G/TFA/ TFAF /7 
 
28 March  2024 
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Committee on Trade Facilitation   
 
REPORT BY THE TRADE FACILITATION AGREEMENT FACILITY  
TO THE  TRADE FACILITATION COMMITTEE  
16-17 April  2024 
1  INTRODUCTION  
1.1.  This document provides information on the work of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement 
Facility (TFAF) since the last report made to the WTO Trade Facilitation Committee at the meeting 
held on 3-5 October 20 23. The reporting period covers 1 September 2023 to 17 March 20 24. During 
this period , the TFAF implemented activities from its workplan 2023 and the workplan 202 4 issued 
to the C ommittee on 30 November 2023 ( G/TFA/TFAF/6 ). 
2  GRANT PROGRAM ME 
Matchmaking Phase  
2.1.  The matchmaking mechanism provides a channel for developing and LDC Members to request 
support to implement their TFA commitments . Members can request the support through in -person 
or online meetings, or by email. The T FAF Secretariat works with the requesting Member to discuss 
the needs and circulates , where appro priate and necessary, their requests for support as expression 
of interest (EoI),  to its network of development partners . Development partners able and willing to 
respond to  a reques t notify the TFAF Secretariat  of their matching intention.  A notified matching 
intention means that the development partner discusses the needs directly with the Member . It does 
not mean  that an agreement on the delivery of targeted TACB is reached.  
2.2.  In the reporting period , the TFAF r eceived requests for support from 2 0 Members, of which 
12 are LDC Members. Two of the requests were relaunched requests from previous years. The TFAF 
circulated EoI s for 15 of those Member s. Two Members did not validate their requests  for circulation , 
one Member 's requests found a TACB partner before circulation of an EoI , and two Members' 
request s are still being processed by the TFAF Secretariat.  
Matchmaking request 
by Member s EoI circulated  Category C commitments 
covered  Matching intention 
received  
New: 18 (12 LDC)  13 58 category C measures  0 
Re-issued: 2  2 27 category C measures  1 
2.3.  The circulated requests cover 85 category C measures  with an implementation deadline 
between June 2024 and 2035. Ten of these measures are priority measures with notified definitive 
implementation dates in 2024, and 19  measures are due for implementation in 2025.  
2.4.  In the period covered by this report, the T FAF Secretariat received o nly one matching intention 
to a circulated EoI. T he World Bank Group  responded to a re -issued request from one Member  and 
carried out an in -person scoping mission to identify venues for cooperation. The development partner 
reporte d back to TFAF in February 2024. Details of the arrangements are still being discussed 
bilaterally.  G/TFA/TFAF/7  
 
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  Grant Application Phase  
2.5.  The grant p rogramme provides funding for project preparation and project implementation to 
developing and LDC Members that have not been able to access assistance from donor and partner 
Members through existing development cooperation mechanisms.  
2.6.  In the time period of this report, no grant application has been received. Real-time information 
on approved grants can be found at: https://www.tfafacility.org/assistance -grants/grants -tracker . 
2.7.  The project preparation g rant awarded to Madagascar in June 2023 was successfully concluded 
in February 2024 with an in -country mission of TFAF to discuss the findings with the NTFC and 
development partners present in Madagascar. The project report provides a detailed summary of 
the current situation  with regards to the mobili zation of TACB for the 29 category C measures and 
identifies remaining TACB gaps for four 'clusters' covering eight  of the 29 measures. The report will 
be circulated to development partners, to further mobili ze implementation support.  
3  TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND CAPACITY BUILDING  
3.1.  Members can request TACB support which relate s to the following outcomes : identifying 
implementation assistance, ratification of the Agreement, notifications under the Agreement, and 
strengthening the operation of the National Trade Facilitation Committee (NTFC). The TACB can take 
the form of training and facilitated workshops and short -term ex pert advice.  
3.2.  In the period covered by this report, the following four TACB activities were carri ed out.  
Activity and date  Desired outcome  No. of participants  
Geneva, participation in the Committee 
on Trade Facilitation and TF week, 
2-6 October 2023  Strengthen the NTFC  52 
Djibouti,  workshop on definitive dates  
In per son with participation from the 
WCO, 8 -12 October 2023  Preparation of TFA notifications   30 
Togo, NTFC session on definitive dates  
Online , 5 December 2023  Strengthen the NTFC  
Preparation of TFA notifications  12 
Camero on, in-person mission to identify  
the assistance gaps for category C 
commitments , 12-15 March  2024 Strengthen the NTFC  
Identify TACB needs  18 
3.3.  TFAF funded the participation of 52 delegates from developing and LDC Members to the 
meeting of the Committee of Trade Facilitation and the TF wee k from 2 -6 October 2023. During the 
week, TFAF organi zed a TACB Fair  and two thematic panel discussions  related to the implementation 
of the Trade Facilitation Agreement . Members also had the opportunity to meet with the TFAF 
Secretariat to discuss their TACB needs. Twenty -five Members held bilateral meetings with the TFAF 
Secretariat . Three Members reported that they have been able to obtain positive responses to their 
requests for support during that week. The discussions of the details of the arrangements with the 
development partners are still on -going.  
3.4.  The TFAF continued its support to LDC  Members  for the preparation of the notifications  under 
the TFA . Djibouti and Togo  both requested support in defining the definitive dates for the category  C 
commitments. The TFAF organi zed a workshop in Djibouti from 8-12 October  2023 to review the 
implementation needs and identify the definitive dates for implementation. The TFAF Secr etariat 
also participated online in a meeting of the NTFC of Togo to identify the definitive dates. Both 
Members submitted their outstanding notifications to the CTF by the end of the 2023 , meeting their 
extended deadlines to do so.  
3.5.  Upon request from the C ameroonian National Trade Facilitation Committee, TFAF organi zed an 
in-person mission from 12 -15 March 2023 to  help the NTFC identifying the TACB needs and to meet 
with development partners present in Camero on. The mission led to the identifying of remaini ng 
TACB gaps which will be circulated to partners through the matchmaking mechanism. The mission's 
report will also be shared with the development partners.  
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