Establishing Well Functioning National Trade Facilitation Bodies (NTFBs)
In the OIC Member States
1
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation (COMCEC) of the Organization
of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has placed the subject of trade facilitation at the top of its agenda, with
the main objective of eliminating trade costs and enhancing the economic development of its 57
Member States. COMCEC is aware that, in order to implement effectively trade facilitation measures,
close cooperation and coordination between the main stakeholders is required at a domestic level.
This can be achieved through the establishment of National Trade Facilitation Bodies (NTFBs) or
similar coordination mechanisms. In order to investigate the NTFBs' state-of-play in the OIC Member
States, including the obstacles facing them and recommendations for establishing functioning NTFBs,
COMCEC has commissioned this study, which aims to:
 Create awareness on the benefits of NTFBs for implementing trade facilitation
measures in OIC Member States;
 Derive practical recommendations; and
 Identify policy options for OIC Member countries for establishing and sustaining
well-functioning NTFBs.
This study has been organized into four parts. Part 1 sets out the conceptual framework of the study.
It outlines the different definitions of trade facilitation in various international fora. It acknowledges
that the most accepted version of trade facilitation makes reference to the simplification,
harmonization, and standardization of procedures of international trade in order to lower the costs
of such operations. It highlights that over time trade facilitation measures have contributed to a
decrease in the number of documents, days, and, thus, costs in importing and exporting from and to
OIC Members. Moreover, it presents an historical background with regards to the efforts that
international organizations have undertaken in encouraging countries to establish NTFBs. This is the
case of the United Nations (UN), with the establishment in 1974 of Recommendation No. 4, which has
been revised several times, being the latest time in 2015. Most recently, the World Trade
Organization (WTO), also included with the negotiation of its Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA)
(Article 22.3), which was accepted in Bali in December 2013. Finally, it recognizes the main reasons
for countries to establish NTFBs, such as: a) designing and implementing effectively trade facilitation
measures; b) coordinating the main agencies that participate in cross border trade procedures, such
as trade, customs, and transport, whilst taking into account private sector needs; and/or c) creating a
common position in the negotiations of the WTO's TFA.
Part 2 of this study provides an overview of the different types of NTFBs or trade coordination
mechanisms between stakeholders that have been created worldwide. It also highlights the main
features of top NTFB cases from countries that are ranked highest in the Trading Across Borders
(TAB) index of the World Bank's (WB) publication Doing Business 2015. Specifically, it examines the
cases of Sweden, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore. It presents the main elements of their NTFBs
with regards to their main characteristics and contributions. Furthermore, outlines achievements
drawn from NTFBs of 40 worldwide cases.
Part 3 focuses on examining the state-of-play of NTFBs and other coordination mechanisms in OIC
Members divided up by its three regional groups (Arab, Asian, and African). It differentiates between
OIC Members that apparently have not yet established NTFBs or similar mechanisms (18), and those
that already have a NTFB in place (39). It highlights the issues raised in not establishing an NTFB and