Improving Customs Transit Systems
In the Islamic Countries
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Bank Doing Business28, today, more than half the 190 economies covered by Doing Business are
part of a customs union, 33 economies are in a customs union with their export partner, and 39
are in a customs union with their import partner. For these economies, the time for
documentary and border compliance is substantially lower on average than for others. Also, the
studies of Doing Business show that not all customs unions are the same. For example,
customs unions among Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) high-
income economies perform substantially better than others, followed by customs unions in
Europe and Central Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean.
Information sharing as a part of customs transit facilitation is one of the first steps toward
regional integration of individual countries. Having information in real-time on transit goods
when the transit procedure starts at the departure country can be useful for transit countries
and destination countries for risk assessment of goods. A good example is the Advance transit
info system one of the options in this regard like Advance Passenger Information (API) and
Passenger Name Records (PNR) system that obtained data from travel documents, and
information about bookings, enabling customs to conduct risk profiling before the plane and
passenger arrival.
The next step in transit facilitation as a part of regional economic integration is the use of
regional and multinational guarantee system that will allow traders to pass all transit countries
with the same guarantee system. The AEO programme is an important part of building an
efficient CTR, but it will not add much value if there is no mutual recognition of AEOs inside the
region. Regional AEO program is a possible transit facilitation measure. Except for customs
union as a way for regional cooperation, many countries start with the collaboration at BCPs
through the implementation of one-stop border post where instead of two customs agencies,
customs control is done by both agencies but in the same time and the same location – One-Stop-
Shop. In such a way, this bilateral cooperation eliminates the need for the same procedures to
be repeated on both BCPs.
Transit facilitation is one of the main postulates of regional economic integration29:
 Enhance regional competitiveness through the economic development and
competitiveness of individual countries in the region;
 Support regional economic integration and competitiveness through the increased
intra-regional trade;
 Have an important role in a regional production network, leading to further regional
economic integration and competitiveness;
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29 Tadashi Yasui, Transit Facilitation for Regional Economic Integration and Competitiveness, WCO Research Paper No. 28,
April 2013