Planning for implementation

The Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) contains rules, procedures and processes that Member governments are required to implement. Legislative and non-legislative measures will have to be taken ensure compliance in law and practice.

Specificities of Trade Facilitation reforms

Governments have to plan the implementation in line with government priorities, strategies and other obligations. The planning needs to take into account the following specificities of trade facilitation:

• It is a cross-cutting policy objective and the TFA is a horizontal instrument, that covers a wide range of government activities and affects different bodies of laws.
• It is a long-term comprehensive policy change requiring modernization through the use of ICT, recurring simplification of processes and procedures, innovation, change management, and human resources development.
• It rests on building a partnership with the private sector and SME require special consideration in the design and implementation of reforms.

Planning process and instruments

Implementing the TFA represents a commitment to careful planning the implementation, in particular when implementing the Agreement in accordance with the Special and Differential Treatment (S&DT) provisions. Developing and least developed countries have to assess and notify their categories of commitments, monitor implementation progress, and draft and negotiate assistance needs.
Ideally, the implementation follows an iterative approach of different steps (see: TFIG domain generic approach to TF implementation) from needs assessment to follow up and evaluation.

A planning document, such as a trade facilitation road map, can assist governments in keeping control of the process. Consult the itinerary on how to develop a national TF roadmap.

Monitoring Implementation

Governments are advised to design a monitoring mechanism as part of the implementation strategy. Such a mechanism allows surveillance of implementation progress and evaluation of implementation results. It directly supports the notification requirements of the S&DT and alarms governments if implementation objectives are missed and corrective measures need to be taken. UNECE Recommendation N. 41 presents a possible Trade and Transport Facilitation Performance Mechanism (TTFPM).

Two surveys track global implementation of the TFA: The OECD Trade Facilitation Indicators cover 163 countries using 11 indicators aligned to the TFA. The data is collected by independent experts. The UN Global Survey on Trade Facilitation and Paperless Trade Implementation covers all member States of the five UN Regional Commissions and measures 47 indicators aligned to the TFA and the UN treaty on cross- border paperless trade facilitation negotiated under the auspices of ESCAP. Data is collected by the five UN Regional Commission from government using surveys.

To read more on potential trade facilitation indicators consult the UNESCAP-OECD Handbook for Trade Facilitation Indicators, and Measuring Trade Facilitation page.

Role of national Trade Facilitation Committee

As trade facilitation is a cross-government activity it is necessary to change way government authorities and their agencies work together. Fragmented institutional responsibilities can limit the effectiveness of government intervention. Government agencies also have to change he way they work with the business sector, as business stakeholders are directly affected by the reforms.

To establish close working relationship across government and with the business community, different institutional solutions can be adopted in line with the objectives sought: Border Agency Committee, Customs consultative Committees, or national trade facilitation bodies are different frameworks supporting cooperation and collaboration for trade facilitation – see the consultation and cooperation domain.

The TFA requires Members to set up (or maintain) a national trade facilitation committee (Article 23.2) “to facilitate both domestic coordination and implementation of the provisions of the TFA.” The objective sought is that a cross-government entity with public and private participation plans and follows the implementation of the Agreement. But the Agreement leaves it up to the Member to decide on mandate, composition and institutional linkages of this Committee.

National trade facilitation bodies come in many different forms and there is not a uniform set up that can be copied. Implementing Article 23.2 of the TFA should not lead to a duplication of institution. In fact, cross-government bodies, sub-state bodies, and regional bodies with trade facilitation related mandate may already exist and can effectively be assigned Article 23.2 responsibilities.

To take inspiration for setting up a National Trade Facilitation Body, consult the related itinerary, existing case studies (TFIG Pakistan, TFIG Thailand, TFIG Brazil, TFIG Ukraine), or other resources listed in the right menu.