Establishing Well Functioning National Trade Facilitation Bodies (NTFBs)
In the OIC Member States
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Uganda is involved in WTO negotiations on a trade facilitation support group, though it is reported to
be non-functioning: “We have had only two meetings this year. It has not been officially formalized
and therefore it has no funding,” UNCTAD website reports.
BOX 4. National Trade and Transport Facilitation Committee of Uganda
The official name of the national trade facilitation mechanism in Uganda is National Working
Group on Trade Facilitation (NWGTF).
The working group is expected to report to the Inter-institutional Trade Committee, though
some bureaucratic problems have been reported.
The lack of coordination of meetings, lack of organization, and lack of financial resources
indicate deficient leadership on the part of the coordinating agency
The main tasks of the NTTC are:
 To build upon Uganda’s self–assessment report on trade facilitation needs.
 This shall include analysis of barriers to expediting trade facilitation. Members
shall make suggestions, and where possible, create implementation plans on how
these barriers can be removed.
 Members shall identify gaps in Uganda’s trade facilitation and analyse the types
of capacity building required, both donor-assisted capacity building and possible
Ugandan-led initiatives.
 Providing Geneva-based Ugandan officials involved in the WTO negotiation advice on:
 Uganda’s capabilities vis–à–vis WTO member states’ proposal to clarify GATT V,
VIII and X,
 Uganda’s position on whether it supports WTO member states’ proposals,
 Development and monitoring of the Simplified Trade Regime work plan of the
Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa,
 Providing background information for negotiations between the East African
Community, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, and Economic
Partnership Agreements on trade facilitation
Source: Author
4.2.4. Common obstacles in the functioning of NTFBs
Some of the obstacles presented in the first phase prior to Uganda’s establishing its NTFB may still
have been present once the NTFB was in place, but like the other two cases studied in this section, it
doesn’t function properly. There are also further obstacles, such as the following:
 Lack of political priority at the first level
 Limited representation of first- and second-level decision makers
 Lack of coordination between governmental agencies
 Limited involvement of the private sector
 Ad hoc rather than institutionalized involvement of the private sector
 No consistency in meeting attendance
 Frequent rotation of the members
 Lack of follow up on the issues
 Lack of seed funds for specific concepts to establish a permanent secretariat