Transport

Shippers urged to take advantage of WTO pact

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Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohammed. FILE PHOTO | NMG

Shippers and trade related agencies in the country have been urged to ramp up their capacities to take advantage of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) agreement for effective commerce facilitation.

The Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) came into force on February 22 this year. Kenya is among African countries which ratified the agreement earlier in 2015.

At a sensitisation programme held recently for African shipping stakeholders by the Ghana Shippers Authority on the opportunities following the coming into force of the WTO trade facilitation agreement, shippers in the continent were tipped to boost their capacities as the agreement will result in more traded goods.

The agreement seeks to expedite the movement, release and clearance of goods across borders.

The full implementation of the agreement is forecast to slash members’ trade costs by an average of 14.3 per cent, with developing countries having the most to gain.

The agreement also aims at reducing time needed to import goods by over a day and a half and to export them by almost two days, representing a reduction of 47 per cent and 91 per cent respectively over the current average. The WTO obtained the two-thirds acceptance of the agreement from its 164 members needed to bring the TFA into force.

“Trade facilitation is a policy good for countries in an integrated and competitive global economy,” said Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohammed (pictured) in 2015.

Implementing the TFA is also expected to help new firms export for the first time. Once the TFA is fully implemented, developing countries are predicted to increase the number of new products exported by as much as 20 per cent, with least developed countries (LDCs) likely to see an increase of up to 35 per cent, says a WTO study.

According to WTO director general Roberto Azevêdo, TFA’s entry into force represents a “landmark for trade reform.”