Fiji to ratify WTO's Trade Facilitation Agreement

Fiji is expected to ratify and notify of its commitment to the World Trade Organization's Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) by June this year, a senior government official said Tuesday.

Once ratified, the agreement comes with legal implications especially if the provisions are not implemented, permanent secretary for the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism Shaheen Ali said during a stakeholder meeting.

"In Fiji, the implementation of the TFA will further reduce the cost of doing business by increasing efficiency, and trade volumes and reducing cost and delay through better coordination and improved logistics," Ali said.

The TFA sets to improve the efficiency and volume of trade globally while boosting employment potentials and earnings for members of the WTO that are signatories to the agreement.

"While implementation of the TFA will improve efficiency of Fiji's border agencies, it must be emphasized that Fiji will be making a legally binding commitment at the multilateral level to implement the TFA, which can attract legal challenges in case we don't implement something we say we will," said Ali. Enditem