Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation

Trade Policy

Trade Policy Coordinating Committee

Following the call during the April 2004 Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) for the creation of a Trade Policy Coordinating Committee (TPCC), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has provided support for its establishment. The first meeting of the committee was convened on 12 September 2004 to draft agenda of work for the TPCC to be presented to the SOM for approval.

At the second TPCC meeting on 25 April 2005, participants discussed the draft papers on barriers to trade in Central Asia (prepared by ADB), regional trade agreements and WTO accession (prepared by IMF) and potential comparative advantage in trade for Central Asia.

The SOM agreed with the report on the work of the TPCC, and endorsed the objectives and proposed work program for the TPCC.

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Priority Work Program and Areas for Future Work of the Committee

Participants agreed to prepare the following studies which are expected to be finalized in September 2005:

• Study of comparative advantages in trade in the Central Asia region and in global markets, and the potential role for trade policies related to infant industries.
• Review of regional trade agreements, including
• analysis of the relationships and potential conflicts between existing and/or planned regional agreements signed by Central Asian countries
• analysis of the relationships and conflicts between regional agreements signed by Central Asian countries and actual or potential WTO obligations
• review of other regional trade agreements, and their lessons for Central Asia.
• Regional analysis of existing barriers to trade in Central Asia and an evaluation of the potential benefits of adopting measures to facilitate trade.

Areas for future work of the Committee include:

• Regional analysis of the impact of WTO accession, including both benefits and losses, as well as sectoral analysis
• Agricultural policy and WTO accession
• Regional program of information and education about WTO accession, focused on the general public and civil servants
• Regional measures to address the special trade-related problems of land locked countries.

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TPCC Outreach Seminar

Ministers who attended the CAREC 4th Ministerial Conference in Bishkek in November 2005 requested the IMF and ADB to arrange seminars in CAREC countries to summarize the work done for the TPCC and the implications of this work for the various countries in CAREC. The summary paper [ PDF: 200kb | 21 pages ] and presentations on TPCC [ PDF: 141kb | 26 pages ] and CAREC [ PDF: 8,951kb | 15 pages ] were prepared for the first such outreach seminars in Astana, Kazakhstan and Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic, in February 2006.

References

Studies

• Central Asia: Increasing Gains from Trade Through Regional Cooperation in Trade Policy, Transport, and Customs Transit
• EBRD's study on Beyond Borders: Reconsidering Regional Trade in Central Asia* [ PDF ]

Papers

• Trade Taxes in CAREC Countries [ PDF: 175kb | 17 pages ]
• CAREC Trade Policy Coordinating Committee Outreach Seminar: Synthesis Paper [ PDF: 200kb | 21 pages ]
• Quantitative Restrictions on Trade [ PDF: 94kb | 13 pages ]

Presentations

• Regional Economic Outlook: Economic Developments, Prospects, and Policy Issues In Central Asia prepared by IMF [ PDF: 446kb | 31 pages ]
• Support to Regional Economic Cooperation in Central Asia prepared by GTZ [ PDF: 793kb | 8 pages ]
• CAREC Trade Policy Coordinating Committee Outreach Seminar: IMF Presentation [ PDF: 141kb | 26 pages ]
• CAREC Trade Policy Coordinating Committee Outreach Seminar: CAREC Presentation [ PDF: 8,951kb | 15 pages ]