The Trade Facilitation Agreement: A New Hope for the World Trade Organization

What is it about?

The article provides an overview of the new WTO agreement, the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA), including a look at the capacity-building measures designed to help developing countries implement the TFA, and the application of the general GATT exceptions to the new agreement. The article argues that despite regulatory questions concerning implementation, it is likely that the TFA will reduce the cost of trading across borders, while improving trade for developing countries and allowing WTO members to better control trade flows, through a combination of procedural streamlining and regulatory discretion.

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Why is it important?

This article provides the first scholarly analysis of the new Trade Facilitation Agreement.