Implementation of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) will help reduce about 20 per cent of business expenses as well as promote investment and create more jobs for Vietnamese.
This was the assessment of Vu Ngoc Anh, Deputy General Director of the Viet Nam Customs, at a workshop yesterday held by the General Department of Viet Nam Customs (GDVC) with support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and in co-operation with the World Bank.
“Viet Nam Customs has made efforts to complete commitments, including on animal and plant quarantines, food safety and hygiene control, logistics services, and procedures for the clearance of goods,” Anh told the meeting.
The TFA was passed at the 9th WTO Ministerial Conference in Indonesia on December 6 2013 after ten-year negotiations.
In November 2015, Viet Nam became the 60th country to ratify the TFA, which will go into force when 109 out of 164 WTO member states ratify it.
The commitments are divided into categories A, B, and C.
“Viet Nam has already submitted to the WTO its Category A commitments, identifying those that can be implemented immediately upon the TFA coming into force,” Anh told the workshop.
Once in effect, the TFA is expected to enhance national and business competitiveness and boost trade and investment by committing Viet Nam to reforms in support of trade facilitation.
The workshop, which brought together more than 50 Government officials, completed reviewing the list of Category A commitments, and revalidated the B and C commitments to be implemented after the Agreement comes into effect.
The action plan detailed activities, objectives and outputs for each commitment, along with the timeframe, needed technical assistance, responsibilities of each agency, and coordination mechanisms.
The workshop was one of a number of activities on which the USAID Governance for Inclusive Growth (GIG) Program is collaborating with the General Department of Viet Nam Customs and other agencies to successfully implement the TFA. — VNS