WTO members set to accept new trade facilitation agreement

Members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) are set to formally accept the new Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA), with many affirming their hope of seeing the agreement enter into force by the WTO’s 10th Ministerial Conference in Nairobi next December.

At a recent meeting of the WTO’s Preparatory Committee on Trade Facilitation (PCTF), representatives from more than a dozen delegations said the domestic ratification process for the TFA was already underway, with some delegations outlining target dates for securing approval.

Ambassador Esteban Conejos of the Philippines, chairperson of the PCTF, told members he understood a considerable number of additional WTO members have started the ratification process. The challenge, he said, is that the process is domestic in nature and differs from country to country.

However, a number of developing country members highlighted the domestic legislative hurdles that will need to be overcome to secure acceptance.  Several indicated they were not in a position to ensure ratification by the Nairobi meeting, which will take place on  December 15-18, 2015.

To date, four WTO members — Hong Kong (China), Singapore, the United States and Mauritius — have secured domestic acceptance of the TFA, which was concluded at the WTO’s 2013 Bali Ministerial Conference. Two-thirds of the WTO’s 160 members will need to ratify the TFA in order for the agreement to enter into force. There is no deadline for securing the two-thirds threshold.

Those reporting that domestic acceptance procedures are now underway were Chile, China, Colombia, El Salvador, the European Union, Georgia, Korea, Mexico, Morocco, Nicaragua, Norway, Saudi Arabia and Chinese Taipei.  Japan, New Zealand and Switzerland also gave more detailed explanations of their domestic acceptance processes now underway.

Several African delegations highlighted the challenges they face in securing acceptance, including the need to make changes in domestic legislation. Colombia also highlighted the long legislative process required domestically to ensure acceptance, which it believed other Latin American countries shared.

Source: mb.com.ph