The WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement & its implementation by the WTO members, in particular the EU

Abstract

The link between capacity building and implementation as the compromise reached between developed, less developed or developing countries is underlined through nine years of negotiations. The Trade Facilitation Agreement might have come as an ‘early harvest’ for some authors, to revive the trust in the World Trade Organization after the slow progresses in the Doha Round. Yet, the topic is still on top of Ministerial Meetings agendas and it came to stay. The paper discusses the progress made by State Parties in achieving a compromise on the topic of trade facilitation, analyses the implementation of the agreement obtained in the Doha Round and critically assesses the direct and indirect role of the European Union in the implementation of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement.