Public-Private Partnership to Ease Implementation of TFA Announced
The U.S. will provide $50 million and has joined the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Australia, the WTO, and the global private sector to launch the Global Alliance for Trade Facilitation, intended to formalize the framework for dialogue between businesses and world governments on implementing the 2013 WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA), USTR said Dec. 17 (here). “It depends on assessments, with real metrics on how we're doing so we can continue to improve how we deliver capacity building, and make sure it's having the desired effect,” USTR chief Michael Froman said at the WTO Ministerial Conference in Nairobi.
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Although it did not disclose specific figures, USTR said based on total contributions so far, the alliance is the “largest pool of resources” dedicated to TFA implementation. Sixty-three WTO member nations have ratified the TFA, which must be ratified by two-thirds of membership before entering into force. The partnership is supported by a secretariat created by the World Economic Forum, the International Chamber of Commerce, and the Center for International Private Enterprise, along with industry officials and other experts.
WTO Director-General Roberto Azevedo said the alliance’s main focus will be ensuring TFA reforms are implemented “as smoothly as possible,” and to help businesses capitalize on newly created opportunities (here). “If trade flows are restricted, businesses are the first ones to feel the effects. Trade facilitation measures such as putting information online and pre-arrival processing bear directly on the private sector's capacity to grow and create jobs,” Azevêdo said in a statement. “Therefore, we must listen to them, hear their concerns, and design reforms that meet their needs in an effective and efficient way.”