In November 2014, the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement got back on track, and there is renewed optimism that it will advance in 2015. While the process unfolds at the World Trade Organization, the structure of the global economy and its related trade flows will develop further and countries will be facing new opportunities and challenges in this evolving global trade environment.
Going forward, maximizing the potential benefits of trade facilitation is dependent on a number of factors. First, Coordinated Border Management is pivotal and can result in better service delivery, less duplication, cost-savings through economies of scale, enhanced risk management with fewer but better targeted interventions, cheaper transport costs, reduced waiting times, lower infrastructure improvement costs, wider sharing of information and intelligence, and strengthened connectivity between all border agencies.
Other critical success factors are Customs-Business Partnerships as the two sectors play vital roles in this context. For instance, promoting voluntary compliance and offering appropriate trade facilitation benefits is an area where customs and business can work jointly to improve border processes.
In today’s trading environment, regional economic integration is on the rise. Sometimes the physical, economic and political geography of countries pose challenges to their economic development. Geography plays a role for instance in landlocked and small island countries. National economies and populations may be small, but cover large geographic expanses with poorly connected infrastructure. Regional integration and cooperation offer means to overcome these obstacles and to be competitive in the regional and global marketplace, as for example the emergence of free trade areas covering more than one region show.
There are available solutions to the aforementioned challenges. World Customs Organization instruments, tools and technical assistance under the WCO Mercator Program, and also the WTO TFA in the future, provide for the opportunity to implement global trade facilitation standards that are harmonized, consistent, and will contribute to economic growth.
Kunio Mikuriya, Secretary General, World Customs Organization