Nigeria has ratified the Trade Facilitation Agreement, making it the 107th World Trade Organisation member alongside Niger, Togo, Côte D’ivoire, Kenya, Zambia, Lesotho, Mali, Senegal, Swaziland, Gabon, Ghana and Mozambique.
The TFA will enter into force once two-thirds of the WTO membership has formally accepted the agreement.
Ratification is a means of expression for a country to be legally bound by a treaty.
The instrument of acceptance was submitted to the WTO in Davos on Friday by the Minister for Industry, Trade and Investment Dr. Okechukwu Enelamah.
According to Dr Enelamah, Nigeria’s ratification of the Trade Facilitation Agreement is evidence of President Muhammadu Buhari’s commitment to rapidly implement his presidential initiative on the creation of an enabling environment for business.
“Nigeria would like to see a strengthened WTO that reflects the development principles of developing countries like Nigeria and we praise the effectiveness of DG Azevêdo in this regard,” Mr. Enelamah said.
Full implementation of the TFA would among other things reduce members’ trade costs by an average of 14.3% with developing countries having the most to gain.
Earlier, on 10 November 2014, Nigeria submitted its Category A notification to the WTO outlining which substantive provisions of the TFA it intends to implement upon entry into force of the Agreement.
