The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has developed trade facilitation indicators that help monitor reforms aimed at speeding up the movement, release and clearance of goods at the border and reflect countries' efforts to address challenges in the functioning of supply chains.
The Report “OECD Trade Facilitation Indicators: Monitoring facilitation reforms to 2023” shows that the areas in trade facilitation that have improved until 2022 are: cooperation between agencies at the border level, transparency of information on trade procedures, and automation tools to facilitate trade.
The international organization thus highlights the three areas most developed by participating countries in the period immediately following the entry into force of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement in 2017.
“While all regions are making progress in streamlining trade-related processes, additional efforts are needed to improve cooperation mechanisms between border agencies and customs authorities of trading partners,” the OECD notes.
“Trade facilitation policies are key to supporting countries in building a more open, inclusive and sustainable trading system,” he said.
In this regard, the OECD organised a session last week at the United Nations Global Supply Chain Forum on Trade and Development, where the role of National Trade Facilitation Committees in improving border agency cooperation mechanisms was explored and the strategy to close the implementation gap for more efficient trade facilitation was discussed.
In practice, the implementation of trade facilitation measures is proving particularly difficult in sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and North Africa, and Latin America and the Caribbean.
According to the OECD, in 2020-2022, the main reforms in Latin America and the Caribbean are concentrated in: Honduras, Panama, Paraguay, Guatemala, Dominican Republic, Bolivia, Colombia, Mexico, Uruguay and Peru.
Additionally, it maintains that 1 in 2 economies in Latin America and the Caribbean improved cross-border cooperation between agencies, while 1 in 3 economies in the region made progress in simplifying and harmonizing trade-related agreements.
Meanwhile, performance is more heterogeneous within the region in the areas of cross-border cooperation between agencies, automation of border processes and advance resolutions.
In this regard, the OECD stressed that “the estimates provide a basis for governments to prioritise trade facilitation actions and mobilise technical assistance and capacity building efforts in a more targeted manner.”
The above indicators cover the entire spectrum of border procedures for 163 countries across all income levels, geographic regions and stages of development.
The OECD is an international economic organization that currently has 38 members. Of these, 4 are from Latin America: Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica and Mexico. Brazil and Peru are candidate countries for membership; Argentina began the formal process to join the organization in 2024.
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