Synthesis report
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studies again suggest that transit trade may not be facilitated without significant investment
in various infrastructures, ranging from roads and port facilities to effective risk management
systems.
The international expert survey on the costs and benefits of selected trade facilitation
measures undertaken as part of the study showed that, while long-term savings were
expected to exceed costs for all measures, initial setup costs of some of the measures
could be expected to be quite high relative to others. The cost difference between
measures was mainly explained by the underlying political costs (i.e., extent to which
measures will be resisted by staffs within relevant institutions; or by policymakers because
of fear of losing political support they need) and infrastructure/equipment costs.
The following implications stem from the above findings:
• Since most of the trade facilitation measures on the negotiating table have
been implemented or are planned for implementation even in the least
developed countries in the region, the list of trade facilitation measures agreed
upon will be less important than the accompanying terms and conditions for
implementation, e.g., schedule of implementation for developing countries
and technical assistance.
• Negotiation of an agreement on trade facilitation provides an opportunity for
pushing potentially difficult regulatory reforms at home through binding
commitments on small, simple but highly meaningful administrative procedures
e.g., a 30-day standard time period between publication and implementation
of regulations, the establishment of formal channels of communication with
the private sector on trade facilitation issues (e.g., establishment of an inclusive
national trade facilitation committee), the alignment of trade documents to
specific international standards, or even an agreement to reduce the number
of trade documents to a certain number (by a given date, as necessary).
• Measures to enhance transparency and impartiality, such as an independent
system to appeal or double-check rulings on tariff classification, should be
given serious consideration given the priority accorded by the private sector
to the reduction/elimination of corruption - and its ranking of “tariff classification”
as the second most problematic issue in the survey. The notification to the
WTO of an official webpage with a negotiated basic list of information and
publications and a complete and official list of all existing fees and charges
(possibly developed in cooperation with the local chamber of commerce and/
or with the support of relevant international organizations) could also be
considered.
• Apart from improving timely dissemination of trade regulations and reducing
the number of trade documents, one of the main priority identified through
private sector surveys was the need for improvement of coordination between
relevant agencies. The establishment of single windows for one-time submission
and collection of trade documents may therefore need to be considered.