India has completed most of the consultation process related with the WTO's trade facilitation agreement and the Government is expected to ratify it at the ‘earliest’. Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA), which was concluded by the WTO in Bali in 2013, aims at easing customs procedures to boost global commerce.
Commerce Secretary Rita Teaotia said the agreement is important for boosting trade, simplifying customs rules and reducing the cost of trading.
“We are fully committed to it. It is a complex exercise and most of the consultation is complete and we believe that we should be able to ratify it at the earliest,” she said here at the function of International Chamber of Commerce.
So far over 55 WTO members have ratified this pact, which also contains provisions for expediting the movement, release and clearance of goods, including goods in transit.
Teaotia also said that WTO members should move forward on liberalising the services sector as the segment assumes key importance for developing countries like India.
The sector is important for developing countries as a road for growth and employment generation, she said adding apart from accelerated flow of goods, the easier flow of services are also fundamental.