Note: Previous versions of the databases are made available to authors upon request. Update: July 2020 The Alliance`s instrument, the WTO Agreement on Trade Facilitation (TFA) through a Gender Lens, offers development practitioners and implementers an in-depth analysis of TFA Section I articles from a gender perspective. It shows how the TFA, whatever its supposedly gender-blind formulation, offers an opportunity to remove gender barriers to international trade. In late 2011, the UN ESCAP and the World Bank (WB) partnered to develop a common standard methodology for calculating global international trade costs and provide a global link to the research and policy community. The current version contains data from 1995 to 2018 for more than 180 countries. The Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) is a binding multilateral trade agreement between members of the World Trade Organization. The TFA was finalized in December 2013 and officially entered into force in February 2017. Technical assistance for trade facilitation is provided by the WTO, WTO members and other intergovernmental organizations, including the World Bank, the World Customs Organization and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). In July 2014, the WTO announced the establishment of the Trade Facilitation Facility that would help developing and least-developed countries implement the Trade Facilitation Agreement.
The Facility was put into operation with the adoption of the Trade Facilitation Protocol on 27 November 2014. This initiative aims to more closely integrate ARTNeT`s objectives and activities in terms of research capacity building and the implementation of research programmes, in particular in the framework of ARTNeT Theme 1 (Trade, Investment and Internal Policy Coherence for Inclusive Growth). It includes regional technical research workshops, support for research studies on the use of learned techniques, the development of appropriate tools to facilitate research and assistance in the dissemination of policy results. TFAD is a simple and user-friendly database that allows users to search, filter, and analyze TFA notification data. It is estimated that full implementation of the TFA could reduce trade costs by an average of 14.3 percent and increase global trade by $1 trillion a year, with the biggest profits being recorded in the poorest countries. For the first time in the history of the WTO, the requirement to implement the agreement is directly linked to the country`s ability to do so. A Trade Facilitation Mechanism (TFAF) has been put in place to ensure that developing and least developed countries receive the necessary assistance to reap the full benefits of the TFA. This database contains the results of the second Global Survey on Trade Facilitation and Paperless Trade Implementation, which covers 128 economies worldwide. The survey instrument includes 53 measures related to the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA), „paperless trade“ measures and specific trade facilitation measures for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the agricultural sector and women.
Under the leadership of ESCAP, the survey was conducted jointly by five UN Regional Commissions, namely ECA, ECE, ECLAC, ESCAP and ESCWA in 2015, 2017 and 2019. The Trade Indicators Portal was developed as part of the Development Account 9th tranche enhancing the Contribution of Preferential Trade Agreements to Inclusive and Equitable Trade project. . . .
