WTO’s trade facilitation agreement in goods entered into force in February 2017.NEW DELHI: The trade facilitation agreement inked by WTO members should not be seen only as facilitating exchange of goods as it has the potential to bring value to people’s lives, research firm CUTS International said on Wednesday. It said the future of trade should place more emphasis on values that trade can bring to various dimensions of lives.
“We need to take a closer look at the WTO agreement on trade facilitation to understand the values that it is can bring to people’s lives. We should not look at trade facilitation just as a collection of provisions facilitating the exchange of goods,” CUTS International Executive Director Bipul Chatterjee said in a statement.
He was speaking at a webinar titled ‘What would happen to a world without the WTO?’.
Pradeep Mehta, secretary general of CUTS International, said the world has witnessed unprecedented growth in trade volume primarily because of the role played by the rules-based multilateral trading system under the aegis of the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Speaking at the event, Supachai Panitchpakdi, former director general of the WTO, said, “From our experience of past disruptions, the world will recover when the global trading system recovers. Recent drop in imports to China is much more alarming than the decline in exports that they are witnessing. WTO can bring order back to a chaotic world.”
WTO’s trade facilitation agreement in goods entered into force in February 2017. It contains provisions for expediting the movement, release and clearance of goods, including goods in transit. It also sets out measures for effective cooperation between customs and other appropriate authorities on trade facilitation and compliance issues.
Source: indiatimes.com