The WTO’s trillion dollar trade deal has now come into force
A new trade deal set to boost global trade by $1 trillion (£800bn) a year has come into force.
The Trade Facilitation Agreement streamlines customs procedures, and was first created in the World Trade Organisation’s 2001 talks in Doha.
WTO director general Roberto Azevedo called the TFA “the biggest reform of global trade this century”.
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The WTO believes the deal will cut trade costs by 14.3 per cent on average, and by much more in poorer countries, adding 2.7 per cent to global exports by 2030.
The agreement had needed acceptance by two-thirds of WTO members in order to come into force, and crossed that threshold earlier today, thanks to approvals from Rwanda, Oman, Chad and Jordan.
It means 112 of the WTO’s 164 members have now signed up.