FACILITATING INTRA-OIC TRADE:
Improving the Efficiency of the Customs Procedures in the OIC Member States
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Most of the Member States have engaged one or more regional economic groupings.
Some of these groupings are composed of only a group of OIC Member States e.g.
GCC, ECO and WAEMU. Additionally, there are also some regional economic
groupings which involve non-OIC members as well as Member States such as ASEAN,
EAC, COMESA, ECOWAS etc.
Each of these groupings have initiated customs cooperation programs for facilitating
their trade.
GCC (Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf) is composed of 6 Member
States namely, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and UAE. The GCC
launched the customs union among its members in 2003. Member States are applying
common external tariff of 5 percent on most of the products. The “Common Customs
Law of the GCC States” is implemented by the Member States. The Law includes many
issues related to customs related issues, including the customs clearance. The law was
updated in 2008.
WAEMU (West Africa Economic and Monetary Union- in French UEMOA) is
composed of eight OIC Member States namely Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire,
Guinea Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo. WAEMU has a Customs Code and
adopted Common External Tariff. Trade facilitation is also given importance by the
WAEMU in recent years. The objectives of the Trade Facilitation Program are to
contribute to the elimination of barriers to trade and reduce the cost and complexity of
trade. Kabran (2013) states that the Program has two focus areas namely border
measures and trade and transport related issues. An information platform on customs
and trade will be established. The World Bank will support the program.
ECO (Economic Cooperation Organization) is composed of 10 OIC Member States.
These countries are Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic,
Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkey and Turkmenistan. Trade and Transport are two important
cooperation areas of the ECO. Various cooperation programs have been initiated under
the ECO for facilitating intra-regional trade. These programs include: ECO Trade
Agreement (ECOTA), ECO Transit Transport Framework Agreement (TTFA),
Meetings of Heads of Customs Administrations, Establishment of Smuggling and
Customs Offences Data Bank, Mutual Administrative Assistance in Customs Matters
etc. However these agreements have not entered into force except the TTFA. Besides
these programs, capacity building seminars and training courses are organized among
the Member States.
ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) has ten members which include
Brunei, Malaysia and Indonesia. ASEAN is one of the most successful economic
groupings. With regards to trade, ASEAN has established ASEAN Free Trade Area
(AFTA) and implemented various measures to facilitate intra-regional trade. With