Enhancing Public Availability of Customs Information
In the Islamic Countries
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4. COUNTRY CASE STUDIES
This section builds on the two previous section by presenting a series of case studies of OIC and
non-OIC countries. Each case study is designed to set out that country’s approach to the public
availability of trade information, with reference to established datasets, but also, in some cases,
using information gathered directly from field visits. The rationale behind the selection of the
case study countries was to ensure diversity in terms of geography, as well as economic and
trade structure, and level of development. The reason for proceeding in this way is to ensure
that the case studies are useful to a wide variety of OIC member countries, which represent a
diverse group
The first four case studies are based on desk reviews only, with no field visits. The countries
selected are: Mexico, Singapore, the UAE, and Malaysia. In terms of geographical coverage, these
case studies look at Latin America, Southeast Asia, and West Asia. The countries chosen are at
different income levels. In these case studies, the choice was made to focus on countries that
perform well—including some that are at the global frontier—in the area of public availability
of customs and trade information, so as to show what is possible with ambitious reforms. Given
the limited nature of the research that could be undertaken for these countries, the desk review
case studies are necessarily shorter than the field visit case studies, and focus on the main points
for each country, rather than the more comprehensive treatment undertaken for the field visit
countries.
The second group of case studies are based on field visits to one OIC country from each regional
group. The semi-structured interview instrument used for these case studies, but not for the
desk review case studies, is reproduced in Annex 1. From the African Group, the case study
country is Senegal. For the Arab Group, it is Morocco. Finally, for the Asian Group, it is
Bangladesh. Two of these countries are LDCs, but as will become clear, they have taken major
strides forward in terms of making trade information public, including through the clever use of
technology solutions. Morocco is a higher income country, and an acknowledged leader in the
area. Again, the mix of countries makes it possible for all OIC member countries to find some
insight of relevance to their own situation. It is to be hoped that the experiences of the seven
countries presented, both the desk review studies and the field visit studies, will help spur
productive reforms elsewhere in a spirit of information sharing, exchange, and mutual support.
4.1. Mexico
Introduction
Mexico is an upper middle income country according to the World Bank classification, and also
a member of the OECD. In 2017, its trade to GDP ratio was nearly 78%, which is high for a
relatively populous country. As is well known, it is highly integrated into North American value
chains through NAFTA, and has successfully used trade through value chains to drive income
growth and poverty reduction.
In relation to trade facilitation, Mexico ratified the TFA on July 26th, 2016. Although it is a
member of the OECD, Mexico is self-declared as a developing country at the WTO, so it could
elect to classify the operative parts of the Agreement into Categories A, B, and C. In fact, the
country chose to put the whole TFA in Category A, which means that it became immediately