The World Trade Organization, the successor of GATT, has
finally achieved a major milestone since its formation 22 years ago. The Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA), the first multilateral deal, entered into force on February
22, 2017 after two-thirds of its members ratified it. The TFA negotiations were
concluded at the WTO Bali Ministerial Conference in December of 2013 and the
WTO has been accepting notifications of ratification from its members since
November of 2014. The primary goals of TFA are to expedite the movement,
release and clearance of goods across borders, and implement trade facilitation
reforms across all countries through harmonization of customs procedures and
elimination of red tape. These factors were found to be the most important
component of trade costs, especially in developing countries. Developing countries
were also given more time to implement the TFA depending on their capacities. A
TFA Facility was established to provide assistance to developing countries in assessing
their needs for implementing TFA in the form of training and grants.
In addition to ratifying the agreement, the countries need
to submit a list of provisions they designate as Category A, B or C commitments,
with Category A commitments being immediately applied upon TFA’s entry into
force. For the other provisions of the Agreement, developing countries need to indicate
when these will be implemented and what capacity building support is needed to
help them implement.
Given the direct benefits from TFA to developing countries,
it comes as a surprise why Armenia, a
WTO member since 2002, has not yet ratified the agreement. There are some
indications that the discussions of the TFA ratification in the Armenian parliament had begun in February of 2017, more than three years after the
negotiations have been concluded.
Armenia’s major trading partners, the European Union and
Russia, have already ratified the TFA, so did five other former Soviet
republics (Georgia, Moldova, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, and Ukraine). The
table below shows the various provisions the latter group of countries
designated as “Category A” commitments:
|
Provision
|
Heading/Description
|
Georgia
|
Kyrgyz Republic
|
Kazakhstan
|
Moldova
|
Ukraine
|
|
Article
1.1
|
Publication
|
A
|
A
|
A
|
||
|
Article
1.2
|
Information
Available through Internet
|
A
|
A
|
|||
|
Article
1.3
|
Enquiry
points
|
A
|
||||
|
Article
1.4
|
Notification
|
A
|
A
|
|||
|
Article
2.1
|
Opportunity
to Comment and Information Before Entry into Force
|
A
|
A
|
|||
|
Article
2.2
|
Consultations
|
A
|
||||
|
Article
3
|
Advance
Rulings
|
A
|
A
|
|||
|
Article
4
|
Procedures
for Appeal or Review
|
A
|
A
|
A
|
A
|
|
|
Article
5.1
|
Notification
for Enhanced Controls or Inspections
|
A
|
A
|
|||
|
Article
5.2
|
Detention
|
A
|
A
|
A
|
A
|
|
|
Article
5.3
|
Test
Procedures
|
A
|
A
|
|||
|
Article
6.1
|
General
Disciplines on Fees and Charges Imposed on or in Connection with Importation
and Exportation
|
A
|
A
|
|||
|
Article
6.2
|
Specific
Disciplines on Fees and Charges for Customs Processing Imposed on or in
Connection with Importation and Exportation
|
A
|
A
|
|||
|
Article
6.3
|
Penalty
Disciplines
|
A
|
A
|
|||
|
Article
7.1
|
Pre-arrival
Processing
|
A
|
A
|
A
|
||
|
Article
7.2
|
Electronic
Payment
|
A
|
A
|
|||
|
Article
7.3
|
Separation
of Release from Final Determination of Customs Duties, Taxes, Fees and
Charges
|
A
|
A
|
|||
|
Article
7.4
|
Risk
Management
|
A
|
A
|
A
|
A*
|
|
|
Article
7.5
|
Post-Clearance
Audit
|
A
|
A
|
A
|
||
|
Article
7.6
|
Establishment
and Publication of Average Release Times
|
A
|
||||
|
Article
7.7
|
Trade
Facilitation Measures for Authorized Operators
|
A
|
||||
|
Article
7.8
|
Expedited
Shipments
|
A
|
A
|
|||
|
Article
7.9
|
Perishable
Goods
|
A
|
A
|
A*
|
||
|
Article
8
|
Border
Agency Cooperation
|
A
|
A
|
A
|
A
|
|
|
Article
9
|
Movement
of Goods Intended for import under Customs Control
|
A
|
A
|
A
|
A
|
A
|
|
Article
10.1
|
Formalities
and Documentation Requirements
|
A
|
A
|
|||
|
Article
10.2
|
Acceptance
of Copies
|
A
|
A
|
|||
|
Article
10.3
|
Use
of International Standards
|
A
|
A
|
|||
|
Article
10.4
|
Single
Window
|
A
|
||||
|
Article
10.5
|
Pre-shipment
Inspection
|
A
|
A
|
A
|
A
|
|
|
Article
10.6
|
Use
of Customs Brokers
|
A
|
A
|
A
|
||
|
Article
10.7
|
Common
Border Procedures and Uniform Documentation Requirements
|
A
|
A
|
A
|
||
|
Article
10.8
|
Rejected
Goods
|
A
|
A
|
A
|
A*
|
|
|
Article
10.9
|
Temporary
Admission of Goods and Inward and Outward Processing
|
A
|
A
|
A
|
A
|
|
|
Art.
11.1-11.2
|
Freedom
of Transit
|
A
|
A
|
A
|
A
|
|
|
Art.
11.3-11.4
|
Freedom
of Transit
|
A
|
A
|
A
|
||
|
Art.
11.5
|
Freedom
of Transit
|
A
|
||||
|
Art.
11.6-11.8
|
Freedom
of Transit
|
A
|
A
|
|||
|
Article
11.9
|
Freedom
of Transit
|
A
|
A
|
|||
|
Art.
11.10
|
Freedom
of Transit
|
A
|
A
|
|||
|
Art.
11.11-11.12
|
Freedom
of Transit
|
A
|
A
|
A
|
||
|
Art.
11.13
|
Freedom
of Transit
|
A
|
A
|
|||
|
Art.
11.14-11.16
|
Freedom
of Transit
|
A
|
A
|
A
|
||
|
Art.
11.17
|
Freedom
of Transit
|
A
|
A
|
|||
|
Article
12
|
Customs
cooperation
|
A
|
A
|
|||
|
* except for Art.7.4.1, Art.7.4.2, Art.7.4.3, Art.7.9.1,
Art.7.9.2, Art.10.8.2
|
||||||
Source: compiled from www.tfafacility.org/notifications
