Trade Facilitation Agreement Effective in the “Epidemic”

On February 22, the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) ushered in the 5th anniversary of its official entry into force. WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said that over the past five years, WTO members have made steady progress in implementing the landmark Trade Facilitation Agreement, which will help Strengthening the resilience of global supply chains, global trade flows are ready for a post-COVID-19 economic recovery.

Trade facilitation, that is, promoting imports and exports through simplification of procedures and formalities, harmonization of applicable laws and regulations, standardization and improvement of infrastructure, etc., is an important issue in the world trade system.

WTO members concluded negotiations on the Trade Facilitation Agreement at the 2013 Bali Ministerial Conference, which entered into force on February 22, 2017, after being ratified by two-thirds of WTO members. The Trade Facilitation Agreement contains provisions to expedite the movement, release and clearance of goods, including goods in transit, as well as measures for effective cooperation between customs and other relevant authorities on issues of trade facilitation and customs compliance.

The Trade Facilitation Agreement specifically establishes provisions to help developing countries and LDCs obtain technical assistance and capacity building. According to the “Trade Facilitation Agreement”, from the date of entry into force of the agreement, developed country members must implement all the provisions of the agreement, while developing country and least developed country members can determine the implementation timetable according to their actual conditions, and seek to Relevant assistance and support to gain implementation capacity. This is the first WTO agreement to include such a clause.

The remarkable results of the five years since the implementation of the Trade Facilitation Agreement have once again demonstrated that reducing trade barriers and advocating multilateralism are beneficial to the development and recovery of the world economy. Iweala said that there is still a lot of work to be done to promote trade facilitation, and the full implementation of the Trade Facilitation Agreement will help many developing economies and small and medium-sized enterprises that are deeply affected by the epidemic to better withstand future shocks. necessary.