The WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement had entered into force on February 22, 2017 after two-thirds of the WTO membership completed their domestic ratification. The Parliament of Mongolia had ratified the TFA on 24 November 2016 and the trade facilitation became one of issues of national importance.
Border controlling agencies play a main role in implementing the Trade Facilitation Agreement, specially Section I (36 measures).
In 2018, National Trade Facilitation Committee adopted “National Trade Facilitation Road Map 2018-2022” and “National Committee on Trade Facilitation Strategic Action Plan 2018-2022. One of the main focuses of these documents is to prepare national trade facilitation experts.
The National Trade Facilitation Committee of Mongolia, Working Group of The Customs General Administration of Mongolia and EU Trade related assistance project (TRAM) jointly, successfully organized three-stage “National Trade Train-the-Trainers Program on the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement” workshops from April 8 to May 28, 2020. The first stage of the program involved 43 participants from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Mongolia, Border Force Agency, Specialized Inspection Agency, Mongolian National Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Customs General Administration of Mongolia. Taking into account the performance and activity of the tasks given under the programme, 21 participants successfully participated in the final stage and became a national “Trade Facilitation” trainers.
This training took place during unprecedented times related to the new COVID-19 virus outbreak. Thus, facilitators introduced “B-Learning” training method, as a combination of “E-Learning” and “Classroom training”.
“National Trade Facilitation Train-the-Trainers Programme” has been a well-established and successful event which demonstrated the potential for successful public-private sector partnerships.
Thus, we have successfully trained officials to become trainers who will support the implementation of trade facilitation measures in Mongolia at the national level.
