The Trade Taskforce of the Business 20, led by Alexey Mordashov, urges the G20 leaders to sign the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement

The Trade Taskforce of the Business 20 (“B20”), with Alexey Mordashov, CEO of Severstal,as a Co-chairman, calls for the G20 leaders to complete the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement negotiations in 2013 to help jump start the global economy.

“G20 countries should intensify their efforts to bring the Trade Facilitation Agreement to a conclusion by the Bali WTO Ministers meeting in December. This Agreement would facilitate international trade and global GDP growth. This is a win-win-win proposition because these improvements benefit all countries: rich, developing and least developed, with trade facilitation improvements to particularly benefit small and medium businesses”, said Alexey Mordashov during the working meeting of the B20 Trade Taskforce. He added that “What we need now is leadership by all parties to push this through at a time when growth is desperately needed. We urge to complete the draft of the agreement in advance of the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Saint Petersburg on 5−6th September”.

The B20 Trade Taskforce is putting a heavy emphasis on Trade Facilitation as one of its key recommendations for generating economic growth. The Trade Facilitation Agreement would simplify and streamline customs and other adminstrative procedures at the border that add time and cost to international trade. A World Economic Forum study published in January demonstrates that trade facilitation measures have the potential to increase GDP by a factor six times greater than would result from eliminating tariffs, and that.

Business 20 (“B20”) is an informal network of business associations, collaborating in order to maintain a continuous dialogue between the business community, G20 governments, and relevant international institutions. At a respective national level, the B20 members are the recognized leaders, the most important ones able to maintain a permanent dialogue with the relevant authorities and to mobilize the private sector forces to contribute to the success of G20 efforts.