First multilateral deal agreed at the World Trade Organization (WTO) comes into force

The Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) has now been ratified by 112 of the WTO’s 164 members, crossing the two-thirds threshold needed for activation, the Geneva-based organisation confirmed. Under the deal, nations agreed to simplify and standardise customs procedures at borders to make it easier for goods to flow around the world. WTO chief Roberto Azevedo said that TFA was estimated to trim global trade costs by more than 14% and could boost global growth by half a percentage point per year.

Poorer countries are expected to reap the most benefits from the TFA through provisions that will improve access to richer markets for their products. The WTO has suffered high-profile setbacks in trying to craft major deals, notably in the stalled Doha Round process, which is striving to re-write global trading rules.