Problems to arise if transit fees fixed as per WTO rules
Says Debapriya Bhattyacharya
An eminent economist and expert of trade negotiation cautioned about potential hazards of fixing transit fees under the articles of World Trade Organization (WTO) as the approach would be counter-productive.
A committee of Tariff Commission last week submitted a report to the government recommending equal transit fees for all countries in line with WTO rules.
“The transit fees should not be considered under WTO rules as it would invite more problems than benefit,” eminent economist Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya told the news agency yesterday.
Referring to Article 5 of WTO regarding freedom of transit, Bhattacharya, who represented Bangladesh at WTO, said this article of the UN body is not related to this issue.
According to the article, transit means transporting products originated from one place, passing to other country and terminating at another country, he said.
He, however, said there is a “creative ambiguity” in this article, as it does not clearly say that there should be a third country. The ambiguity gives the flexibility to interpret the article, considering different aspects at different places.
“So there can be two definitions of the article -- inclusive and exclusive. The exclusive definition is country A to country B to country C and inclusive definition is country A to country B to country A again. If we go to WTO, they will most possibly consider inclusive definition.”
Citing the trade liberalisation process, Bhattacharya said if transit is provided to any country under WTO rules, all countries should be provided with similar facilities as WTO rules also refer to MFN (most favoured nations) status.
He said whether transit facility would be provided to all countries should be considered, otherwise provoking WTO would bring problems.
Bhattacharya, a senior distinguished fellow of the country's leading think-tank Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), also suggested for bilateral approach to the issue instead of making a multilateral document for transit fees.
“The document for fees (for transit) should be bilateral as it is based on the communique, between India and Bangladesh, signed at a meeting between Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Indian premier Manmohan Singh in New Delhi last year.”
He advised for comprehensive study before fixing transit fees for using Bangladesh roads and infrastructure by India. “It will not be wise to fix the fees on the basis of other's study instead of doing our own homework on it.”
He said all the issues like congestion charges, cost of lands and its impact on food production, environment and biodiversity should also be considered to fix the fees.
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