WTO adopts historic trade deal to streamline customs checks

The World Trade Organisation (WTO) has adopted its first global trade agreement in a deal that introduces new standards for customs checks and border procedures.

The trade deal – the first in the history of the WTO – enables the organisation to broker a substantive agreement after years of impasse, months of deadlock and a last minute objection, said WTO director-general Roberto Azevedo in a media statement. "We have put our negotiations back on track. We cannot wait another 17 or 18 years to deliver again."

According to Reuters news agency, advocates of the deal say it will streamline trade flow, adding up to U$1 trillion to the world economy.  United States trade representative, Michael Froman, was cited as saying the agreement was a "particularly important win for small and medium-sized businesses in all nations." He noted it could substantially reduce transaction times and costs and would unlock new opportunities for both rich and poor countries.

The reform package, adopted on Thursday last week, is widely seen as opening up progress for further global negotiations, the details of which will be formulated by July 2015.