Brussels, 06/10/2015 (Agence Europe) - On the sidelines of the G20 trade ministers' meeting in Istanbul on Monday 5 October, which was also attended by European Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmström, Luxembourg's Foreign Minister and acting president of the Council Jean Asselborn gave WTO Director General Roberto Azevedo the EU accession instrument to the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA).
The European Parliament gave its approval to the ratification of the TFA on 9 September and the Council of Ministers of the EU had followed on 1 October.
Concluded at the WTO ministerial conference in Bali in December 2013, and forming part of the package of measures for developing countries that were negotiated as part of the Doha Round (otherwise known as the Bali package), the TFA contains a raft of rules for simplifying and reducing customs procedures and for increasing the participation of developing countries in global trade.
The TFA will enter into force when two thirds of the WTO member countries have completed their domestic ratification process. The agreement has thus far been ratified by Australia, Belize, Botswana, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Liechtenstein, Laos, Malaysia, Mauritius, Nicaragua, Niger, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan, Trinidad-and-Tobago and the USA.
On Monday, Azevedo said he hoped for as many ratifications as possible by the 10th WTO ministerial conference in Nairobi in December, in order to make the TFA's entry into force official.
The EU has called on its WTO partners that have not yet done so “to fulfil all the required procedural steps without delay, so that companies can experience the tangible benefits of the deal as soon as possible”. The EU has also stated that it intends to provide €400 million over five years to help developing countries bring the TFA into force, as part of its Aid for Trade engagement. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)