India opposes binding commitments for easier cross-border goods clearance

New Delhi: India has opposed binding commitments on countries to put in place practices for faster clearances of cross-border merchandise even as it has implemented almost 75% of its commitments ahead of schedule under the global trade facilitation agreement (TFA).

New Delhi’s stance comes amid the US, Brazil, Colombia and Japan urging the World Trade Organization (WTO) members to speed up implementation of the agreement, arguing that trade is a critical channel for getting essential products to those in need amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

“New Delhi has said that countries should not be saddled with binding commitments as they are best placed to determine when to implement them,” said a Geneva-based official.


The agreement is a global protocol that has articles covering provisions such as information availability and publication, advance rulings, review procedures, customs cooperation and exportation-importation of goods, and seeks to reduce the cost of global trade. The benefits are pegged at over a trillion dollars. It is part of the WTO’s Bali ministerial package of 2013.

Separately, India told the WTO members that it has implemented several of its TFA commitments ahead of the originally scheduled dates and that it has now put into place more than 73% of its commitments.

“The US welcomed India's implementation of commitments such as those improving transparency in customs practices and allowing for the processing of goods before arrival,” the official said.

The US also said that these actions will have an immediate impact on traders and that India was an example of how the TFA is helping traders respond to the Covid-19 pandemic.