The Republic of Moldova will receive technical assistance for trade facilitation from the World Trade Organization. In this regard, the Cabinet on May 11 approved the bill on the acceptance of the Protocol Amending the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization, IPN reports.

The document contains a set of measures for facilitating regional and international trade by reducing the administrative, tariff and nontariff barriers. Under the protocol, the developing member states of the WHO will benefit from technical assistance in the implementation of its provisions.

At national level, the implementation of the Agreement will be coordinated by the National Trade Facilitation Committee that will consist of representatives of the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry, the National Food Safety Agency and of the business community. This will be set up before the finalization of the procedures for adopting the legal act.

So far, 162 WTO member states completed the negotiations on the Trade Facilitation Agreement within the ninth World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference that took place in Bali in 2013. Also then, the ministers asked the General Council to adopt a protocol of amendment inserting the new agreement into annex 1A of the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the WTO. The protocol was opened for acceptance by WTO members.

The Trade Facilitation Agreement has three sections that contain provisions for expediting the movement, release and clearance of goods and special and differential treatment provisions that allow developing and least-developed countries to determine when they will implement individual provisions of the agreement.