A new publication from UNCTAD draws some lessons from some selected developing and least developed countries that have successfully implemented specific measures of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) to guide other countries in designing, developing, and implementing trade reforms in the areas of: online publication of trade information; pre-arrival processing; electronic payment; risk management; Single Window; SPS-related measures; freedom of transit via border agency cooperation; and National Trade Facilitation Committees (NTFCs). The Compendium is the first of a series of publications that aims to describe successful experiences in the implementation of all measures under the TFA, including their cost, fees and solutions aimed at guaranteeing their sustainability in the long term.

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A new report from UNECA titled “Existential priorities for the African Continental Free Trade Area” analyses the exogenous and endogenous threats to the effective and beneficial operation of the AfCFTA. The report tries to draw some lessons from the regional integration processes launched by Regional Economic Communities (RECs) in Africa, especially for what concerns the dismantling of the current barriers to the movement of persons and migration policies. It concludes that smaller groupings are those that move forward more easily, especially when their interests are aligned. The EAC, for instance, started with only three members (now seven, after the recent accession of the Democratic Republic of Congo), and was able to move forward rapidly, evolving from a free trade area to a customs union and is now in the process of consolidating its single market by removing any obstacle to the free movement of goods, services and persons.

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