With Trade Facilitation Agreement in the offing, Nirmala Sitharaman, MoS (I/C), Ministry of Commerce & Industry is confident that the agreement will facilitate faster clearances and reduction of red tapism, and would bring increased transparency in trade process. Centred on boosting the ‘Ease of doing Business’ Initiative, the industries and their various associations will be associated in the consultation process while implementing the different provisions of the TFA.
The Minister said that after TFA ratification, the world wide best trade practices would be shared among the member countries. “While we have made rapid strides in streamlining our processes on the line of International best practices, in several areas, we need to ensure speedy legislation so that there are visible beneficial outcomes,” averred Sitharaman while addressing the Consultative Committee Meeting attached to her Ministry on the subject of ‘Implementation of Trade Facilitation Agreement’.
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Sitharaman went on to elaborate that the TFA is supposed to enable domestic manufacturers, particularly Small and Medium Enterprises, connect more easily to regional and Global Value Chains as the TFA contains provisions for expediting the movement, release and clearance of goods, including goods in transit. It also sets-out measures for effective cooperation between customs and other appropriate authorities on trade facilitation and customs compliance issues.
