Establishing Well Functioning National Trade Facilitation Bodies (NTFBs)
In the OIC Member States
23
standardization of trade procedures. (This is perceived by many countries as the
most important function of NTFBs. 32)
o The provision of assistance in the implementation of such above-mentioned
measures, e.g. through the organization and delivery of training to stakeholders.
o Their role as national focal points for the collection and dissemination of information
on best practices in trade facilitation, including new reforms and initiatives.
o Their role as participants in international efforts (including WTO efforts mentioned
below) to improve trade facilitation and efficiency.
 To ensure implementation of commitments under the WTO’s TFA. (NTFBs previously played
an important role in enhancing positions vis-à-vis the WTO negotiations on trade
facilitation).
1.4.1. Rationale of domestic coordination for implementing trade facilitation
measures
NTFBs’ role in terms of bridging public and private concerns by providing a channel for
communication has been widely recognized and is particularly worthy of attention. The rationale for
establishing NTFBs reflects the central importance of public–private liaison in order to precisely
specify and appreciate the needs of traders and government and to achieve implementation of any
relevant national or international measures aimed at improving border transactions. NTFBs allow for
coordinated approaches to trade facilitation so that activities (public and private) along the
transaction chain are coherent and trade facilitative. NTFBs can represent effective forums where
private actors (e.g., manufacturers, importers, exporters, freight forwarders, carriers, banks,
insurance companies) and public actors (e.g., policy makers) can converge and cooperatively work
towards jointly-agreed trade facilitation measures. The role that NTFBs play in ensuring coherence
between public and private interests has been recognized in, inter alia, the explanatory text to the
2001 revision of Recommendation No. 4, which itself called for “balanced private and public sector
participation” in NTFBs. Having recognized that NTFBs constitute important forums and that NTFB
membership should reflect all entities playing a role in international trade transactions33, the
explanatory text also highlights the need for public-private coordination and clear identification of
the distinct needs of the public and private sectors so that “problems are not created in one part of
the transaction chain by introducing solutions to another part”.34
It is accepted that the meaningful involvement of all stakeholders creates a greater probability of
developing viable and functioning solutions to a common problem. Coordination among public and
private stakeholders at the domestic level (e.g., institutions, companies, entrepreneurs) is thus of
supreme importance. It is important for the identification of barriers/issues faced and the
identification of potential solutions to issues faced (e.g., how can procedural simplification be
achieved if conditions “on the ground” are not known?). Not only does a lack of public-private
32 See, UNCTAD, National Trade Facilitation Bodies in the World (New York and Geneva, 2014), pp. 10-11.
33 See paragraph 23 of the 2001 revision of Recommendation No. 4.
34 See also, World Bank, Border Management Modernization (Washington, DC: 2011), p. 160 on the contribution that the private
sector can make to the identification of issues and the approach to reforms.
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