Implementation+Guidance

These useful resources can provide guidance for setting up trade facilitation bodies. =UN/CEFACT Guidelines to Recommendation No. 4= The UNECE Guidelines to its Recommendation No.4 were developed in 2001 to provide further guidance on the implementation of UNECE Recommendation No. 4. The following aspects are important when creating a trade facilitation body:
 * terms of reference or other formal document that defines the purpose of a national trade facilitation body;
 * a governance structure comprising various layers;
 * funding requirements; and
 * possible sources of funding and staffing.

The governance layers include a Steering Committee or Technical Secretariat, a permanent commission of a select group of members of the NTTFC, and the full membership of the NTTFC. The secretariat keeps records of meetings, presents the body to outsiders, and organizes and runs the meetings.

For most national trade facilitation bodies, funding comes from public sources, either through national budgets or international donor assistance. This funding finances the permanent secretariat of the national trade facilitation bodies, and the conduct of the regular meetings and activities.

=Other Resources= Past experience with trade facilitation bodies(*1) from the UNCTAD Technical Note No. 18 Multiagency working group, and the UNCTAD/UNECE Repository on trade facilitation working groups, shows that there are other aspects to bear in mind when setting up a trade facilitation body or participatory process. The following principles help to ensure that collaboration is successful.

Selecting the right stakeholders
Any participatory approach faces the immediate question of who should be involved in the collaborative process, and how. It is often difficult to identify the relevant stakeholders and it is impossible to involve every stakeholder at the same level. Therefore it is necessary to design different layers of involvement. These range from a core group of people acting as a steering committee, to stakeholders that only become involved in outreach and communication actions. A stakeholder analysis can be conducted to identify and classify the various stakeholders that should be involved one way or another in a participatory approach.

Process leadership
Collaboration is a bottom-up process, often driven by staff at the technical level of the administration and associations. However, assisting this collaboration remains a leadership task. High-level political and organizational leaders have to embrace the collaborative process and its outcomes. This motivates stakeholders and encourages them to put in extra effort. Individual public managers often have a crucial role as sponsors for trade facilitation reform.

Clear political and strategic mandate
A trade facilitation body or working group/committee requires a clear mandate to undertake its activities and objectives for the reform and development priorities of the country. Only when trade facilitation objectives are placed in the context of the country's development priorities will it be possible to mobilize resources and political support for its agenda. Participants in national trade facilitation bodies and networks or similar organizations need to share a sense of urgency as a motivating factor. The WTO negotiations on trade facilitation created this urgency in many countries, which then set up supporting committees to follow the negotiations. The World Bank has developed a Trade and transport facilitation assessment toolkit that can be used to conduct an interview-based trade and transport facilitation assessment (TTFA) to identify priorities and goals. The TTFA looks at the regulatory and operational aspects of transport and logistics services, and clearance and trade procedures, to identify weaknesses and opportunities for improvement.

Keeping participation simple and easy
Participation requires time and resources. It should therefore be made easy by transparent processes, record keeping and effective information dissemination procedures. However, one has to keep in mind the existing structures and bodies. Rather than setting up a new body, it may be simpler to mobilise cooperation and consultation through existing structures. This ensures that stakeholders do not become overburdened by mutiple coordination meetings, and the importance given to the issue can be increased if it is dealt with by an already successful body.

(*1) UNCTAD, Trade Facilitation Handbook. Part I National Facilitation Bodies: Lessons from experience, 2006 SDTE/TLB/2005/2