What do LED companies think about China’s formal acceptance of the WTO “Trade Facilitation Agreement” Protocol?

China’s State Council recently made a decision to accept the Protocol to the World Trade Organization’s Trade Facilitation Agreement. On August 23, Gao Hucheng, China’s Minister of Commerce, announced the above-mentioned decision of the Chinese government when attending a series of East Asia Economic and Trade Ministers’ Meetings. On September 4, China’s Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the World Trade Organization, Yu Jianhua, submitted a letter of acceptance to Robert Azevedo, Director-General of the World Trade Organization, marking that China has completed the domestic approval process for accepting the Protocol to the Trade Facilitation Agreement.

According to the provisions of the World Trade Organization, the "Trade Facilitation Agreement" will enter into force after acceptance by more than 2/3 of the World Trade Organization members.

The "Trade Facilitation Agreement" is the first multilateral trade in goods agreement that China has participated in and reached after joining the World Trade Organization. As China is the world's largest trader of goods, the entry into force and implementation of the Trade Facilitation Agreement will not only help modernize China's comprehensive port management system, but will also generally improve the trade facilitation level of China's major trading partners, promote the export of Chinese products and create a convenient customs clearance environment.

For Chinese companies, importing and exporting goods will become more convenient. For example, the Trade Facilitation Agreement requires members to publish information on import and export procedures, and Chinese companies can quickly obtain the customs procedural requirements of the importing country from the Internet; the Trade Facilitation Agreement also allows traders to submit import documents to customs and other port departments before the goods arrive at the port, and allows traders to release goods after submitting a deposit before the tax rate and fees of the goods are finalized. These measures will help speed up the release and customs clearance of goods.

In addition, the "Trade Facilitation Agreement" also stipulates that members should use risk management and follow-up inspection and other management methods as much as possible to speed up the release of low-risk goods, and provide certified traders with additional trade facilitation measures such as reducing document requirements and inspection ratios.

The entry into force and implementation of the Trade Facilitation Agreement have put forward higher requirements for member port infrastructure, management methods, and coordination among port management departments. According to China's external commitments, except for a few measures such as a single window, determining and announcing the average release time, duty-free re-importation of outbound processed goods, and customs cooperation, which can be implemented after a certain transition period, the remaining measures must be implemented when the Trade Facilitation Agreement takes effect.

From a global perspective, the entry into force and implementation of the Trade Facilitation Agreement will facilitate trade among countries, reduce transaction costs, and promote the growth of world trade and the global economy. China calls on other WTO members to speed up domestic procedures and accept the Protocol to the Trade Facilitation Agreement as soon as possible so that the Trade Facilitation Agreement can meet the conditions for entry into force at an early date and become an important outcome of the 10th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization.