Taipei, May 19 (CNA) The Legislative Yuan accepted Tuesday a decision by the World Trade Organization (WTO) General Council on Nov. 27, 2014 to adopt the Protocol of Amendment to insert the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) into the Annex 1A of the WTO agreement.
In line with the decision adopted in Bali, WTO members adopted on 27 November 2014 a Protocol of Amendment to insert the new Agreement into Annex 1A of the WTO Agreement. The TFA will enter into force once two-thirds of members have completed their domestic ratification process.
The protocol provides provisions for improved and simplified transit procedures, reduced formalities and documentation requirements, and uniformity in the application of border procedures and customs cooperation among members.
In addition, the agreement recognizes that many countries will require technical assistance before they can implement some of their obligations, stating that full account should be taken of the need for special and differential treatment for developing and least-developed countries.
It is the first multilateral trade agreement reached by the WTO since the launch of the Doha Round of world trade negotiations in 2001.
The Trade Facilitation Agreement shall be open for acceptance by members and will enter into force once 66 percent of the members have completed their domestic ratification processes. (Tseng Ying-yu and Evelyn Kao)
http://focustaiwan.tw/news/aeco/201505190020.aspx
