On 06 August 2015 Niger became the twelfth WTO member and the first Least developed country (LDC) to ratify the new TFA. Niger’s ambassador, Ado Elhadji Abou, presented the instrument of acceptance of the TFA to the Director-General, Roberto Azevêdo on August 6th.
The TFA will enter into force once two-thirds of the WTO membership has formally accepted the Agreement. In addition to Niger, the following members have ratified the Agreement: Nicaragua, Trinidad and Tobago, the Republic of Korea (South Korea), Hong Kong – People’s Republic of China, Singapore, the United States of America, Mauritius, Malaysia, Japan, Australia and Botswana.
The TFA broke new ground for developing and least-developed countries 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.
A Trade Facilitation Agreement Facility (TFAF) was also created at the request of developing and least-developed country members to help ensure that they receive the assistance needed to reap the full benefits of the TFA and to support the ultimate goal of full implementation of the new agreement by all members.