NEW APPLICATIONS OF THE WTO SIMPLIFICATION AGREEMENT

At the meeting of the Commission on Trade Facilitation on 20 July, the WTO Member States took note of the trade facilitation commitments which should be implemented by the end of the year, as well as continuing to work on first revision of the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA).

The update presented by the WTO Secretariat during the meeting of the last July 20, 36 member states of the organization have committed to comply with the implementation dates of 136 TFA commitments, such as the publication of trade procedures or the acceleration of the release of perishable goods, ranging from 1st July to 31 December 2021; also considering the year 2022, the number of commitments rises to 389, submitted by 74 member states. The declared deadlines are based on the individual determinations of its timetable for implementation by each Member State, previously communicated to the Committee. Members of developing and least developed countries may independently designate which provisions they implement immediately (category A), at the end of a transition period (category B) or after receiving assistance and support for capacity building

(category C); the developed countries, on the other hand, were required to implement all the provisions of the TFA from the date of its entry intoforce, which took place on 22 February 2017. The TFA provides that the Trade Facilitation Committee shall carry out a review of the operation and implementation of the Agreement four years after its entry into force and then periodically