Govt clears Trade Facilitation Agreement of WTO

In its effort to project India as a business friendly destination, the Cabinet meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the WTO's Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) which aims at easing customs procedures to boost commerce.

The cabinet approved the proposal for Notification of Commitments under the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) of WTO, ratification and acceptance of the Instrument of Acceptance of Protocol of TFA to the WTO Secretariat. The TFA contains provisions for expediting the movement, release and clearance of goods, including goods in transit. It also sets out measures for effective cooperation between customs and other appropriate authorities on trade facilitation and customs compliance issues.

A national committee on TFA will be set up for coordinating and implementing the provisions of trade facilitation. The committee will be co-chaired by both Revenue Secretary and Commerce Secretary.

The pact was agreed upon in at a multilateral meeting in Bali in 2013. It will take effect once two-thirds of the WTO members complete their domestic ratification process. So far 69 WTO members have ratified this pact. Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman later said that “We have sought five extra years (from the date of implementation of TFA) to implement measures such as releasing of goods before payment of duty against surety and single window clearance.” the Minister added that India will seek more time for implementing 152 trade facilitation measures requiring legislative changes out of the 265 measures it would notify to the WTO, it has decided not to seek financial assistance for implementing any measure.