In the past two days, two more countries – Peru and Saudi Arabia – ratified the World Trade Organization’s Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA). Their ratification followed Mexico and Hondurus, who ratified the TFA earlier this month.
The submission of instruments of acceptance from Peru and Saudi Arabia means that more than 80 percent of the ratifications needed for the TFA to take effect have been obtained. The TFA will enter into force once two-thirds of the WTO membership formally accepts it. Now that Peru and Saudi Arabia have accepted the TFA, there are a total of 89 ratifications.
The TFA requires its members to establish and maintain a national committee on trade facilitation to facilitate implementation of the TFA. Earlier this year, on June 8th, the WTO hosted an experience-sharing event to help members of the WTO identify best practices and the challenges faced by WTO members in establishing or maintaining national trade facilitation committees.
The TFA contains provisions for improving the movement, release and clearance of goods and increasing global merchandise exports. According to the WTO, the TFA could add USD 1 trillion per year to global trade. For a brief summary of the TFA, see our earlier post here. The World Trade Report 2015 is available here.