WTO Celebrates 5th Birthday of TFA
WTO Members marked the 5th anniversary of the entry into force
of the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA), with a commemorative workshop on 29 June.
In her welcoming remarks to the event, Deputy Director-General
Anabel González highlighted that the TFA had "added an entirely novel dimension
to multilateral trade cooperation: the need to work together to alleviate frictions
caused by trade procedures and processes." With the entry into force of the
TFA, trade facilitation had joined trade opening as an essential element of national,
regional and global trade policy reform.
DDG González also recalled the TFA's tailored approach to
special and differential treatment, by allowing members to implement the agreement
at their pace.
During a discussion on assessing the impact of the first five
years of the TFA, the WTO, the OECD, the World Bank, and the European Federation
of Pharmaceutical Industries highlighted multifaceted economic benefits of implementing
the agreement over the last five years.
In other discussions, the beneficial impact of the TFA on
the areas of digitalization, resilience, inclusiveness, and coordination were noted–
along with warnings on the need for sustained robust technical assistance and capacity-building
support to ensure that developing and least developed country would experience the
same benefits.
The critical role of National Trade Facilitation Committees
in TFA implementation was underlined by speakers as providing the dynamism, momentum,
and progress that facilitated WTO members' implementation of the Agreement.
The final discussion of the day looked at implementation challenges,
particularly for least developed countries, and opportunities associated with implementation
of the TFA. For example, several commentators noted that countries that had implemented
TF reforms were better able to adapt to changes in trade volumes and regulatory
controls during the pandemic, thereby strengthening members' ability to respond
to the next crisis.
In drawing the event to a close, Ambassador Adamu Mohammed Abdulhamid of Nigeria,
the recently-appointed chair of the WTO's Committee on Trade Facilitation, welcomed
members' commitment to the implementation of the Agreement and to trade facilitation
reform.
Subsequent to the anniversary event, a regular meeting of
the Committee on Trade Facilitation took place on 30 June. During the meeting, members
reviewed a number of implementation and transparency notifications received since
the last committee meeting in April 2022. One member notified the accelerated implementation
dates for a number of the TFA provisions, while another member received an extension
to the implementation date for a number of provisions.
The committee encouraged least developed countries to submit
the definitive dates for implementation of category C provisions by the 22 August
2022 deadline. Under the flexibilities of the Agreement, the Committee agreed to
the request from one member to extend this deadline.
Category C notifications contain TFA provisions that a developing
or least developed country designates for implementation on a date after a transition
period and which require assistance or support for implementation capacity building.
Two members informed the committee of the implementation of
some of their provisions under an agenda item on voluntary updates by members of
definitive dates of implementation.
In its regular update to the committee, the Secretariat indicated
that at present, notifications submitted by WTO members show that they have committed
to implement 75.5% of TFA obligations. Among the developing members and least-developed
country (LDC) members, the figure stands at 68%.
Other items
Members heard a presentation from China on "Smart Customs,
Smart Borders, Smart Connectivity". They also heard
presentations from Kyrgyz Republic on "Implementation of the Trade Facilitation
Agreement and Further Steps on Introduction of Electronic Document Processing in
foreign trade” and from Angola on the "Status of the Implementation of the
Trade Facilitation Agreement in Angola".
In accordance with the TFA Review, the committee adopted a
regularized agenda for the annual dedicated session on technical assistance and
capacity building support.
Members noted the ongoing preparatory work on a document containing
good practices and building blocks of successful National Committees on Trade Facilitation.
Members also noted a communication from Botswana, Coordinator
of the Landlocked developing country Group (LLDCs), requesting that a study of trade
corridors operating between LLDCs and transit countries be carried out by the WTO
with outside partnership where necessary, with the results to be reported to the
committee at its Dedicated Session on Transit in Spring of 2023. The committee will
revert to the request at its October meeting.
Next meeting
The next committee meeting will be held on 4-6 October 2022
including the Dedicated Session on Technical Assistance and Capacity Building Support
which will take place on 6 October 2022.
Background
At the 2013 Bali Ministerial Conference, WTO members reached
a deal on the historic Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA), which then entered into
force on February 22, 2017 after having been ratified by two-thirds of the WTO's
members. Provisions in the TFA help speed up the movement, release, and clearance
of products, including those that are in transit. Additionally, it outlines steps
for efficient coordination on matters relating to trade facilitation and customs
compliance between customs and other pertinent entities. It also includes provisions
for capacity building and technical support.