Post 2015: Global Action for an Inclusive and Sustainable Future

impede exports to Eu, which are increasingly
non-tariff in nature. there is also huge scope
for improving the field of services trade, which
remains subject to many barriers, including
labour mobility (under Wto mode Iv).
With the rapid rise of emerging economies, the
G20 will become a more important forum on global
trade and investment policies and their impact on
lIcs and lDcs. this suggests the need to mobilise
the G20 to promote the integration of lIcs and
lDcs within emerging production networks
in a demonstrable and measurable manner. For
instance, recent efforts by the emerging economies
to grant preferences to lIcs and lDcs (laird, 2012)
are welcome, but need to be monitored – both what
is provided and the ultimate impact.
(b) Providing trade facilitation
the emergence of Gvcs as a dominant feature of
world trade means that there are new opportunities
for firms that cross national borders and that also
reduce the costs of importing and exporting in global
markets (newfarmer, 2012). In this sense there is a
role for trade policy, for instance in relation to the
reduction of tariffs between countries integrated
within production networks, but also in relation to
the harmonisation of non-tariff measures to facilitate
producers’ integration into regional and global
production networks. this is essentially because
although Gvcs may offer late industrialisers new
opportunities for fast growth, this type of trade
also raises the penalties for maintaining inefficient
border procedures; since this inefficiency may
also reduce the relative competitiveness of trading
partners within Gvc countries, and the firms within
them, they will share a common interest in reducing
policy-induced delays and border inefficiencies.
For its part, the Eu can do more to help lIc
producers make competitive exports that meet
Eu sanitary and phytosanitary and technical
122 this includes zero defects, low cost, and on-time delivery (ohno, 2009).
trade requirements. In this sense, the proposals
in the European commission’s 2012 trade and
Development communication are to be welcomed.
but they need to be put into practice. the ability to
produce according to specifications of quality, cost
and delivery is a key criterion for multinational
manufacturing firms in selecting business partners
and subcontractors. 122 Good logistics enable
manufacturers to ensure the quick delivery of inputs
and finished products, reduce transport costs and
shorten production lead-times, all of which help to
make firms more competitive. these are the essential
conditions for attracting investors, especially those
firms that produce high-value products in response
to changing customer demands. the ability to
perform these tasks to the standard required
determines whether the supplier can become part of
the Gvc (Kimura and obashi, 2010).
(c) Ensuring policy dialogue
mechanisms to ensure dialogue between businesses
and governments take time to establish and embed
within policy-making processes. a post-2015
framework should therefore consider how the
private sector engages with government, and how
the latter can support the private sector to achieve
specific development objectives. In view of recent
shifts in trade and investment patterns, the latest
phase of globalisation requires a reconsideration
of the role of industrial policy. It also arguably
requires a new form of dialogue between trading
partners and countries.
For example, in relation to the provision of trade
facilitation, the Eu may assist lIcs to engage in
Gvcs for which the Eu is a market; this could
include assistance to producers in such countries,
thereby helping to overcome technical and other
obstacles to trade at the border. Such investments
would also exert an indirect influence on the
ability of lIcs to engage with emerging production
networks in other regions. as discussed in Section
poSt-2015: Global actIon For an IncluSIvE anD SuStaInablE FuturE
The proposals
in the European
Commission’s
2012 Trade and
Development
Communication
are to be
welcomed. But
they need to be
put into practice.
163