WTO’s TFA gets boost with Russia, India on board

India and Russia have become the 76th and 77th countries, respectively, to ratify the World Trade Organization’s Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA).    India and Russia have become the 76th and 77th countries, respectively, to ratify the World Trade Organization’s Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA). 
   In November 2014, the 160-member trade body approved the full implementation of the Trade Facilitation Agreement, the first multilateral trade agreement in the WTO’s 20-year history. 
   The agreement contains provisions for expediting the movement, release and clearance of goods, including those in transit. It also supports significant reductions in costs and administrative burdens related to moving goods across borders.
   The TFA will enter into force once two-thirds of the WTO membership has formally accepted the agreement.
   In addition to Russia and India, which notified the WTO of their TFA ratifications last week, other countries to ratify the agreement include Hong Kong China, Singapore, the United States, Mauritius, Malaysia, Japan, Australia, Botswana, Trinidad and Tobago, South Korea, Nicaragua, Niger, Belize, Switzerland, Taiwan, China, Liechtenstein, Laos, New Zealand, Togo, Thailand, the European Union (on behalf of its 28 member states), Macedonia, Pakistan, Panama, Guyana, Ivory Coast, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Kenya, Myanmar, Norway, Vietnam, Brunei, Ukraine, Zambia, Lesotho, Georgia, Seychelles, Jamaica, Mali, Cambodia, Paraguay, Turkey, Brazil, Macao China, the United Arab Emirates, and Samoa.
   Implementation of TFA has the potential to increase global merchandise exports by up to $1 trillion per year over the next decade, according to the WTO’s 2015 World Trade Report. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has said full implementation of the agreement could reduce costs for developing countries by about 15 percent.