ABSTRACT
The Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA, hereinafter referred to as “this agreement”) is the package agreements on goods trade reached through a multilateral trade negotiation of WTO, which is included in WTO rules among WTO legal systems after it becomes effective. This agreement is the first multilateral trade agreement reached during 23 years of the founding of WTO, and also the first achievement with legal binding force after the initiation of the Doha Round Negotiations. In February 2017, this agreement was approved by more than two-thirds of WTO members and then formally became effective. Its validation and overall implementation will promote cross-border trade flow and reduce trade cost. As shown by the research of WTO economists, this agreement can reduce the trade cost of all countries concerned by 14.3% on average and bring about the greatest benefit to developing and developed countries. In addition, this agreement may still reduce time of goods import and export by 1.5 and 2 days, respectively, at a decrease rate of 47% and 91% of that before its validation and overall implementation. 1 As unimpeded trade is one of the core contents of “Vision and action on jointly boosting the Belt and Road construction”, the validation of this agreement will strongly boost the smooth implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative.
