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{
    "id": 614316,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/614316/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 161,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Langat",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 384,
        "legal_name": "Benjamin Kipkirui Langat",
        "slug": "benjamin-langat"
    },
    "content": "pleasant privilege and honour to present to this House the Report of the Committee on its consideration of the Ratification of the World Trade Organisation Agreement on Trade Facilitation. The Trade Facilitation Agreement was committed to the Departmental Committee on Finance, Planning and Trade on 19th November 2015, for consideration by the relevant committee. The Committee is mandated under Standing Order No.216 and the Second Schedule of our Standing Orders, to consider all issues touching on both international and internal trade. While considering the agreement, the Committee was guided by the Treaty Making and Ratification Act, 2012. That is the Act that guided us in that ratifications process. On 2nd December 2015, the Committee met with the Cabinet Secretaries (CSs) for Foreign Affairs and the East African Community and Commerce to appraise the Members on the contents and provisions of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement. From the discussions with the CSs and analysis of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement, the Committee noted that this Agreement was concluded under the Doha round of trade negotiations. It was adopted at the 9th WTO Ministerial Conference held in Bali, Indonesia, in December 2013. In short, this Agreement contains provisions for expediting the movement, release and clearance of goods, including goods in transit. It also sets out the measures for effective co-operation between customs and other appropriate authorities on trade facilitation and custom compliance issues. Kenya, as a member of the WTO, since its creation in 1994, has signed all the WTO trade agreements. As you all know, the WTO is the only global body that deals with rules of trade among the nations in the world. This will ensure there is order in trading and levying of various tariffs among the various countries. I would like to go to the background and the reason why this agreement was necessary before I go to the details of the Agreement. For a very long time, many traders across many countries have complained about the red tape or inefficiencies in the way goods move from one country to the other. For example, between Kenya and Uganda, it could take several hours or days before movement of goods could be facilitated. It is not only in Kenya, but it is a global problem. The WTO has a membership of 163 countries. In all those countries, there are challenges of movement of goods across the borders of different countries. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development conducted a research and it was estimated that the average customs transaction involve 20 to 30 different parties. One is told to see 40 different people for one transaction. Secondly, it was also found out that one transaction involves 40 documents. Before your goods are cleared, you need to fill a minimum of 40 documents. The other finding was that it also required filling 200 data elements; some of which are repeated, at least, 30 times. In 30 different forms, you would be required to repeat the same information such as the name of your company and your Personal Identification Number (PIN). This involved keying in and re-keying in 60 to 70 per cent of the same data. All this is very costly and time-consuming. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}