Marrakesh Agreement establishing the World Trade Organization (WTO): Agreement on Trade Facilitation. Protocol

PURPOSE: to conclude, on behalf of the European Union, of the protocol amending the Marrakesh agreement establishing the World Trade Organization (WTO).

PROPOSED ACT: Council Decision.

ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: Council may adopt the act only if Parliament has given its consent to the act.

CONTENT: it is proposed that the protocol amending the Marrakesh agreement establishing the World Trade Organization be approved on behalf of the European Union. This protocol was adopted by the WTO’s General Council at its meeting on 27 November 2014.

The 9th WTO Ministerial Conference held in Bali on 3-6 December 2013 adopted the Ministerial Decision on Trade Facilitation, which concluded negotiations on the Agreement on Trade Facilitation subject to the legal review of the text.

The protocol includes the Agreement on Trade facilitation and the commitments of developing countries will become an integral part of the Agreement.

For details of the main provisions of this Agreement, please refer to the summary of the Commission’s initial legislative proposal dated 6.2.2015.