The most important aspect of the 1997 agreement was that over the next 10 years or so each member country would seek to carry out a 10% reduction in customs fees per annum as well as the gradual elimination of trade barriers. In March 2001, the member countries decided to reduce the period over which the reductions in tariffs could be made so as to speed up the process, and on 1 January 2005 the elimination of most tariffs among the GAFTA members was enforced.