UPSC Prelims 2017 · Question 33 of 99

UPSC Prelims 2017 question on Trade Facilitation Agreement

Consider the following statements:

1. India has ratified Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) of WTO.

2. TFA is a part of WTO’s Bali Ministerial Package of 2013.

3. TFA came into force in January 2016.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. 1 and 2 only
  2. 1 and 3 only
  3. 2 and 3 only
  4. 1, 2 and 3
Show answer

Answer: A. 1 and 2 only

Verdict

The answer is 1 and 2 only. India has ratified the Trade Facilitation Agreement and it came from the Bali package of 2013, but it entered into force in 2017, not January 2016.

Analysis

Statement 1 is CORRECT. India ratified the Agreement in April 2016. Statement 2 is CORRECT. The Agreement was the outcome of the ninth WTO ministerial conference at Bali in 2013 and formed part of the Bali package. Statement 3 is INCORRECT on the date. Entry into force required acceptance by two thirds of the membership and occurred in February 2017, not January 2016.

Source

Press Information Bureau release and press reporting on the Agreement.

How to crack it

Keep three separate dates for every treaty and never let one stand for another: the year of negotiation or adoption, the year a particular country ratified, and the year of entry into force. UPSC builds its wrong statement by swapping one for another, exactly as it did with the Paris Agreement in the 2016 paper. Note also that entry into force always lags adoption, so a date earlier than or equal to the ratification wave should raise suspicion immediately.

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