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Ghana, Mozambique, and Saint Vincent & the Grenadines ratified the World Trade Organization (WTO) Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) early in 2017. With the ratification of these countries, only four more ratifications from members are needed to bring the TFA into force.
Ghana's instrument of acceptance was submitted to the WTO on January 4, Mozambique on January 6 and Saint Vincent & the Grenadines on January 9, 2017, making it the 106th WTO member to do so.
The TFA will enter into force once two-thirds of the WTO membership has formally accepted the agreement.
According to a 2015 study carried out by WTO economists, full implementation of the TFA would reduce members' trade costs by an average of 14.3 percent, with developing countries having the most to gain. The TFA also has the ability to reduce the time to import goods by over a day and a half while also reducing time to export by almost two days, representing a reduction of 47 percent and 91 percent respectively over the current average. The TFA also has the potential to increase global merchandise exports by up to $1 trillion.
