News
Three years since the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) entered into force on February 22, 2017, World Trade Organization (WTO) members have continued to make steady progress in its implementation.
The TFA, the first multilateral deal concluded in the 25-year history of the WTO, contains members' commitments to expedite the movement, release and clearance of goods across borders. As of the TFA's third anniversary, 91% of the membership have already ratified the agreement. It entered into force three years ago when the WTO obtained the two-thirds acceptance of the agreement from its 164 members.
As of February 22, 2020, over 90 percent of developing countries and LDCs have notified which provisions they are able to implement after a transition period, and the ones for which they will need capacity-building support to achieve full implementation of the agreement. Developed countries committed to immediately implement the agreement when it entered into force.
The agreement has the potential, upon full implementation, to slash members' trade costs by an average of 14.3 percent, with developing countries and LDCs having the most to gain, according to a 2015 study carried out by WTO economists. It is also expected to reduce the time needed to import and export goods by 47 percent and 91 percent respectively over the current average.
