Blocking TFA will hurt SMEs, multilateral trading system: WTO

 The Dollar Business Bureau | @TheDollarBiz   Roberto Azevêdo, Director-General, the World Trade Organisation (WTO), said in Mexico this week that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across the world stand to gain from a multilateral trading system and blocking the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) will hurt the interests of small businesses. Roberto Azevêdo said, “By locking-in countries’ obligations on trade practices, the WTO safeguards important business interests and increases the stability businesses need to flourish.” He added that implementation of TFA would go a long way to help SMEs to tackle red tape and penetrate more foreign markets. TFA was considered as a major breakthrough since the inception of WTO. However, the agreement could not be ratified by the July 31, 2014 deadline due to India’s stand that it will not allow consensus on TFA until WTO members find a solution on food security programs. Roberto Azevêdo told a group of private company representatives in Mexico, “The WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement was a major step in tackling bureaucracy to trade…However, at this point in time, WTO members are considering how — or whether — to bring this Agreement into force.” He also said that WTO aims to tackle trade-distortive subsidies in the agriculture sector, further reduce import tariffs, and increase predictability and market access opportunities for all service sectors.