The International Finance Corporation (IFC) begins reviewing today the cross-border trading environment of Bangladesh concerning the WTO-TFA measures under South Asia Regional Trade and Integration (SARTI) project.
A mission of IFC, a sister entity of the World Bank and member of the World Bank Group (WBG), will visit Benapole, Chattogram and Dhaka customs houses.
As part of the review, they will also visit Chattogram port and meet senior officials.
The two-week mission will continue until September 04.
The mission will meet Ministry of Commerce, National Board of Revenue, Chattogram Port Authority, Department of Agricultural Extension, Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institute, border agencies and stakeholders.
During review, they will evaluate the current level of alignment with the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA).
The mission will examine the current context of the country's cross-border trading environment in relation to TFA measures from a regulatory, policy, procedural and operational perspective.
A WTO cell director at commerce ministry said the mission would discuss the implementation status of customs-related WTO-TFA measures and current modernisation activities related to the measures.
They will also gather information on the progress of TFA implementation at legal, policy, procedure and operational levels concerning steps applicable to BSTI.
Besides, the mission will discuss and gather information on the progress of TFA implementation in relation to measures applicable to customs and other government agencies operating at borders.
Their findings will be presented to a focused group comprising representatives from government agencies and the private sector through a validation workshop.
The validated findings will also be shared with commerce ministry.
WBG supplied technical assistance in 2015 to Bangladesh for a gap analysis in relation to its alignment with WTO-TFA measures under SARTI project funded by the Department for International Development and managed by IFC, according to IFC documents.
The gap analysis report provided a reform map and recommendations for the border agencies to align their operational activities at the border with TFA measures.
Commerce ministry is the leading agency to coordinate the TFA measures implementation process here.
"Bureaucratic delays and "red tape" pose a burden for moving goods across borders for traders. Trade facilitation-simplification, modernisation and harmonisation of export and import processes-has therefore emerged as an important issue for the world trading system," according to WTO webpage.
WTO members concluded negotiations at the 2013 Bali Ministerial Conference on the landmark TFA, which took effect on February 22, 2017, following its ratification by two-thirds of the WTO membership.
TFA contains provisions for expediting movement, release and clearance of goods, including the items, in transit.
It also sets out measures for effective cooperation between customs and other appropriate authorities on trade facilitation and customs compliance issues.
TFA further contains provisions for technical assistance and capacity building in this area.
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