Trade is a key vehicle for economic growth, elimination of poverty, and enhanced regional cooperation, and trade facilitation has a key role in improving the ability of trade to play this role. In the post-2015 development agenda, proposed SDG 17.1 supports “a universal, rules-based, open, non-discriminatory and equitable multilateral trading system under the WTO including through the conclusion of negotiations within its Doha Development Agenda“ and trade facilitation forms one of the pillars of non-discrimination, openness and rules-based international trading as illustrated by the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement and the work of many organizations such as the UNECE, UNESCAP and UNCTAD