Proceedings of the 13th Meeting of
The COMCEC Trade Working Group
25
Annex 3: The Policy Recommendations
POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS HIGHLIGHTED BY
THE 13TH MEETING OF THE TRADE WORKING GROUP
The COMCEC Trade Working Group (TWG) has successfully held its 13th Meeting on March
7th, 2019 in Ankara, Turkey with the theme of “Enhancing Public Availability of Customs
Information in the OIC Member States.” During the Meeting, Trade Working Group, made
deliberations for policy approximation among the Member Countries regarding enhancing
public availability of customs information. The room document, prepared in accordance with
the main findings of the research report conducted specifically for the 13th Meeting of the
TWG and the answers of the Member Countries to the policy questions sent to the TWG focal
points by the COMCEC Coordination Office before the Meeting. During the Meeting, the
participants agreed on the policy recommendations included in the Room Document. The
existing document includes these policy recommendations highlighted during the Meeting.
Policy Advice 1: Encouraging the establishment of a formal consultation mechanism
between regulatory authorities and trade community towards ensuring an efficient
trade environment for the interest of various stakeholders at the national level.
An effective, efficient, and permanent consultation and feedback mechanism not only ensures
the success of any trade facilitation initiative but also enhance the predictability of the trade-
related regulatory environment.
Developing effective consultation mechanisms with private sector (when new laws and
regulations that have the potential to affect trade flows are being prepared and before their
entry into force) is crucial to allow the private sector to provide their inputs, comments or
suggestions prior to implementation and enforcement.
Providing advance notice about legislation submitted for public consultation can pave the way
for enhanced capacity of stakeholders to react promptly and efficiently. National Trade
Facilitation Committee (NTFC) can also be utilized as an efficient consultation mechanism.
Policy Advice 2: Utilizing Information and Communications Technologies (ICT)
effectively for the dissemination of trade, especially customs related information.
The supply of the trade and customs related information and the access to this information
through ICT can play a vital role in trade facilitation as well as an important stepping-stone for
other more ambitious trade facilitation reforms. Through the digitalization of the information
flows, customs and trade-related data can be disseminated to all the relevant actors easily,
continuously and expeditiously. This technology also allows the regulatory bodies to provide
up-to-date information timely with low-costs. This information flow can be more easily done
by utilizing the internet or other ICT tools. Development of a user-friendly ICT is the key factor
of the expected utilization and benefit from such an investment.
Through using ICT tools, such as virtual Single Window Systems, all rules and regulations can
easily be accessed, forms can be downloaded and filled in, and necessary paperwork can be