Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)
Year (A.D.)
2023
Document Type
Independent Study
First Advisor
CHOTIKA WITTAYAWARAKUL
Faculty/College
Faculty of Law (คณะนิติศาสตร์)
Degree Name
Master of Laws
Degree Level
Master's Degree
Degree Discipline
Business Law
DOI
10.58837/CHULA.IS.2023.171
Abstract
The WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement was concluded in 2013. It aims to facilitate theinternational trade through simplifying, harmonizing and standardizing procedures, therebyreducing the trade costs. It has reached a milestone of fourteen years since its adoption.However, there is a question about the effectiveness and efficiency of the WTO TFA for itsmembers and international trade. Based on that, this study will consider two questions: whetherthe structural framework of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement is even for developingcountries in terms of implementing obligations, and whether it reduces trade costs fordeveloping countries. In exploring, it applies the doctrinal legal research methodology. Thisstudy argues that although the WTO TFA contains more advanced special and differentialtreatment provisions, it is still not sufficient to provide assistance and reduce trade costs fordeveloping countries. The structural framework of the WTO TFA tends to be cumbersome fordeveloping countries. It requires to provide more assistance for developing countries as theyface difficulty in catching up with the implementing the obligations. This scenario leads theagreement to be insufficient in aiding for developing countries. On the second point, the WTOTFA is challenged by the increased trade costs and faces obstacles in full implementation of itscommitments, causing it to be unable to reduce the trade costs.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Ohnmar Aung, Soe, "WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement: Doing Enough for Developing Countries?" (2023). Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD). 13092.
https://digital.car.chula.ac.th/chulaetd/13092