FACILITATING INTRA-OIC TRADE:
Improving the Efficiency of the Customs Procedures in the OIC Member States
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(ii) The process used in executing a trade-related transaction,
(iii) The amount of documentation involved in each trade transaction,
(iv) The time and cost spent by the agents in meeting regulatory and
documentation requirements, and
(iv) Difficulties faced in dealing with the respective trade and customs
authorities.
World Bank (2010) also suggests taking the views of the private sector while making
the needs assessment. The study divides the process into two namely Phase 1 and Phase
2. According to the study, during the Phase 1, meetings with the private sector
representatives and various stakeholders such as associations representing importers,
exporters, providers of transport and logistics services, and government agencies
involved in trade and logistics shall be conducted. Regarding the Phase 2, the study
proposes interviews to be conducted with the stakeholders including the owners of the
cargo, logistics service providers, and regulators of the trade and logistics services.
The idea of coordination and cooperation among the various stakeholders is adopted by
many countries. While some of the countries are coordinating with the relevant agencies
and private sector in various frameworks, such as ad hoc committees, surveys, meetings
etc. some of them have established their national trade facilitation bodies (which is
currently 30 according to the UNECE website) in order to maintain close coordination
between relevant government agencies and the private sector in a systematic way.
National Trade Facilitation Body
The objective of national trade facilitation bodies is to establish a sustainable
mechanism among the relevant stakeholders to ensure effective coordination among
them. It is not a new concept but adopted by many countries in recent years due to
growing interest on trade facilitation.
In October 1974, the UNECE Working Party on Facilitation of International Trade
Procedures adopted the recommendation 4 which reads as follows:
“ Recommends that the Governments of countries Members of the Economic
Commission for Europe, in accordance with their national regulations, encourage the
implementation of recommendations on facilitation of international trade procedures
through setting up national organizations or committees, or by administrative or other
suitable means.”
UNECE (2001) defines the trade facilitation body as "an effective forum where private
sector managers, public-sector administrators and policy-makers can work together
towards the effective implementation of jointly-agreed facilitation measures”. It is
composed of relevant stakeholders including the different government agencies such as
ministry of trade, ministry of transport, customs administration, ministry of finance etc.