Business, Freight News

First meeting for faster trade group

[ May 16, 2017   //   Chris ]

The World Trade Organisation held the inaugural meeting of its Committee on Trade Facilitation, the body responsible for overseeing implementation of the WTO’s Trade Facilitation Agreement TFA), on 16 May. TFA, which came into force on 22 February, aims to speed up movement, release and clearance of goods across borders, and reduce costs of international transactions, especially for developing countries. It also aims to cut the time needed to import goods by over a day and a half and to export goods by almost two days.

The meeting elected Ambassador Daniel Blockert from Sweden as chair of the committee. He said there were a few procedural matters to settle before the new committee could undertake its assigned tasks, and that he would be consulting with members before reconvening the committee with the goal of adopting an agreed framework.

The committee will develop procedures for the sharing of relevant information and best practices among members.

Tags: WTO