Establishing Well Functioning National Trade Facilitation Bodies (NTFBs)
In the OIC Member States
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- Participation of hierarchies (or sending a permanent representative) from the public
and private sectors in the NTFB is also crucial in order to validate decisions and
contribute to the NTFB’s sustainability.
 Including the appropriate membership/attendees
- Including a balanced representation from the public and private sectors is
fundamental.
- Level of seniority matters in these meetings: including decision-makers from public
and private sectors will simplify the decision-making process.
- The inclusion of other participants in the meetings, such as observers, will legitimise
meetings, improve governance, provide assistance, and greatly enrich technical
discussions. Observers may come from academia or NGOs, or be technical experts in
trade facilitation subjects.
 Start-up funds
- Start-up funds are particularly necessary for concepts such as salaries of the people
that will work in the secretariat. This is in the event that these professionals are not
staff members of the coordinating agency.
 Strong institutional framework
- Including two or more institutional instances from the highest political level down to the
most technical one.
- Designating a coordinating agency (e.g. Ministry of Trade, Transport, Customs, etc.).
- Having a permanent secretariat.
 Legal framework
- Through a decree or regulation that gives legal personality to the NTFB.
- With an organizational chart.
- Setting clear functions of each instance of the NTFB, stakeholders, and permanent
secretariat.
- A specific mandate.
- Concrete objectives.
- Within a framework of a national strategic work plan.
- Including a decision-making process. Up to now, most decisions are made on a
consensus basis. However, one of the main challenges that already “properly functioning
NTFBs” face is the implementation of decisions within the NTFB.
 Consistency in holding meetings
- Establishing a constant place for holding the meetings.
- Setting a permanent date in order to maintain NTFB meeting frequency (e.g. third week
of every other month).
- Consistency of representatives at meetings.
- Active participation of stakeholders.
 Regular communication strategy
- Invitations that include the meeting’s agenda.