme of the workshop was designed according to participants' priorities and was met with their enthusiastic participation. It drew participation from members of National Trade Facilitation Committees in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay.

Despite being held online due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the meeting drew participants' active participation. They continued the discussions initiated at the first meeting, which was held in November 2019 at ALADI's headquarters in Uruguay.

Participants benefitted from a programme which included presentations from experts from the WTO; ALADI; the WCO; UNCTAD; the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB); Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA); International Organization for Standardization (ISO); the International Road Transport Union (IRU); DHL; Global Express Association, the Postal Union of the Americas, Spain and Portugal (UPAEP), the Postal Service and the National Confederation of Industries of Brazil, Cargodec, and the Global Alliance for Trade Facilitation.

They also heard about the experiences of representatives from Honduras, Brazil, Chile, Guatemala, Paraguay, Peru, the United States and Uruguay. Participants likewise discussed the role of the WTO's Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) and national committees during the COVID-19 pandemic, best practices and new technologies for evaluating progress in TFA implementation, and best practices for national border agency cooperation.