FACILITATING INTRA-OIC TRADE:
Improving the Efficiency of the Customs Procedures in the OIC Member States
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Figure 4: Trade facilitation performance in Singapore
Source (2013)
The TFIs is an important tool to compare the situation of many countries in
implementing the modern customs procedures discussed under the WTO. It is important
to note that most of these issues were agreed by the contracting parties of the RKC.
The TFIs does not rank the countries but illustrates the countries comparatively through
graphs. Singapore, which is the best performing country in other indices, also gets a
very high score in TFIs (see Figure 3). The performance of the developing countries is
uneven. For example within the Sub-Saharan Africa, Southern Africa performs better
than the other sub-regions. Similar difference is observed in the MENA region.
Performance of the North Africa countries as a group is better than the Middle East
countries.
-Consultations with the Stakeholders
Cooperation with the relevant stakeholders including the relevant government agencies
and private sector is crucial for assessing the needs of the Customs Administrations
accurately. Consultations to be made with the private sector shall include exporters,
importers, logistics service providers, Freight Forwarders, Custom Brokers etc. These
consultations can be done in various forms. Surveys, interviews and meetings are the