Mr. Francisco Alberto Lima Mena, El Salvador’s Ambassador to the WTO, presented his country’s instrument of ratification to WTO Director-General Roberto Azevêdo on 4 July 2016. 

With the acceptance by El Salvador, the number of TFA ratifications now stands at 85, representing more than three-quarters of the ratifications needed to bring the Agreement into force.The Trade Facilitation Agreement will enter into force once two-thirds of Members have domestically ratified a Protocol of Amendment and notified the WTO of their acceptance of this Protocol. 

The TFA broke new ground for developing countries and LDCs in the way it will be implemented. For the first time in WTO history, the requirement to implement the Agreement was directly linked to the capacity of the country to do so. In addition, the Agreement states that assistance and support should be provided to help them achieve that capacity.

On 8 June the WTO hosted an experience-sharing event to help Members identify best practices and the challenges faced by WTO Members in establishing or maintaining national trade facilitation committees.  It was the first such event to discuss how best to implement specific commitments under the TFA.  Experts from more than 20 countries and five international organizations made presentations at the workshop; the presentations and other information on the event are available here