Package of Declarations and Recommendations Adopted to Help Small Businesses Trade Globally

Reference: World Trade Organization 

On December 11, a package of six recommendations and declarations was officially adopted by the Informal Working Group on Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs), with the purposes of addressing the challenges that smaller businesses face when they enter global trade market. The package is going to be presented to all WTO members at a meeting of Heads of Delegation today on 14 December.

The Uruguay Ambassador José Luís Cancela, who is the Coordinator of the Group, mentioned that "MSMEs often struggle to participate in international trade and have been hit very hard by the current pandemic. He added that by endorsing this package, the Group signals that it stands ready to help them."

Amb. Cancela said: "Congratulations! I am happy to see that our hard work over the last three years has paid off. Today is an important day both for the WTO and for MSMEs. For the WTO, as it is the first outcome of a joint statement initiative. This package is proof that we can deliver."

Deputy Director-General Yi Xiaozhun stressed that "the package is important for the WTO as it shows that members are willing to compromise and work together to accomplish their goals," addressing the group and congratulating members on their dedication and active engagement and for delivering such a timely package. He added: "We can't stop here though. The WTO is a multilateral organization and MSMEs are a global issue. My hope is that this group continues to grow and becomes multilateral in the not too distant future."

During the meeting, Ukraine and Mauritius also announced their official support of the package. Moreover, Ukraine informed members of its decision to join the Group, bringing the total number of participants to 91 WTO members.

The aim of the Group is to identify and address the obstacles to MSMEs' participation in international trade; it was launched at the WTO's Eleventh Ministerial Conference in Buenos Aires in December 2017. The Group is open to the whole WTO membership and aims to become multilateral.

A set of voluntary and non-binding recommendations is included in the package, which is covering areas such as transparency and information sharing on MSMEs, trade facilitation, access to finance and cross-border payments, access to market information and inclusion of MSMEs in regulatory developments. It follows on from the Group's declaration at Buenos Aires in 2017, in which they committed to address obstacles that represent a crucial burden for MSMEs interested in participating in international trade. 

The list of six recommendations and declarations that compose the package are as following:

1. MSME-related information in WTO Trade Policy Reviews - The recommendation calls on WTO members to provide, on a voluntary basis, information on policies related to MSMEs during their WTO Trade Policy Reviews to enhance transparency and to be a source of good practices (e.g., number of MSMEs in the economy and their share in international trade or programmes that support MSMEs to trade).

2. Access to information - Members are encouraged to support the Global Trade Helpdesk, a tool led by the International Trade Centre, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development and the WTO to help MSMEs access market intelligence, including on tariffs and regulations.

3. Trade facilitation for MSMEs - Burdensome customs procedures are especially hard on MSMEs. The Group is calling on WTO members to fully implement the WTO's Trade Facilitation Agreement, exchange experiences to identify and promote good practices that can help MSMEs, and consider adopting digital customs procedures to ease these difficulties.

4. Promoting MSME inclusion in regulatory development - New trade regulations can have unintended consequences for businesses, especially for MSMEs. Members are encouraged to analyse potential impacts for smaller businesses and consult with MSMEs before implementing new trade regulations.

5. Supporting implementation of the 2019 Decision on the WTO Integrated Database – The Integrated Database (IDB) is the WTO's official source of tariff and trade-related information. By keeping the IDB up to date, WTO members can help MSMEs access reliable and comprehensive information on tariffs and other market access data. This recommendation supports the voluntary submission of additional information and automatic electronic transmission of members' tariff or import data to the IDB as per the May 2019 IDB Decision.

6. Access to finance and cross-border payments - Access to finance and cross-border payments are major challenges for the engagement of MSMEs in trade. The Group calls on members to share best practices with a view to identifying concrete measures.