In addition to tariffs and non-tariff barriers imposed by their trading
partners, exporters from developing countries often have to tackle domestic
constraints, such as weak customs procedures or onerous administrative
processes. Small and Medium-size Enterprises (SMEs) suffer disproportionately
from these measures. Even while governments and business representatives
work
together to overcome these challenges, in the longer term, ITC’s new
trade facilitation programme assists trade support institutions and SMEs in getting
their goods across borders faster and cheaper. We do this by facilitating
tangible changes that reduce exporting bottlenecks.
Information
ITC’s new trade facilitation programme aims to
enable SME exporters in a select group of Least Developed Countries to increase
their exports to neighbouring countries by reducing or eliminating trade
impediments at the border, both at the point of exit and entry. ITC’s Work in Trade Facilitation
ITC’s Trade Facilitation Programme Strategy 2012-2015 (TFPS) aims to increase the competitiveness of the private sector by building export capacity, reducing trade transaction costs and deepening regional integration through trade facilitation measures.
The TFPS responds to four (4) ITC strategic objectives:
- Improving the availability and use of trade intelligence by promoting “formal” cross-border trade through targeted trade facilitation solutions.
- Enhancing trade support institutions (TSIs) and policies for the benefit of exporting enterprises and trade facilitation service providers, through advice and solutions to comply with established cross border formalities and industry protocols.
- Strengthening export capacity of enterprises to respond to market opportunities by way of customised trade facilitation measures to meet cross border formalities and overcome non-tariff measures and
- Mainstreaming inclusiveness and sustainability into trade promotion and export development by using trade facilitation measures to create a more enabling business environment for women informal cross borders traders to aid their transition to the formal sector.
Implementation of the TFPS is focussed on two areas:
- supporting exporting SMEs to comply with customs, border, and transit formalities and
- developing private sector capacity in trade facilitation and trade logistics services to support exporters’ compliance with international requirements.
ITC works with TSIs to produce Technical Assistance Guidelines for SME cross-border traders, increasing their knowledge of their customs-related obligations and rights.
Data and Research
With tariff levels falling, NTMs are becoming
the largest impediment to the trade of agro-based products, according to
preliminary results of ITC’s enterprise level surveys, conducted in 30
countries in 2010-2012. NTMs vary across countries and products, and often change
quickly and with little notice. Businesses need to comply with a wide range of
requirements, including technical regulations, product standards and customs
procedures. The business sector in developing countries often lacks the
information, capabilities, and facilities needed to meet the NTMs complex
requirements and demonstrate compliance at reasonable costs. National policy
makers often lack a clear picture of what their business sector currently
perceives as predominant obstacles to trade, and this makes it difficult to
develop appropriate trade-related policies.
ITC aims to increase transparency and understanding of NTMs. ITC and its
national partners are conducting surveys in 30 developing countries,
interviewing 200-600 businesses in each country about the most important NTM
obstacles that they face in their daily operations. For more information, see
our
page on the NTM survey and preliminary results.
Advisory Services
ITC delivers its trade facilitation work through the following: ITC Trade Facilitation Solutions
- Business Environment Trade Facilitation (BETF) Improvement Solution: a modular toolkit of customised trade facilitation solutions to assist countries to diagnose and resolve procedural obstacles and inefficiencies in their trade related business environment.
- Access to Finance (A2F) Facility for Trade Facilitation: a financial coaching and trade facilitation programme for agricultural exporters in selected export logistics chains in targeted countries.
- Trade Facilitation, Gender and the Informal Economy Programme: a diagnostic and capacity building programme for designing and implementing trade facilitation measures that reflect a gender sensitive lens at country and regional levels. This programme complements ITC’s successful Women in Trade Programme, which seeks to integrate women SMEs in global supply chains.
Training
ITC works with TSIs to develop training programmes for SME exporters (e.g. informal womencross-border traders) on
increasing their knowledge of their cross-border trade obligations and rights
and on how to access those rights. To read more about our trade facilitation project aiming at Ugandan
cross-border traders, click
here.
Projects
ITC’s new trade facilitation programme is
launching two projects in 2011 to improve the pace of trade:
- Creating
a favourable business environment for women exporters and informal cross-border
traders: We are developing training modules on the legal rights of women
SME and informal exporters under the East Africa Customs Protocol and will
disseminate the modules through TSIs, including customs agencies in Kenya,
Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and Sudan. We will also produce guidelines
for TSIs to effectively assist women SMEs and informal cross-border traders in
East Africa and beyond. To read more about our trade facilitation project aiming at Ugandan
cross-border traders, click here.
- Streamlining
of export processing procedures in the agriculture and agro-processing sectors
to improve access to markets: ITC will identify home country constraints
and costs that reduce the competitiveness of SMEs in selected agricultural and
agro-processing sectors in Least Developed Countries in Africa and Asia. We
will prepare proposals to amend the regulatory framework in support of these
exporters, but will also work with TSIs to identify concrete, implementable
solutions that will quickly lead to the reduction of transaction costs to
SME-s.