The government is set to ratify Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) through legislative procedures to help ensure trade benefits for WTO members, officials said.
"We have decided in principle to ratify the agreement. We are working on it," an official of the WTO cell under the Ministry of Commerce (MoC) told the FE.
The MoC is working on it seriously, he said, adding that if Bangladesh ratifies the agreement, it will be entitled to trade benefits offered to WTO members, especially to least developed countries (LDCs).
The WTO members concluded negotiations on TFA at the Bali Ministerial Conference in Indonesia in December 2013 as part of a wider Bali package.
It contains provisions for expediting the movement, release and clearance of goods, including goods in transit. It also sets out measures for effective co-operation between customs and other authorities concerned on trade facilitation and customs compliance issues.
The TFA further contains provisions for technical assistance and capacity building in this area.
The WTO deals with the global rules of trade between different nations. Its main function is to ensure that trade flows as smoothly, predictably and freely as possible.
TFA will enter into force once two-thirds of members complete their respective ratification process.
The commerce ministry official said trade facilitation issue came up at December 1996 Singapore Ministerial Conference of WTO for discussion. They will send a proposal to the cabinet seeking its approval for ratification of TFA after taking opinions from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he added.
After the cabinet approval, the proposal will be placed in the parliament for final nod. Then Bangladesh will inform the WTO about the legislature's approval to TFA.
However, economists and trade experts believe that ratification of TFA will help protect trade interests of Bangladesh as well as LDCs. Former adviser to the caretaker government Dr AB Mirza Azizul Islam suggested that the country should ratify TFA for the benefits of LDCs. "I think we should go forward to ratify TFA that could help LDCs," he told the FE.
"We are working on TFA. We hope it will be ratified soon," senior secretary of the MoC Hedayetullah Al Mamoon told the FE.
The WTO members agreed to launch negotiations on trade facilitation in July 2004 after several years of exploratory work.
Under this mandate, the WTO members were directed to clarify and improve GATT Article V (Freedom of Transit), Article VIII (Fees and Formalities connected with Importation and Exportation), and Article X (Publication and Administration of Trade Regulations).
For the first time in the history of the WTO, requirement to implement the agreement was directly linked to the capacity building of least developed countries (LDCs) to reap the full benefits of TFA. The agreement states that assistance and support should be provided to help achieve capacity by LDCs.
The official of the WTO cell under the MoC said the government under Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF) will take initiatives for capacity building of the officials.
A Trade Facilitation Agreement Facility (TFAF) was also created at the request of developing and least developed country members to help ensure that they receive assistance needed to reap the full benefits of TFA and support ultimate goal of full implementation of the new agreement by all WTO members.
The WTO members who have also accepted TFA include Hong Kong, China, Singapore, the USA, Turkey, Mauritius, Malaysia, Japan, Australia, Botswana, Trinidad and Tobago, the Republic of Korea, Nicaragua, Niger, Belize, Switzerland, Taipei, New Zealand, Togo, Thailand, the European Union (on behalf of its 28 member states), Pakistan, Panama, Guyana, Côte d'Ivoire, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Kenya, Myanmar, Norway, Viet Nam, Brunei, Ukraine, Zambia, Lesotho, Georgia, Seychelles, Jamaica, Mali, Cambodia and Paraguay.
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