China Ratifies WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement

China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) announced on September 4 that China has ratified the protocol of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA), becoming the 16th member to formally accept the protocol. TFA will enter into force once two-thirds of WTO members have completed their domestic ratification process.  

In joining TFA, China promises to implement improvements in the following areas:

• Expedited release and clearance of goods
• More effective cross-department coordination for trade facilitation and customs compliance issues
• Better technical assistance and capacity building
• Reduction of import and export fees

A week prior to the ratification, China released a policy to further standardize import and export fee charges (see article below).