Trade facilitation agreement fails

CNC

Trade Facilitation Agreement is unable to get into WTO rule book by the deadline of Thursday midnight.

 

Negotiations at the WTO has failed to agree on the implementation of the Trade Facilitation Agreement as the deadline of July 31 passed.

   

The Trade Facilitation Agreement is the global reform of customs procedures, aiming to improve efficiency of trades across borders.

It was agreed at the organization’s 9th Ministerial Conference in Bali, Indonesia last December.

 

The collapse is mainly due to India’s objection and its unyielding stance on supporting farm protections.

   

WTO said in a statement that despite intensive consultations, they have not been able to find a solution that would allow us to bridge the gap on the adoption of the protocol on the agreement.

   

The first-ever multilateral pact sealed in late last year was regarded as breakthrough in multilateral trade negotiations, and would estimatedly boost the world economy by the equivalent of 1 trillion US dollars per year.

   

The failure to rubber-stamp this deal was believed as a great blow to the confidence to WTO as a platform for multilateral negotiations.