Improving the Border Agency Cooperation
Among the OIC Member States for Facilitating Trade
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 The International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) is an international plant health
agreement designed for protecting cultivated and wild plants from pests while
minimising interventions in the international movement of goods and people.
Currently there are 182 contracting parties to the convention, with around 50 of them
OIC member states.
 The World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) is the intergovernmental organisation
responsible for protecting animal health worldwide. It serves as a coordinating body
for disseminating information on veterinary diseases and develops standards (e.g. the
Terrestrial Code and the Aquatic Code ) for the international trade in animals and their
products. Currently, in 2016, the organisation has a total of 180 member countries.
With the exception of Palestine, all the OIC countries are members of the OIE.
 The Codex Alimentarius, commonly known as the Food Code, was jointly developed by
the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of
the United Nations (FAO). It provides a framework of international food standards,
guidelines and codes of practice to provide greater assurance to consumers on the
safety and quality of food and to ensure fairness in the international food trade. As of
mid-2016, the Codex Alimentarius Commission had 188 members.
2.1.5. Bilateral and multilateral arrangements
Customs Mutual Assistance Agreements (CMAAs) are powerful tools for wide-ranging
cooperation among customs authorities. The agreements allow for the exchange of
information, intelligence, and documents that supports countries in the prevention and
investigation of customs violations. As an example, the USA has established CMAAs with more
than 50 countries, including some OIC member states such as Algeria, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco,
Senegal, Turkey and Azerbaijan.28
In recent years, several trusted trader programmes have been established that mark a new era
for BAC. For instance, in 2014 the US and Singapore arrived at a mutual recognition deal
between their respective customs administrations for trusted trader programmes.29 As
another example, the US and Mexico are currently working towards a Mutual Recognition of
Trusted Traders for faster cargo processing.
2.2. Case Mexico – the United States
Highlights:
 Mexico and the US have a long history of border agency cooperation. The cooperation builds
mainly on the NAFTA agreement (1994) and actions taken in the aftermath of the 9/11
terrorist attacks in 2001. Current high-level initiatives include the 21st Century Border
Management, the High Level Economic Dialogue, and the Merida Initiative.
 Mexican and US border control authorities collaborate in many ways, including joint border
patrolling, and training and awareness building.
 Reaching agreements over priorities of joint border control activities at the US–Mexican
border is one of the main challenges for the future.
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