Trade facilitation plays an important role in development. It enhances countries' competitiveness, allowing them to trade goods and services on time and with low transaction costs.
The Trade Facilitation Support Program (TFSP), managed by the World Bank Group's Macroeconomics, Trade & Investment (MTI) Global Practice, provides support for countries seeking assistance in aligning their trade practices with the World Trade Organization Trade Facilitation Agreement (WTO TFA), which entered into force in February 2017.
TFSP is designed to provide practical and demand-driven assistance. The Program helps developing countries benefit from increased trade and foreign investments that result in increased private sector trade competitiveness. Over 40 countries have started implementation activities to date, with the majority in Sub-Saharan Africa (28%).
Recognizing the important roles of both the public and private sectors in trade facilitation, the World Bank Group implements the TFSP by drawing on the unique expertise of both the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation (IFC).
Partnerships are essential in the Bank Group support on the TFA to maximize coordination and coherence, and to ensure that development resources and external expertise are used most effectively. As a founding member of the “Annex D” group of organizations working on trade facilitation, the World Bank Group has cooperated closely at the global, regional and country levels with partners – and we have supported the expansion of the group to include new members. The World Bank Group has also contributed to the development of implementation monitoring tools such as the OECD’s trade facilitation indicators.
Consultative Committee
A Consultative Committee consisting of TFSP's donors, the World Bank Group's Development Research Group, and Macroeconomics, Trade & Investment (MTI) Global Practice leadership team has been established to further refine the agenda and approach, and rollout of the Program. The Committee meets semi-annually to:
Nine partners have committed US$37 million to the TFSP.
Donor partners:
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Australia (DFAT)
Global Affairs Canada
European Union (EU)
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands
Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
State Secretariat for Economic Affairs of Switzerland (SECO)
Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA)
Department for International Development of the United Kingdom (DFID)
United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
Implementing partners:
Asian Development Bank (ADB)
Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF)
Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, United Kingdom
International Air Transport Association (IATA)
Inter-American Development Bank (IADB)
International Monetary Fund (IMF)
International Plant and Protection Convention (IPPC)
International Trade Centre (ITC)
Trade Mark East Africa
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE)
World Customs Organization (WCO)
World Trade Organization (WTO)
The TFSP was established to help developing and least-developed countries (LDCs) reform their trade facilitation practices in a manner consistent with the measures of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA), concluded at the 9th WTO Ministerial Conference in Bali, Indonesia in December 2013.
To receive support under the Program, countries are expected to have demonstrated a strong commitment to implementing trade facilitation reforms in the areas covered by the WTO TFA. Moreover, the TFSP will prioritize assistance to countries with limited access to other donor support. Requests for technical assistance can be made directly to the Trade Facilitation Support Program or through WBG offices and partners.
There are two main components to the TFSP approach - technical assistance and knowledge, learning and measurement.
Technical Assistance
The Program helps developing countries reform trade facilitation laws, procedures, processes, systems and consultative mechanisms within the context of the provisions of the WTO TFA.
Main areas of technical assistance:
With an aim of creating and sustaining reform momentum, TFSP places emphasis on rapid response-type interventions. Additionally, the Program can finance selected interventions that are not specifically covered by the TFA, but which support its purpose of creating more open trade regimes and achieving greater impact.
Knowledge, Learning & Measurement
We support countries to learn from their experiences, monitor and measure success. This includes the promotion of implementation and early ratification of the TFA, often in partnership with the WTO and other partners.
Some of the knowledge activities we have implemented include:
Where technical assistance is clearly required and requested by member countries, or where self-implementation efforts require support, the World Bank Group will assist countries on any combination of the WTO TFA implementation activities outlined below:
Phase 1
Initial Activities:
May 16, 2019: Shaw Launches New Trade Information Portal
April 1, 2019: Zambia: Donor partners witness trade improvements
September 11, 2018: IFC Helps Mongolia Government Facilitate Trade by Enhancing Risk Management of Border Agencies
September 2, 2018: Serbia, Macedonia Leaders Hail 'One-Stop Shop' Border Project
August 16, 2018: Agencies Explore Workable Single Window System Customized for Fiji
April 11, 2018: 26 Years Independent Customs Administration of the Republic of Macedonia
February 23, 2018: New book launched at STDF Policy Committee: “Driving safe trade solutions worldwide”
July 12, 2017: Vietnam Ministry of Finance, World Bank Launch Trade Portal to Improve Ease of Doing Business
July 7, 2017: Seeking for Potential Bilateral Cooperation between the IPPC and the WB
December 17, 2015: Azevêdo welcomes efforts to help implement Trade Facilitation Agreement
June 18, 2019: Tracking the performance of trade facilitation reforms: What difference does a day make?
June 3, 2019: What’s it like for women to trade across borders?
May 16, 2019: Jamaica: Pioneering trade facilitation improvements in the Caribbean
March 28, 2019: Getting the balance right: Minimizing food safety risks and facilitating trade in North Macedonia
April 24, 2019: Reducing Bottlenecks and Facilitating Trade in Zambia
January 30, 2019: Leave your hammocks at home: How a customs union between Guatemala and Honduras cut trade times from 10 hours to 15 minutes
July 24, 2018: Bringing Sri Lanka's traders one step closer to the global market
June 11, 2018: A New Way of Managing Risk for Customs in Montenegro: 80% Reduction in the Inspection of Excise Goods
June 5, 2018: Can Blockchain Revolutionize Trade?
April 2, 2018: Customs Union between Guatemala and Honduras, from 10 hours to 15 minutes!
July 12, 2017: Lowering Trade Costs through Transparency: the Importance of Trade Information Portals
July 13, 2017: WTO TFA implementation: Learning from early results
July 10, 2017: Five actions that matter to the future of Aid for Trade
October 5, 2017: Coordination, Collaboration and Connectivity for Better Border Management
October 9, 2017: Trade facilitation reform in Sri Lanka can drive a change in culture
February 22, 2017: Now that the Trade Facilitation Agreement has entered into force...
June 24, 2015: Supporting the implementation of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement
November 6, 2018: Special event on ports and Symposium on port security operations
March 20-21, 2018: Global dialogue on SPS capacity building solutions: STDF’s Working Group
January 15-19, 2018: Establishing the São Tomé e Príncipe Trade Facilitation Roadmap
October 10, 2017: The IPPC Seminar on Plant Health and Trade Facilitation held at the FAO Headquarters
March 3, 2017: Jamaica’s Trade Facilitation Task Force: Involving Public and Private Sectors to Improve Competitiveness
March 3, 2017: Opening Doors to Transparency in Cross-Border Trade: Lessons from the Malawi Trade Portal
March 2, 2017: Taking Advantage of a Window of Opportunity: The Rwanda Electronic Single Window for Trade Efficiency
March 2, 2017: Integrating Risk-Based Principles into Border Inspections and Clearance in Zambia
February 3, 2017: Establishing a National Trade Facilitation Committee: Lessons Learned from Montenegro
January 4, 2017: Making Cross-Border Trade Easier: Lessons from Botswana
