FACILITATING INTRA-OIC TRADE:
Improving the Efficiency of the Customs Procedures in the OIC Member States
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of roles among different government agencies. However, establishment of new entities
require allocation of financial and human resources.
Lack of coordination among the existing institutions is another obstacle. The
responsibilities of the institutions should be defined clearly and coordination
mechanism shall be established for ensuring cooperation and coordination among the
relevant agencies. One of the major objectives of “National Trade facilitation Bodies” is
to increase coordination among the relevant institutions.
Human Resources Related Issues
Inadequate skilled labor is one of the outstanding obstacles for many developing
countries and LDCs. Like in many other areas, lack of skilled human resources will be
one of the obstacles they need to overcome in implementation of many trade facilitation
measures due changing the way of conducting the work for the officials of several
government agencies. The officials will probably not be familiar with the newly
introduced procedures and the equipment to be used in their work.
Infrastructure and Equipment
Existing infrastructure should be upgraded and new equipment should be bought for
implementing some trade facilitation measures especially in customs. The cost of such
investment will depend on the needs of the country. Border agencies call for
information and communication technology products and infrastructure (ICT) and
scanners primarily because of their potential to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency
of Customs operations and controls and only incidentally to sustain trade facilitation
measures (Moise 2004 and 2013).
Security Concerns
9/11 terrorist attacks in US in 2001, increased the security concerns in many countries.
As a result, immediately following the 9/11 incidents, various customs administrations
shifted focus from the more traditional roles of managing compliance to imposing
measures that would enhance trade security (Lobdell 2009).The security concerns are
higher in some developing countries and LDCs due to high risk of narcotics trade, terror
threats or previous experiences of conflicts. Customs and security officials mostly
request more documents and use physical inspections which extends the clearance time
for cargo.
1.6. MEETING THE CHALLENGES
The challenges faced in implementing the trade facilitation measures are almost similar
in many developing countries and LDCs. Political will, international cooperation and
allocation of adequate financial resources will play crucial role for the success of trade