While there is still much to be done in facilitating and controlling logistics chains by governments and the business community to significantly boost speed, looking back at what 2024 has left us with will allow us to better understand where we are and where we need to go in the coming year, both in the Americas and the Caribbean.
2024 was a year of significant progress in overcoming obstacles to facilitate the transit of people and goods between countries. At a recent regional meeting, led by John Mein, Executive Coordinator of the Aliança Procomex Institute, the progress made in implementing coordinated border management in the Americas and the Caribbean was highlighted.
This effort brought together 25 countries in the region and more than 101 public institutions, with 18 working meetings involving government agencies from areas such as health, customs, agriculture and security. More than 450 representatives from these sectors actively participated, with the aim of strengthening security and optimizing the flow of goods across borders. “The initiative seeks to promote unprecedented collaboration between countries in the region,” said César García, Senior Consultant at Procomex.
With that in mind, he went on to elaborate that the GCF project - which began in 2018 with the signing of the San Paulo Declaration by the Customs of 9 countries - has advanced significantly in 2024, with a renewed focus on risk management, especially in areas such as smuggling, regulatory compliance and improving border infrastructure. At the most recent meetings, common problems were identified such as bureaucracy and complex and variable customs procedures, as well as the need to improve information systems and the interoperability of IT systems across the borders of the countries involved.
One of the main initiatives of this effort has been the project financed by the World Bank, which includes a pilot experience of coordinated border management in MERCOSUR, integrating Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. This project has been fundamental in advancing the analysis of critical points on the border and has provided a model that can be replicated in other countries in the region, considering that the GCF covers all borders, whether land, sea, air, rail or internal, as an interconnected whole.
Furthermore, the implementation of joint verifications and the harmonisation of regulations are essential to combat smuggling and ensure the safety of products crossing borders. In this regard, García has underlined the importance of cargo traceability, which will allow agricultural, health and customs agencies to share key information safely and efficiently, minimising risks and facilitating trade.
As the region moves forward in these efforts, it is expected that more countries will join the initiative, which will strengthen cooperation and consolidate a more agile and secure border management system. According to Procomex, the next stages will include the challenge of greater collaboration with migration authorities and the expansion of infrastructure and regulations to address emerging challenges in trade and border security.
According to the consultant, this joint effort is laying the foundation for more integrated and efficient border management, with benefits that transcend the countries involved and encompass the entire Americas and Caribbean region.
A year of joint action
During the meeting, the importance of the parties involved in jointly promoting the effective implementation of Coordinated Border Management was also highlighted, promoting collaboration between public services and the private sector in the Americas and the Caribbean.
To this end, Paula Fernández, Coordinator of the Secretariat for the Protection of Vulnerable Targets of the Inter-American Committee against Terrorism (CICTE) of the Organization of American States (OAS), leads this key initiative. In its presentation, it highlighted that border management must be addressed as “an integrated effort, both at the national and international level,” requiring inter-institutional collaboration within countries and effective coordination between agencies on both sides of the borders. In this way, CICTE, as a multilateral security forum in the region, reaffirmed its commitment to promote cooperation between all levels. It also emphasized that “supply chain security is essential to facilitate trade efficiently, which in turn drives the economic development of countries.”
The representative of the Peruvian Customs, Nidia Ceballos, highlighted the leadership of the Peruvian Customs in the Regional Vice Presidency of the WCO for the Americas and the Caribbean, The position has been renewed until 2026. She highlighted the importance of coordinated border management, aligned with the WCO’s global objectives: facilitating trade, raising revenue, protecting society and strengthening organizational development. She underlined cooperation between customs, agencies and the private sector, and proposed improving information sharing, as well as establishing independent risk assessment units. She announced plans to implement concrete strategies in collaboration with the Regional Private Sector Group, with the aim of tackling smuggling through coordinated border management. She also reaffirmed the team’s commitment to the objectives of the World Customs Organization.
Alfonso Rojas, leader of the Regional Private Sector Group, The group joined these efforts and highlighted the initiative that seeks to strengthen cooperation between the private sector and customs administrations in America. This regional group made up of 25 companies and organizations has worked on the implementation of advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence, coordinated border management and capacity building. In addition, it promotes transparency and ethics through agreements with the regional vice presidency, such as the letter of understanding signed in May in Jamaica, which ratifies this commitment. “Although we had previously signed a document on actions and commitments in ethics,” he said. Without a doubt, this joint work highlights the importance of public-private collaboration as a key driver for regional development.
Closing the agenda
During the regional meeting, various additional topics were discussed at the end of the agenda. In particular, the challenges and possible solutions linked to risk management within the framework of the GCF-MERCOSUR project were discussed, together with international good practices promoted by Procomex.
For this reason, Erika Medina, Senior Consultant at Procomex representing the World Bank, explained that the study carried out between January and June 2024 aimed to evaluate the coordinated management of borders at the points selected by the Technical Committee No. 2 (CT2) of MERCOSUR. Work was done in collaboration with the member countries: Paraguay, Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay, to identify improvements in cooperation at border posts. Throughout the project, mapping of both in-person and remote processes was carried out in ten border points selected, which allowed us to identify 274 opportunities for improvement y 347 solution actionsThe active participation of the regulatory bodies of each country and public-private collaboration were fundamental to the success of the project, resulting in consensus and proposals for practical solutions to common challenges at the borders of MERCOSUR.
The diagnosis carried out allowed us to identify specific challenges by country and at a regional level, addressing key topics such as the lack of standardization in migration processes, the underutilization of systems such as Indira and Cintia, and divergences in operating hours. Also highlighted were: advances during the execution of the work, such as the implementation of a single header at the Chuí–Chuy border between Uruguay and Brazil, and the elimination of port fees in Paraguay. An agreement was also reached to share scanner images between Argentina and Uruguay, improving efficiency in the control of goods. This collaborative approach and detailed diagnosis provide a solid basis for improving trade facilitation and competitiveness in the region.
At the end of the presentation, the importance of addressing bottlenecks identified at the borders of neighbouring countries, which could also be common in other institutions, was highlighted. The need for joint coordination between public and private entities to improve border management was highlighted. In addition, it was underlined that the import and export process must be managed in a comprehensive and holistic manner, involving various administrations, control bodies and private sector actors.
The following were mentioned opportunities for improvement identified at various borders and it was announced that access to an interactive platform will soon be provided to analyse the bottlenecks encountered, such as those related to infrastructure, procedures, systems and regulations. The importance of sharing information between countries in the region and the possibility of presenting other relevant examples were also discussed.
A year that left several things to analyze
Certainly, to address these challenges, the year left productions that are rich material to delve deeper into the subject. In this sense, Procomex presented a interactive platform providing access to information on bottlenecks and their solutions, facilitating the joint work of the authorities of the member countries. And he announced Activities for 2025, which include virtual meetings of the Technical Group between January and February of that year, with the aim of addressing the exchange of information and its transformation into electronic data. In addition, a preparatory meeting is planned for the VI Face-to-Face Meeting of the Public Sector and the sixth edition of the Coordinated Border Management Meetings for the Americas and the Caribbean, which will be held in Sao Paulo, Brazil, from March 17 to 20, 2025.
As the year comes to a close, it is important to highlight that the set of activities presented at the 19th virtual meeting of the Regional Working Group reflects substantial progress in the coordination of public services and the private sector. In this regard, it is essential to recognize the direct collaboration between both sectors, since, had it not been for it, the concrete results achieved in 2024 would not have been possible.
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