WTO members adopt roadmap to review implementation of the Trade Facilitation Agreement

The WTO Committee on Trade Facilitation on 3 March adopted a roadmap for the first ever review of progress made in implementing the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA). Under the Agreement, members committed to review the operation and implementation of the TFA four years from its entry into force, which was on 22 February 2017, and periodically thereafter.

The Chair of the Committee, Mr Christopher O’Toole (Canada), following consultations with members, noted the Committee’s collective desire to conduct a well grounded review oriented towards identifying positive outcomes as well as aspects for improvement in the implementation of the TFA.

Members agreed to a roadmap which aims to conclude the review by the end of the year, with the objective of having it completed ahead of the 12th Ministerial Conference which will happen in late 2021. Under the roadmap, members will submit proposals for consideration in the review, which will then be discussed at the margins of the Committee’s formal meetings throughout the year. The timetable also includes discussions of a draft factual report that will be prepared by the WTO Secretariat. In the context of the review, the Committee discussed a proposal from the United States to update the agenda of future Committee meetings to reflect TFA timelines, including notification deadlines that have already passed.

The current rate of implementation of TFA commitments stood at 69.7 per cent for the entire WTO membership as of 3 March according to the update the Secretariat provided to the Committee at the meeting. Broken down by level of development, this equates to a 100 per cent rate of implementation by developed members, 70.3% per cent among developing members and 35.9 per cent among least developed countries (LDCs). The implementation rate for each WTO member can be viewed here.

The Secretariat also reported on the outstanding notifications members are required to submit under the TFA. A matrix tracking members’ progress on notifications can be viewed here. A number of members sought more information on the reason behind delayed notifications, which the Chair noted could be a pertinent issue to discuss in the TFA review.