By Lamin B. Darboe
The ECOWAS Commission has recently organised an In-Country Support for The Gambia‘s National Trade Facilitation Committee (NTFC). The objective of the two-day workshop was to enhance the NTFC’s capacity to implement World Trade Organisation’s Trade Facilitation Agreement (WTO TFA) and African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) obligations, meet notification requirements, understand trade facilitation measures, and serve as a leading coordinating body for implementation of trade facilitation matters.
While welcoming delegates to the workshop, on behalf of the minister, Mr. Lamin Dampha, the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Trade, Industry, Regional Integration and Employment, emphasised the timely nature of the workshop. He noted that the implementation of WTO TFA and the AfCFTA Protocol on Goods across ECOWAS Member States is critical for improving border procedures, reducing trade costs, boosting trade flows and attracting greater benefits from international trade, through the simplification of customs procedures and other border processes. He expressed appreciation to ECOWAS and the TFWA Programme for the strong collaboration to organise the workshop in The Gambia. In her opening remarks, H.E Miatta FRENCH, ECOWAS Permanent Resident Representative in The Gambia, highlighted the importance of the NTFC in The Gambia in terms of implementation of key international, continental and regional trade facilitation initiatives.
She emphasised that trade facilitation remains crucial in ECOWAS’s mission to enhance regional integration. She highlighted several ECOWAS initiatives towards enhancing trade facilitation within the region, including the ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme (ETLS), the ECOWAS Common External Tariff (CET), the ECOWAS Customs Code, and the ECOWAS Trade Obstacles Alert Mechanism among others.
Ms. Benedicte MEILLE, the Representative of the TFWA programme, World Bank Group (WBG), noted that the programme facilitates activities like the workshop to support the efforts of the ECOWAS Commission and The Gambia’s NTFC in implementing trade facilitation initiatives, which she said is crucial for enhancing cross-border trade. Ms. Meille stressed the TFWA‘s commitment to ensuring that its support aligns with national priorities and fosters regional integration through trade facilitation initiatives across West Africa.
The workshop was attended by officials from The Gambia Ministry of Trade, Industry, Regional Integration and Employment; The Gambia Revenue Authority (GRA); The Gambia Immigration Department (GID); The Gambia Investment & Export Promotion Agency (GIEPA); as well as other National Trade Facilitation Committee Members from The Gambia; representatives from the ECOWAS Commission and the World Bank Group.
