Establishing Well Functioning National Trade Facilitation Bodies (NTFBs)
In the OIC Member States
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o Exporters associations
o Freight forwarders associations
o Carriers associations
o Financial institutes
o Insurance company associations
The involvement of the private sector is widely perceived as the number one success factor for
NTFBs. All of the four NTFBs examined have been structured in a manner that effectively involves the
private sector. Success factors related to appropriate expertise is effective, qualitative participation
and an awareness (in addition to knowledge) of trade facilitation matters.
In terms of the adequate expertise of stakeholder representatives, SWEPRO is a documented example
that can be drawn upon of an NTFB that benefits from representatives with a high level of subject
matter expertise and it is also an NTFB that has reported a high level of participation. Moreover,
reports suggest that the success of Korea’s National e-Trade Committee was linked to its employment
of persons with the highest level of expertise from the private and public sector.
 Effective coordination is key and appropriate internal division of labour expressed in
a work plan may assist in ensuring this . The establishment of subcommittees and/or
subgroups allows members to focus on specific issues within their field of expertise, and the
establishment of a permanent secretariat may facilitate the work the NTFB.
Coordinated work by members is also seen as a top factor in the success of an NTFB. Related factors
for success that are perceived as also being relevant include the use of appropriate work plans. The
Japanese and Swedish examples discussed above may be relied upon to suggest that the creation ad
hoc committees/special task forces/working groups with mandates to address specific issues can be
effective. The Korean and Japanese cases discussed above also provide examples of evident
coordination between both sectors where public and private sectors are clearly represented by their
main stakeholders.
 High level political commitment and internal motivation for the
establishment/maintenance of an NTFB (i.e. domestic response to domestic needs) may be
important to ensure the continued commitment to, and sustainability of, an NTFB.
Korea’s NTFB is the best example of having high level political commitment where its representatives
are: it’s Prime Minister as chairman, relevant Ministers from the Public Sector and heads of main
associations from the Private Sector. Moreover, publicly available information suggests that trade
facilitation has long been a top priority for each of the four countries discussed above and that this
commitment brought about the establishment of their NTFBs and the continued attention to
improving the NTFBs and to ensuring that the NTFBs respond to current needs.
 The commitment, motivation and availability of members is important to the successful
operation of an NTFB, which should allow for regular meetings. Related to the foregoing is
the importance of leadership, respect and trust among stakeholders and members.
Ownership and commitment of the members towards the group/the NTFB has also been cited as an
important factor for the success of NTFBs. It appears that all NTFBs discussed above have – in their
own way – managed to ensure the commitment of their public and private members. The
commitment of members may depend on a number of factors (e.g. for the private sector members,
their ability to make meaningful contributions may impact commitment and motivation levels).
Available information concerning the Swedish and Japanese NTFBs suggest that the NTFBs have