Moldova becomes 84th WTO member state to ratify Trade Facilitation Agreement

Chisinau, 25 June /MOLDPRES/ - Moldova has become the 84th World Trade Organization (WTO) member state, out of all the 164 ones, to ratify the Trade Facilitation Agreement. Deputy Prime Minister, Economics Minister Octavian Calmic presented the instrument of ratification in Geneva on 24 June.  
According to the Economics Ministry’s press service, WTO Director General Roberto Azevêdo has said that the ratification of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement opened new possibilities of access to assistance funds and technical support for Moldova, in order to develop and modernize the infrastructure, train customs employees and simplify procedures of customs transit of different tariff products.   
“We highly appreciate the performance and commitments taken by Moldova in the world trade system during 15 years, as full-fledged member of the highest international economic forum. Following the ratification of the concerned agreement, Moldova created the needed pre-requisites for the WTO member states to provide technical assistance for developing the national economy and get it in line with the international standards and values. We are open for an as efficient as possible cooperation with Moldova’s government, which proved reliability and consistence on the international stage by the recent ratification of the Agreement on Government Procurement and Trade Facilitation Agreement,” Roberto Azevêdo said.  
For his part, Octavian Calmic stressed that the ratification by Moldova of the Agreement on Government Procurement and Trade Facilitation Agreement, as well as the active involvement in the process of implementing the ministerial declarations from Bali and Nairobi represented a clear-cut signal for all development partners concerning the commitments taken by the Moldovan authorities. “The establishment of strategic partnerships based on mutually advantageous interests, modernization of all social and economic fields of the country, attraction and implementation of investment projects, creating an attractive business environment are just some of the Moldovan government’s priorities for the immediately next period,” the economics minister said.  
According to the Economics Ministry, the Trade Facilitation Agreement is the first multilateral accord negotiated within WTO, which will give Moldova new opportunities of access to international markets, will cut the transaction costs, as well as the ones for optimizing the cross-border flow of goods, by ensuring a high degree of security of the business environment through implementing measures of optimization, transparency, diminishing bureaucracy and corruption.  
To carry out these regulations and reforms, the government will undertake concrete measures in terms of excluding from import requirements the compulsoriness of presenting export declarations submitted by the customs authority of the exporting country, will exclude the need of controls before shipment, related to the tariff classification and customs evaluation, as well as of the compulsoriness of customs brokers’ services.
(Reporter A. Mardare, editor L. Alcaza)